- "I was wrong. Hate is wrong."
- ―Sato Toguchi to Chozen Toguchi[src]
Sato Toguchi is the secondary antagonist turned ally in The Karate Kid Part II. Sato was the uncle of Chozen and was the owner of Sato's Karate, the biggest dojo in Okinawa. Sato was Miyagi's enemy until he saved his life.
He was played by the late Danny Kamekona.
Biography
Early Life
Sato was born 1925 he was once Miyagi's best friend, as during their childhood, Miyagi and Sato had a strong brotherly friendship. Their friendship was so strong that Miyagi even asked his father to accept Sato as his karate student (even though traditionally it had only been taught from father to son). However, when the two grew older, Sato had been arranged to marry a girl named Yukie. Although Yukie was arranged to marry Sato, she had instead fallen in love with Miyagi. Their love was so strong to one another, that Miyagi had announced that he would break the tradition of arranged marriage and marry Yukie anyway. Sato however, felt disgraced and challenged Miyagi to a fight to save his honor. But Miyagi left Okinawa the next day.
Sato did not forget the apparent slight to his honor but in the meantime went on with his life. He founded his own dojo, Sato's Karate, and became an official karate instructor for the U.S. military over the next 40 years, presumably to personnel stationed in Okinawa. When Daniel arrives at the airport in Okinawa, he sees an advertisement for Sato's dojo, showing a man who looks like Bruce Lee violently chopping a piece of wood with his bare hands. Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi if he could do that, to which Miyagi, who is clearly less impressed by such a hokey billboard, dryly remaks "Don't know. Never been attacked by a tree."
The Karate Kid Part II
When Miyagi returned to Tomi Village in 1985 with Daniel LaRusso, Sato had become a rich industrialist and had been eager to face his old friend in a death match. Miyagi sees that Tome Village has become impoverished, with most of the residents working as tenant farmers instead of going into their ancestors' careers as fishermen as Sato's supertrawlers have engaged in overfishing. Sato is also the ipso facto mayor of Tomi Village as he owns most of the houses of the residents, who have to pay rents to him. The residents of Tomi Village sell their crops to a grocery business owned by Sato's nephew Chozen, although Daniel later exposes that Chozen has been cheating them with rigged weights. Another property Sato owned was a seaside castle in Okinawa, which Daniel comments is beautiful while walking along the beach with Kumiko. She agrees it is pretty, but has fallen into disrepair over the years and was bought by Sato. Sato has allowed the castle to lie unattended and gradually be hauled away for rubble, whereas before Kumiko says it had been the traditional place for Okinawans to have the O-bon festival.
Four days after the funeral of Mr. Miyagi's father, Sato appears at Tomi Village with construction bulldozers. He demands the fight now with Miyagi or else Tomi Village will be razed. Mr. Miyagi agrees to the fight on one condition; no matter who wins, Sato must sign over the titles of the houses to the villagers.
However, the fight was interrupted by a typhoon striking Okinawa. When Sato was trapped by a falling beam, Miyagi rescued him, causing Sato to call off the fight. A little girl who rang a bell as part of a civil defense alert telling the villagers to find cover, now found herself trapped atop the bell tower and is in danger of being electrocuted from nearby power lines. Daniel runs to save her, and Sato orders Chozen to aid Daniel. Chozen instead remarks how the little girl is not worth it and runs off into the storm, prompting Sato to help Daniel rescue the little girl himself and disown Chozen for such a despicable, cowardly act.
The morning after the typhoon, Sato reappears with his bulldozers. Only instead of threatening, his bulldozers clear away debris to help the villagers recover from the storm damage. Sato also has a stack of deeds, which he hands to each of the villagers as promised so that they can now be their own land owners. When Daniel says the village is in no shape to host the forthcoming O-bon festival and requests it to be in Sato's castle, Sato laughingly tells Miyagi "Your student has become my teacher" and announces to the villagers that from now on the O-bon festival will be held in the castle, as it should always be, resulting in applause.
Sato is not a villain per se, but however more along the lines of the tragic anti-hero who eventually finds redemption and peace. All of Sato's actions against Miyagi were out of anger of his former friend dishonoring him, though he does show signs of sympathy and respect by letting Miyagi and Daniel see Miyagi's father for the last time and honoring a lost bet between Daniel and Chozen. However, after Miyagi saves his life, Sato has a complete change of heart. He uses his resources to rebuild Tome Village after the typhoon, relinquishes the deed to the village, asks Miyagi for forgiveness (and receives it), and announces that the O-Bon Festival will resume. After Chozen arrives and attempts to kill Kumiko to convince Daniel to fight him to the death, Sato attempts to convince Chozen to stop, saying that "hate is wrong", but Chozen, driven into a blind rage over Sato's disowning of him, refused to hear it.
Fate
Since Sato's actor, Danny Kamekona, passed away in 1996, it is likely that Sato has also passed away since the events of The Karate Kid Part II.
Personality
- "Inside the heart, Sato still know right from wrong."
- ―Mr. Miyagi to Daniel LaRusso[src]
During his childhood days it can be assumed that Sato was a nice and good person. He has such a strong relationship with Mr. Miyagi that the latter convinced his father to teach him karate. However, after Miyagi made a public speech about his desire to break with tradition and marry Yukie (despite her being arranged to marry Sato), an angry Sato, feeling dishonored, challenges Miyagi to a fight, causing Miyagi to leave Okinawa.
When Miyagi returns to Okinawa 40 years later, Sato is revealed to be a rich and coldhearted man who still wants to get revenge on Miyagi. He is cold to Miyagi and eager to fight him. He is so bent on fighting Miyagi that he is willing to destroy the village.
Despite his coldhearted and cruel behavior, he is able to maintain his honor. When Miyagi's Father dies, Sato sets his revenge with Miyagi aside for the time being and gives him 3 days to mourn for his death as a way of honoring his teacher. He also honors his teacher by attending his funeral. Daniel is perplexed by Sato's insistence on honoring his sensei, to which Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel that deep down inside, Sato still knows wrong from right.
Another aspect of Sato's dual attitude was when Chozen threatened Daniel to break slabs of ice in a rough bar in Naha. Mr. Miyagi bet a lot of money that Daniel could do so (likely to get Chozen to back off), causing Chozen to protest he could not cover a bet like that. Sato, just having entered the bar, took out a wad of bills, telling Chozen he will cover the bet. Daniel won the bet, causing Chozen to call off the bet, saying foreigners like Daniel and cowards like Mr. Miyagi do not deserve to win bets. An angry Sato pays off the bet, and sternly tells his nephew never to dishonor the family name again. Once again, Sato sets his hatred for Miyagi asied and does the right thing
Sato's actions prove 3 things: 1. He values honor above everything, even his grudge against Miyagi, 2. He has self control, 3. He is not truly a bad and evil person.
Sato, despite his anger and thirst for revenge, is unwilling to sacrifice his honor for the most part. He has been more than willing to do the right thing, even if it means prolonging is revenge against Miyagi. Sato is truly an honorable person, unlike Chozen, who boasts about his honor but all his actions show him being dishonorable.
After Miyagi saves Sato's life during a terrible storm, Sato redeems himself by rekindling his friendship with Miyagi, helping rebuild the village, and rebuking Chozen's vicious and dishonorable behavior.
Trivia
- In the Karate Kid II, Miyagi says that him and Sato are the same age, placing his birth year around 1925.