Nariyoshi Keisuke Miyagi, better known as Mr. Miyagi, is a fictional character of Robert Mark Kamen's The Karate Kid franchise, appearing in The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986), The Karate Kid Part III (1989), and The Next Karate Kid (1994). He was portrayed by Japanese-American actor Pat Morita. A wise, Okinawan-born karate master, he mentors Daniel LaRusso in the first three films (1984–1989) and Julie Pierce in the fourth film (1994).
The sequel series Cobra Kai (2018–2025), produced after Morita's death in 2005, frequently references Miyagi through dialogue, archival images, archival footage, and briefly with a CG altered body double, and follows Daniel as he reopens Miyagi-Do as its sensei to continue his mentor's teachings. The series also uncovers secrets in Mr. Miyagi's past.
In addition to The Karate Kid films, the character has made appearances in The Karate Kid animated television series and a Broadway musical. Cobra Kai is thematically structured around the concept of the Miyagi-Verse.
Morita was recognized for his role as Mr. Miyagi with nominations for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 57th Academy Awards ceremony and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Concept and creation
Writing
The character originated in a screenplay written for The Karate Kid by American screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen. In his youth, Kamen had experienced bullying at the 1964 World's Fair in New York and subsequently turned to karate. He was trained in Okinawan Gōjū-ryū, a defensive style of karate by a sensei who spoke poor English. and that Fumio Demura was the inspiration for the character.
Casting
The original preferred choice for the role was Toshiro Mifune, who had appeared in the Akira Kurosawa films Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), and The Hidden Fortress (1958), but the actor did not speak English. Pat Morita later auditioned for the role, but was initially rejected for the part due to his close association with stand-up comedy, and with the character Arnold from Happy Days. ultimately winning it because he grew a beard and patterned his accent after his uncle. After he was cast and although he had been using the name Pat for years, Weintraub suggested that he be billed with his given name to sound "more ethnic".
Characterization
In The Karate Kid films, Mr. Miyagi is portrayed as a strange old man who teaches Daniel LaRusso karate underlined by honor and discipline. Being a spiritual and non-violent man, he instills wisdom in his teachings. This makes him an outsider in comparison with the no mercy philosophy of Cobra Kai. Miyagi is eccentric, making his first appearance trying to catch flies with chopsticks, but has an impressive knowledge of karate. Over the course of his training, Mr. Miyagi becomes a father figure to Daniel. Macchio described Mr. Miyagi as "that special human Yoda character that we all wish we had as we navigated our childhood".
Initially referred to only as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, the character's backstory was explored in the sequel The Karate Kid Part II, particularly his upbringing in Okinawa. His name was given as Nariyoshi Miyagi, which later appeared on his tombstone in Cobra Kai. In The Next Karate Kid, his first name was inexplicably changed to Keisuke. When considering this continuity error, Jon Hurwitz explained that the Cobra Kai creators considered the second film to be more meaningful in relation to the character's backstory but felt that his name could be Nariyoshi Keisuke Miyagi.
The Karate Kid provides insight into the character's difficult past during a scene where he drunkenly shows Daniel a photograph of his wife, who died in childbirth along with their son. Born on June 9, 1925, Mr. Miyagi left Okinawa at the age of 18 (1943 or 1944). Notwithstanding the Immigration Act of 1924, which prohibited immigration from Japan, he emigrated to the United States after defying convention and unsuccessfully declaring his love for Yukie, a girl intended to marry his best friend Sato. He meets his future wife while working in the cane fields in Hawaii. After President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in 1942, shortly after the onset of World War II, Miyagi and his wife are forcibly relocated to Manzanar, a Japanese-American internment camp in California. During this time, he serves overseas in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in the United States army, for which he receives the highest military award, the Medal of Honor, but loses his wife and son in childbirth. Weintraub wanted to cut the drunken scene, believing that it slowed down the film, but Avildsen and Kamen insisted on retaining it as they considered it to be the film's emotional core. Kamen wanted the scene to remind American viewers about the Japanese-Americans who were moved to American internment camps during World War II and those that fought in the 442nd regiment who were awarded more Medals of Honor than any other regiment. Morita particularly related to this aspect of his character's backstory, having himself been placed in an internment camp in his youth.
In Part 1 of Cobra Kai season 6, Daniel, Chozen, and Amanda learn that Mr. Miyagi had a secret past when they find a hidden box in his house. The objects in the box indicate that he was a boxer and a silent partner in a boxing gym. Amanda discovers a news clipping dated May 3, 1947, that details the beating and assault of Jim Watkins, who was from Lodi. In the article, Watkins accused Keisuke Miyagi of attacking him and stealing a valuable necklace. Daniel also discovers a bloodied headband from the Sekai Taikai. In Part 2 of Cobra Kai season 6, Terry Silver provides Daniel a Sekai Taikai record which reveals Miyagi's fight in the competition against "Claramunt" ended in death. The results are authenticated by the current Sekai Taikai officials. Mr. Miyagi returns to the screen in a flashback in the episode "Eunjangdo", recreated using artificial intelligence in the likeness of Morita. The younger version of the character is played by Brian Takahashi.
In Part 3, Daniel has a dream of Mr. Miyagi and himself fighting off the same masked bullies from the original film, after which Mr. Miyagi reminds his pupil that Daniel had always been taught that winning or losing isn't why Daniel fought. In the final episode, Daniel's mother, Lucille, reveals the real story behind Mr. Miyagi's secret. The man who Miyagi was accused of attacking actually attacked him after Miyagi confronted him for stealing a pearl necklace that had belonged first to Miyagi's mother and then his wife and was stolen following Mrs. Miyagi's death at Manzanar. Sometime before his death, Miyagi gave the necklace to Lucille to hold onto for Sam when the time was right. Lucille gives the necklace to Sam as a graduation gift before Sam departs for Okinawa to visit her surrogate grandfather's ancestral home. Daniel later has a flashback of Mr. Miyagi teaching him to catch a fly with chopsticks during one of their first lessons. Daniel tries to replicate the feat, only to have Johnny kill the fly first.
Karate Kid: Legends (2025)
Mr. Miyagi appears in archival footage from The Karate Kid Part II, which he tells then-adolescent Daniel LaRusso about the origins of karate and the relationship between the Miyagi and Han families when Mr. Miyagi's ancestor, Shimpo Miyagi, washed ashore while fishing in China, where the Han family gave him refuge and taught him the ancient art of kung fu, which he branded as karate upon his return to Okinawa with his Chinese wife and their children.
Decades later, Mr. Han, Mr. Miyagi's friend from China who is a Kung fu instructor, visits his house (now a dojo) in Los Angeles only to find out about his death and looking for Mr. Miyagi's protege and now-adult Daniel LaRusso, who is now a karate sensei himself, to teach Mr. Han's student and great-nephew Li Fong the ways of Miyagi-do karate to compete in the Five Boroughs Tournament in New York City, where Li has just moved to with his mother from China. Initially hesitant, Daniel agrees and goes to New York. Before Li reaches the final matches in the Five Boroughs Tournament, Daniel gives him a headband with an image of a tree once belonged to Mr. Miyagi.
In other media
In 1989, Mr. Miyagi appeared alongside Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid animated television series, voiced by Robert Ito. The plot recounts their adventures around the world with a character named Taki. This incarnation was inexplicably given the name Yakuga. In 2004, Mr. Miyagi appeared alongside Daniel in a musical produced for Broadway titled It’s Karate, Kid! The Musical.
Reception and legacy
Morita gained fame in the 1980s for his role as Mr. Miyagi. In 2015, Mr. Miyagi was inducted into the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame in the Contributor Category. Julian Roman of MovieWeb described Mr. Miyagi as an enduring symbol of "strength, friendship and teaching".
For his role in The Karate Kid Morita was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 57th Academy Awards ceremony and a corresponding Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture.
Although Morita died in 2005, Macchio wrote in an imaginary 2022 letter to him that due to the Cobra Kai series, the "legacy of your work and contribution to the world in your portrayal of Mr. Miyagi shines brighter than ever." Macchio also described Cobra Kai through the concept of the Miyagi-verse, which comprises "anyone who knew Mr. Miyagi".