Sonny Chiba action star to become Prof. Shinichi Chiba

by Chris MaGee

News on Sonny Chiba from Tokyograph today and how the legendary action star will be continuing his new career as teacher with a guest professorship at the Kyoto University of Art and Design. As many of you will remember Chiba, who now prefers to go by the name J.J. Sonny Chiba or Shinichi Chiba, retired from acting last year and planned to open a series of acting schools across Japan under the name of "Thousand Leaves Hollywood" that would focus on action and martial arts performance. This new appointment, that started today and will last for a year and a half, takes Chiba's new career as teacher even further by bringing this same action-based instruction to one of the leading arts universities in Japan. Now, what this means for Chiba's “Nana Iro Kamen (7 Colour Mask)” project that was announced in May is unknown, but here's hoping that this new posting will allow the "Streetfighter" star to pass a little of that Chiba magic onto a new generation.