Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba has passed away at the age of 82. According to Variety, the late legendary actor and martial arts master died due to complications caused by the COVID-19 virus after being hospitalized for several weeks.

Born as Sadaho Maeda in 1939 in Japan, the late Sonny Chiba started learning martial arts in 1957. During his lifetime, he managed to achieve six black belts in six different martial arts, including Kyokushin Karate, Ninjutsu, Goju-Ryu karate, Shorinji Kempo, Judo, and Kendo.

The late Sonny Chiba has over 200 movie and TV credits to his name. He is best known worldwide for starring in 1998’s The Storm Riders as Lord Conqueror, 2003’s Kill Bill Volume 1 as Hanzo Hattori, and 2006’s The Fast And The Furious:
Tokyo Drift as Boss Kamata.

His final movie, Bond Of Justice Kizuna, will be released in Japan later this year.