Takeshi Kaneshiro

Birth Name: Kaneshiro Takeshi

Place of Birth: Taipei, Taiwan

Date of Birth: October 11, 1973

Ethnicity:
*Okinawan Japanese (father)
*Taiwanese (mother)

Takeshi Kaneshiro (金城 武) is a Taiwanese-Japanese actor and singer. He is known for starring in the John Woo film Red Cliff, and in many Chinese- and Japanese-language films. Takeshi is able to speak Mandarin, Japanese, and English.

His father is Japanese (Okinawan) and his mother is Taiwanese. His first name, Takeshi, is a common Japanese name. His surname, Kaneshiro, is Okinawan. He holds Japanese citizenship.

Okinawan people, also known as Ryukyuan people, are considered to be indigenous to the southern islands of Japan, and have a different ancestry and culture than the Japanese people from the main island of Honshu. However, there has since been a lot of mixing between the two people.

Takeshi is a practicing Buddhist.