Jai West (ジェイ・ウェスト; born October 24, 1976) is an actor and poet of French Canadian and Japanese descent born in Vancouver, British Columbia and currently based in Tokyo, Japan. He is best known for his work on screen as manic Japanese American gangster Lee in

Sion Sono is a Japanese filmmaker, author, and poet. Best known on the Film festival, festival circuit for the film ''Love Exposure'' (2008), he has been called "the most subversive filmmaker working in Japanese cinema today", a "Stakhanovite movement, ...

's ''

Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would potentially allow them to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probability of that ...

'' (2005), a thief grappling with his sexual identity in Gen Sekiguchi's '' Survive Style 5+'' (2004), and portraying

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

in the popular Tokyo Gas commercials. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, from ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired from April 12, 1987 to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five s ...

'' (1990) to

Takashi Shimizu Takashi Shimizu (清水崇 ''Shimizu Takashi'', born 27 July 1972) is a Japanese people, Japanese filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator of the Ju-On, ''Ju-On'' franchise, and directing four of its films, internationally, in both Jap ...

's '' The Great Horror Family'' (2004) and

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over 100 feature film, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films span a variety of different genres, ranging from violent and surrealism, b ...

's '' Big Bang Love, Juvenile A'' (2006). West has released two spoken word poetry albums in Japanese and English under the pseudonym Lotus Chamelion. In 2018, he became the chairman of '' Iron Chef Canada.''

Career

In 2000, West collaborated with his then-girlfriend,

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

singer Olivia Lufkin, on two tracks for her debut solo studio album, ''

Synchronicity Synchronicity () is a concept introduced by Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, to describe events that coincide in time and appear meaningfully related, yet lack a discoverable causal connection. Jung held that this was a healthy fu ...

'', which was released by

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

. He co-wrote and performed on "Liquid Skies", a whimsical

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

about a pegasus and a mermaid coming together to fulfill her longing for wings and "Soulmate", a

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

that explores the theme of

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...

. The album peaked at number twenty on the

Oricon Charts , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in N ...

. In 2016, West starred alongside

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...

and Dree Hemingway in the Canadian-Japanese drama '' The People Garden''. He played a mysterious driver and worker. In 2018, West was announced as the '' Iron Chef Canada'' chairman, which premiered on October 17 on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

. In 2021, West portrayed the arch-

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

Lyon Arkland in the

Kamen Rider The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until ''Kamen Rider Decade, Decade'' and except Thailand), is a Japanese superhero fiction, superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by ...

film Zero-one Others: Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai. The movie's release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the historic

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

franchise. Lyon Arkland is the CEO of ZAIA Enterprise, a global weapons manufacturing company and transforms into Kamen Rider Zaia.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Jai West's JMDb entry (in Japanese) E Film Critic "Survive Style 5+" review All About interview (in Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Jai Living people Japanese male film actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male actors of Japanese descent Canadian expatriates in Japan Male actors from Vancouver 1976 births