is a Japanese actor and director, who appeared in ''

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) ''The Human Centipede (First Sequence)'' is a 2009 Dutch body horror film written, directed and co-produced by Tom Six. The film tells the story of a deranged German surgeon who kidnaps three tourists and joins them surgically, mouth to anus, ...

'' and ''

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original ''The Karate Kid'' films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distribu ...

'' as Young Sato.

Early life

After moving to the United States at the age of 18, Kitamura studied acting at the

Beverly Hills Playhouse The Beverly Hills Playhouse is an acting school with theaters and training facilities in Beverly Hills, California, and also in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. It is one of the oldest acting schools and theatres in Los Angeles Cou ...

for five years. As a filmmaker he studied at the

North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

(1997–1999) and at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...

(2001–2004).

Career

Kitamura's first two feature films, ''Porno'' and ''I'll Be There With You'' were both written and directed by him. He also starred in both of the films, playing the main characters. In 2008, Kitamura appeared in a number of television roles, including VH1's '' New York Goes to Hollywood'' and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's '' From Gs to Gents''. He also appeared in

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

's '' Heroes'' as Tadashi, a Japanese businessman who tries to commit suicide. The role's dialogue was done in Japanese to keep with the character. In 2009, Kitamura made an appearance in the controversial

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its Sun ...

horror film ''

''.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

Official blog

Akihiro on Twitter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitamura, Akihiro 1979 births Living people Japanese male film actors University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni People from Kōchi, Kōchi Los Angeles City College alumni Japanese male television actors 21st-century Japanese male actors