Dustin Kasai is “The Real Karate Kid”, at least maybe in an alternate universe. While the original story was based on screenwriter, Robert Kamen’s life. Dustin has a remarkable parallel path, but also some amazingly similar connections to the character Mr. Miyagi and Actor Pat Morita. More about that later. Dustin was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1972. He is a 3rd-generation Japanese American (Sansei). His grandparents came from Osaka, Japan and Hawaii. They migrated to California, Washington, & finally settled in Utah. Growing up, Dustin was an overweight and introverted child. His parents moved 7 times throughout his school years, which meant he attended a different school at every grade level. Being the new kid, he was bullied on a daily basis. Around age 10, he finally convinced his mom that he needed to learn Karate. This made a huge difference in his confidence. He studied Wada-Ryu and Shotokan Karate which are variations of Goju-Ryu (Miyagi-Do).
Dustin has some amazing similarities with Miyagi-San. Dustin’s grandpa actually knew Pat Morita. They were around the same age and from the same bay area of California. Both of them were in the same incarceration camp at Gila River during WW2. His grandpa’s birth name was Hideo which is Miyagi’s name used in Karate Kid (Mr. Miyagi’s dog tags), and was the real name of Pat Morita’s brother. Grandpa Hideo was also in the Army as written in the story of Karate Kid for Mr. Miyagi’s character. Pat Morita was living in Las Vegas at the time of his death, as were both Dustin’s Grandpa Hideo and Dad who lived 10 minutes west of him. Pat passed away at the age of 73. Dustin’s Dad also passed at the age of 73 in Las Vegas. Mr. Miyagi’s love interest in Karate Kid II was Yukie. Dustin’s great-grandpa was named Yukio.
In summary, Dustin is very passionate about the story and life history of Miyagi-San. Not only as a die-hard fan, but also as a true story, a literal connection to his family and their sacrifices made for subsequent generations as a Japanese immigrant to this country.
