A Day In Cary’s World
There’s much more than acting in the life of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the Hawaii resident who hopes to use his celebrity to promote personal interests in healthcare, education and peace
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Tagawa: son of a soldier
His latest project was Faith of My Fathers 
“It’s a low-budget action movie, but I was very anxious to be in this movie,” says Tagawa. “It’s the first time you have both lead roles with local ties.”
Next will be The King and I for the Hawaii Opera Theatre in which he will play the king, of course. (With his current shaved head look, Tagawa is ready for the role made famous by Yul Brenner.) And if he gets his way, his two daughters will be on stage as well. “My daughters both want to go into acting,” he explains.
Tagawa’s local roots stem from his father, Mitsuo, who was born on Molokai and lived in Kalihi. A career U.S. Army soldier, he eventually left the Islands for Japan, where he met his wife, and then in 1955 moved with his wife and two sons to his first Mainland post in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Tagawa’s mother, Ayako, was an accomplished stage actress in Tokyo’s Takarazuka Theatre during World War II. And although she inspired him to act, she was not supportive of his choice. “After telling her I wanted to be an actor, she asked me not to mainly because of the lack of good roles for Asians,” recalls Tagawa.
Tagawa would go on to pursue his dream, but not immediately. For 19 years, he held various jobs including being a celery farmer, limo driver, pizza supply truck driver and photo journalist.
“I got my years of life experiences, studied acting, and then at 36 started my acting career,” says Tagawa, who is now 55. “The good news for Asian actors and Hollywood is that it’s better than it’s ever been, but the bad news is that it hasn’t changed that much. The opportunities haven’t increased that much, but commercially there’s more exposure.”
Cary Tagawa in Elektra
After an unusually successful start in Hollywood, Tagawa decided to move his family to Hawaii.
“It was after the Rodney King riots in 1992 when I realized that L.A. was no place to raise a family,” explains Tagawa. “Even if it meant the end of my career, I was willing to take that chance. Luckily, Rising Sun
Aside from his acting career, Tagawa has his plate full with what seem like endless other projects - athletic training, education, health care, broadband and water with healing powers.
“For the Japanese I want to develop a new style of learning English,” he says. “Japanese are very much focused on structure, and I think what they’re lacking is an understanding of what the American culture is about. So, what I would like to teach before you start the words is get them thinking like Americans and getting them to feel American.
“The other thing I’m very interested and concerned about is health care. Also, I’m concerned about the quality of our water which is so important to the metabolism of our body. I’m working very closely with a Japanese company that has this water called Kangen Water that scientifically has been proven to minimize and fight diseases.
“Also, I think broadband will be the key to the 21st century that will help us to realize sort of the human dream. The 20th century was the technological dream, it really wasn’t such a great time for human beings. We had so many wars. But broadband will connect us to people in a much greater way. The Internet is just scratching the surface. My ultimate fantasy in the broadband field is to have my own network.”
Tagawa: the Yul Brenner
look
Tagawa has also been busy training various athletes through his training program known as Ninjah Sportz. In the past he’s worked with the UH football players, as well as NFL player Marcus Allen. (For more information, visit ninjahsportz.com)
“It’s cross- training based on martial arts principles,” explains Tagawa. “In martial arts the first thing you learn is balance, proper stance and how to fall, where for athletes the first thing they do is lift weights and run.”
Tagawa also worked with one of the elite runners during the recent Honolulu Marathon.
“One of the top runners got injured, so I helped him with his injury,” explains Tagawa, who signed autographs at the Honolulu Marathon Expo and made an early morning appearance at the start line of the race. “I was there as a celebrity face and I’d like to continue that with them. The only thing I liken the Honolulu Marathon to is standing on the street corner in Beijing when we did The Last Emperor
So is Tagawa: “I’m not what you would expect from an actor. I place much more emphasis on the art of acting rather than on the business and celebrity status. I’m much more interested in using celebrity to promote those personal interests I have in education and health care and promoting the idea of service to others. It’s about how can we leave this place a better place than when we came. At the core this is definitely who I am.
“This has to do with my life having grown up in America and the conflicts and lessons that have arisen from the clash of the soldier culture vs. a warrior culture.”
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