Dale Ishimoto

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Dale Ishimoto April 3 1923 March 4 2004 was an American actor of Japanese descent He was born in Delta Colorado in 1923 and was raised in Guadalupe California After being sent to the Gila River internment camp in Arizona Ishimoto volunteered to fight in World War II joining the 442nd Regimental Combat Team After two years he was awarded a Purple Heart and given a medical discharge After starting a business in Chicago he moved back to California where he grew up and started his acting career by acting at the Altadena Playhouse He became a familiar figure for playing villainous Japanese soldiers Over the course of his career he acted in a wide variety of movies such as a Japanese army captain in Beach Red 1967 a Korean doctor in MASH 1970 a karate instructor in Superchick 1973 and as Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya in Midway 1976 He became famous in the late 1990s for his appearances in television commercials for Nissan in which he portrayed Yutaka Katayama the companys former president He also appeared in one episode of WantedDead or Alive