Japanese actor went from outsider to influential master of Hong Kong's martial arts scene

Few can match Yasuaki Kurata's impact on the local martial arts scene.

From films to teaching, the Japanese actor is one of the few non-Chinese to have delved deep into the art of kung fu during a four-decade career in which he has crossed paths with big-screen legends such as Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.

"I still remember the firm grip as he shook my hand in a manner full of charisma and said, 'Hello, I am Bruce Lee'," Kurata says in fluent Cantonese. Lee died 42 years ago today.

"I frequently drank coffee at his Kowloon Tong home and discussed the philosophy of martial arts. He told me he wanted to influence the whole world with his kung fu, and I thought he was just bragging. But his depth of thought really amazed me," Kurata says. "There will never be another Bruce Lee."

Kurata says Lee's sudden death in 1973 prompted a change in Japanese film-goers. "They now prefer literary and romantic films," he says.

But that trend did not stop Kurata developing a love for kung fu and Hong Kong, where he founded a karate school in Causeway Bay.

"Master Lau was very kind to me," he says of his former teacher, the late kung fu master and filmmaker Lau Kar-leung. "He never said I wasn't doing well enough, though I knew there was room to improve."