Mr. Miyagi

Miyagi looks after the building where Daniel moves in. He sees Daniel getting beaten by the Cobra Kai boys and breaks up the fight. Then he goes to sensei Kreese to propose a truce, but Kreese refuses. Miyagi agrees to train Daniel with chores that seem pointless: waxing cars, sanding the floor, painting the fence. On the anniversary of his wife's death, he drinks alone and shows Daniel the Medal of Honor he earned in the war.

When Miyagi's father is dying, he returns to Okinawa with Daniel after decades. In the village he meets Yukie again, the love he left behind, and Sato, his former best friend, now rich and bitter. Sato demands the fight left unsettled. A typhoon changes everything, and Miyagi and Daniel rescue Sato. Miyagi teaches Daniel the drum technique, the move that decides the final fight.

Back in Los Angeles, Miyagi's building has been demolished. Daniel uses his college fund to open a bonsai shop with his friend. When Terry Silver sets the All Valley trap, Miyagi refuses to train Daniel just to enter the tournament. Daniel leaves but returns, regretful. Miyagi defeats Kreese, Silver and Barnes in one go and agrees to train him.

Five years later, Miyagi goes to Arlington to receive a commendation for Japanese-American soldiers of World War II. In Boston he meets Julie Pierce, his commander's granddaughter, and stays at her house as her caretaker. He takes her to a Buddhist monastery to teach balance and respect for life. In the end he defeats Colonel Dugan, and the Alpha Elite abandons him.

When Cobra Kai begins, Miyagi has already died, and Daniel misses his teacher. But his lessons live on in Miyagi-Do, the dojo Daniel opens for his kids and students. Miyagi appears in the series through footage from the films.

In the summer of 1985, Miyagi tells Daniel about the origins of the Miyagi family karate and its link with the Han family. A 17th-century ancestor, Shimpo Miyagi, ended up in China while fishing off the coast of Japan. The Han family took him in and taught him kung fu, which he used to develop Miyagi family karate on his return to Okinawa.

Pat Morita was nominated for the Oscar for best supporting actor for The Karate Kid. The studio wanted Toshiro Mifune for the role, but Mifune did not speak English. Morita taped the second audition with an accent modeled on his uncle.