Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (; 27 September 1950 – 4 December 2025) was a Japanese actor and film producer who was best known for his role as the evil shapeshifter sorcerer Shang Tsung in various works of the Mortal Kombat franchise: he first played the character in the 1995 film adaptation, and reprised it in 2013 for the television series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and in 2019 for the video game Mortal Kombat 11. He appeared as Lt. A.J. Shimamura on 15 episodes of the American television series Nash Bridges.

Often cast as villains, he became known for his film roles in: The Last Emperor (1987), the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989), Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991), American Me (1992), Rising Sun (1993), Mortal Kombat (1995), The Phantom (1996), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), Pearl Harbor (2001), Planet of the Apes (also 2001), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Tekken (2009), 47 Ronin (2013), Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge (2014), and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016). He starred as Trade Minister Nobusuke Tagomi on the Amazon Prime television series The Man in the High Castle (2015–2018), and Hiroki Watanabe on the Netflix series Lost in Space (2018–2021).

Life and career Early years and education Tagawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, the son of Japanese Takarazuka actress Mariko Hata and a Japanese-American father who served in the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Polk, Louisiana, and Fort Hood, Texas. His mother tongues were English and Japanese, but he also spoke some Russian, Korean and Spanish.

As an army brat, Tagawa was raised in various cities. His family finally settled in Southern California, where he began acting while attending Duarte High School. He attended the University of Southern California and was an exchange student in Japan. He studied kendo and Shotokan karate under Masatoshi Nakayama at the Japan Karate Association.

Acting career His breakthrough as an actor came when he was cast as the Eunuch Chang in The Last Emperor (1987). In 1989, he played an undercover agent of the Hong Kong Narcotics Board in the James Bond film Licence to Kill. In 1991, he starred alongside Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee in the action film Showdown in Little Tokyo, where he played the role of yakuza boss Yoshida. He also starred alongside James Hong, Mako Iwamatsu and Jeff Speakman in the same year in the film The Perfect Weapon, where he played Kai, an assistant to the Korean mafia families.

In 1993, he starred as the wayward scion of a Japanese industrialist in Rising Sun. He appeared in the film Mortal Kombat (1995) as the sorcerer Shang Tsung; he reprised the role in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy in 2013, and in the video game Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019. He also appeared as the pirate leader Kabai Sengh in The Phantom (1996). Tagawa is among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the documentary The Slanted Screen (2006), directed by Jeff Adachi, about the representation of Asian and Asian-American men in Hollywood.

Tagawa played Heihachi Mishima in Tekken, the film adaptation of the video game franchise. He was in the film Johnny Tsunami (1999) and its sequel Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board (2007). In between those two films, Tagawa played Attar's mentor Krull in Tim Burton's version of Planet of the Apes (2001).

He played Satoshi Takeda in Revenge, a powerful CEO in Japan and Emily Thorne's former mentor in her quest for revenge. In season 2, Tagawa took over the role from Hiroyuki Sanada, who was unable to continue due to scheduling conflicts.

Tagawa also played the role of Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi in the 2013 film 47 Ronin.

In 2015, Tagawa was cast as one of the lead characters, Nobusuke Tagomi, the Trade Minister of the Pacific States of America in Amazon's The Man in the High Castle based on Philip K. Dick's novel of the same name. Also in November 2015, both he and Taimak (The Last Dragon) were honorees for the Fists of Legends Legacy Award at the Urban Action Showcase & Expo.

Personal life and death In 2015, Tagawa converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, and in 2016, he acquired Russian citizenship after playing an Orthodox priest in the Russian-Japanese film, Priest-San (or The Samurai Confessions).

Heroes The Swordsmith 2 episodes Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board Johnny Tsunami

2008 Ghost Voyage The Steward 2009 Beyond the Break Xander

2010 Hawaii Five-0 Hiro Noshimori 2012–2013 Revenge Satoshi Takeda 6 episodes

Teen Wolf Katashi / Silverfinger Episode: "Silverfinger" The Librarians Mr. Drake Episode: "And the Apple of Discord" 2015–2018 The Man in the High Castle Nobusuke Tagomi Main cast

Grimm Takeshi Himura Episode: "Inugami" Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sumo Kuma

Web Year Title RoleNotes 2013 Mortal Kombat: Legacy Shang Tsung 2 episodes

Video games Year Title RoleNotes 1997 Soldier Boyz Vinh Moc 2003 Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Sin Tzu 2016 World of Warcraft: Legion Voice over cast 2019–2020 Mortal Kombat 11Shang Tsung Voice and physical likeness; appears as downloadable content 2023 Mortal Kombat: Onslaught Physical likeness