Ricardo Mitsuya was, among other things, a small-part actor, active in Spanish films at least in the mid-late 1960's.
He was born Ricardo Higa Uyehara in 1938 (date unknown) on the Japanese island of Okinawa.[1][2][3]
His family moved to Lima, Peru when he was young and there he trained both as a matador and journalist. Adopting the name "Mitsuya", he achieved a degree of fame in Peru as a bullfighter, which led to his arriving in Spain in the early 1960's, where he would remain for the rest of the decade and where he would also appear as an actor in a small number of films (most of his online biographies make no mention of this part of his career). He returned to Peru at the start of the 1970's, but was seriously injured in an accident in the ring in November 1970. Having trained as a journalist, this now became his full time career along with the post of General Secretary for the Union of Bullfighters in Peru. For the rest of his life he divided his time between Lima and Madrid.
Ricardo, remembered as "The first Japanese bullfighter", died in Lima on April 12th 2020, at the age of 82.
Filmography
- Cartas boca arriba .... Lee Wee henchman (uncredited)
1967 - Operación cabaretera .... Chinese agent (credited)
1968 - Dame un poco de amooor...! .... Restaurant manager (credited)
- Los que tocan el piano .... Aki Lico (credited as "Mitsoya")
Titles to check
- Unknown production also starring actress Lourdes Ortiz mentioned in an interview where he reportedly plays a Vietnamese, however the only actresses of this name to be found on IMDb were not active in the 60's or 70's, so this is a mystery.
1. Obituary on the Discover Nikkei website 2. Profile on the Historia del Torero website 3. 1974 interview |