Actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba passed away at a hospital in Kimitsu City in Chiba prefecture on Thursday at 5:26 p.m. due to pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
He took on the stage name Shinichi Chiba, and later the name Sonny Chiba for international audiences.
Chiba’s agency reported on Thursday that he had gone to the hospital on August 8 because his pneumonia from COVID-19 had worsened.
He gained popularity in Japan through the 1968 TBS television series Key Hunter and the Fuji TV series Shadow Warriors.