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Kesuke
Miyagi
An ethnic
Okinawan immigrant to the United States, Mr. Miyagi was most likely born on
April 11, 1923 (inferred from his immigration to
the U.S. and war service). He learned karate originally from his father,
who had been a fisherman. He came to the United States after leaving Okinawa to
avoid a fight to the death with his former best friend Sato. Miyagi initially
had a job working for Sato's father, where he met and fell in love with a young
woman named Yukie from his village. Yukie however was arranged to marry Sato.
Miyagi rebuked the marriage in front of the whole village, claiming that he and
Yukie were in love, and Miyagi was set to go against tradition and marry Yukie
anyway. This greatly dishonored Sato, who challenged Miyagi to a fight to the
death. To avoid the fight - by the conduct of karate - Miyagi left Okinawa and
Yukie behind when he was 18 years old. It was not until 1985 when Miyagi's
father (also Sato's sensei) was dying
that Miyagi returned to his village. Upon his return, Miyagi was reunited with
Yukie. After Miyagi's father died, Yukie revealed to Miyagi that his father was
proud that his son didn't take up Sato's challenge and that Miyagi indeed did
the right thing. However, also on this return, Miyagi was eventually forced to
face his history with Sato. Sato relentlessly tried to have Miyagi accept his
challenge to fight, but after Miyagi saved Sato from death during a typhoon,
Sato relented and he and Miyagi became friends again.
After leaving Okinawa, Miyagi met and married another woman. Miyagi and his
wife were soon expecting their first born when Mrs. Miyagi was interred in the
Manzanar Japanese internment camp in
California during World War
II. During this time, Miyagi joined the U.S. Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team and
fought in Europe, eventually rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant and being awarded the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service
Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star,
and multiple Purple
Hearts. During his service, Mrs. Miyagi and their son died in the Manzanar
camp due to complications during childbirth. Though normally a very disciplined
and modest man, he is shown in one scene in the first movie in a maudlin state
of extreme drunkenness on the anniversary of his son's birth and wife and son's
death. The loss of his family, and the death of Daniel's father prior to the
beginning of the movie, provide a thematic justification of Miyagi and Daniel's
relationship as surrogate father and son.
What he did in the interim between the war and the first movie is not
revealed in much detail. At the start of the first movie, he works as a
maintenance man in Daniel's apartment building. It is suggested that he has
worked variously at landscaping, carpentry, gardening and classic car restoration, though he does not have a
driver's license. He has fished for his whole life, since being taught by his
father. In the third movie, he and Daniel begin a business of growing bonsai trees.
He claims in the first movie never to have taught karate to anyone before
Daniel, though contradicts this in The Next Karate Kid by claiming to have
taught his former Army commanding officer, Lt. Pierce. Mr. Miyagi has a deep philosophical knowledge of life and has extraordinary
martial arts skill. Elements in the films, such as attempting to catch a fly
with chopsticks, and Miyagi's
knowledge of acupressure,
suggest that the character is a descendant of Chojun Miyagi (1888—1953), the legendary
founder of Goju-ryu
Karate, as Miyagi refers to his style of karate as Miyagi-do karate. In the
second film, Mr. Miyagi explains that the founder of his family's style learned
his skills in China, where Chojun Miyagi indeed traveled, although the film
character refers to an involuntary travel due to unfortunate winds.
Other elements in the film diverge from the Goju-ryu connection: Mr. Miyagi
tells that his Karate style is centuries old, but the founder was born only in
1888. He himself lived in Okinawa during the lifetime of Chojun Miyagi, but
never mentions him. Chojun Miyagi learned karate in Japan and only later
travelled to China, unlike the forefather of the film character. The authentic
Miyagi also opened schools to teach others his style, whereas the film dynasty
passed karate on only to their own sons (and exceptionally a very good friend of
their sons'). Finally, the film dynasty were fishermen with the exception of the
"Mr. Miyagi" himself, but Chojun Miyagi dedicated his professional life to
Karate. In the film The Karate Kid Part II, he is descended
from Shinpo Miyagi, who was very fond of both fishing and sake. One night in
1625 while fishing and very drunk, he passed out on his fishing boat off the
coast of Okinawa and ended up on the coast of China. Ten years later, Shinpo
returned to Okinawa with his wife and two kids, and the knowledge of Kung-Fu
which he then formed into Miyagi-Do karate.
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 Copyright(C) 2007
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Movies
PART
I
PART
II
PART
III
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