Trivia

Began his martial arts training with Kendo when he was in Junior High School. At the age of 21, Tagawa began training traditional Japanese Karate at the University of Southern California. A year later he moved to Japan and began studying with the J.K.A. under Master Nakayama. Despite being an outstanding fighter, he didn't agree with the violent and competitive nature, and continued developing his own style, focusing less on the physical part and more on breathing, energy, philosophy and science.

Was a part-time masseur for the University of Hawaii football team. He often helps injured players.

Tagawa is a life-long practitioner of martial arts and East Asian Chi healing techniques. In the 1980s, Tagawa founded a hybrid of Martial Arts and Healing called Chuu-Shin, a form referred to as "Martial Alchemy." He continues to practice and refine the technique to this day.

On July 09, 2010, Cary participated in the All-Russia Channel 1 evening TV-show "Let's Marry" as lead character in search of a wife. He successfully selected a beautiful 23-year old Russian bride out of 3 preselected candidates. They were both happy to meet each other.

Has son, Calen, and two daughters Brynne and Cana.

His mother tongues were English and Japanese, but he also spoke some Russian, Korean and Spanish.

He was the son of Japanese Takarazuka actress Mariko Hata and a Japanese-American father who served in the United States Army and was stationed at: Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Fort Hood, Texas.

Tagawa is among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the documentary The Slanted Screen (2006), directed by Jeff Adachi, about the representation of Asian and Asian-American men in Hollywood.

As an army brat, Tagawa was raised in various cities. His family finally settled in Southern California, where he began acting while attending Duarte High School.

He attended the University of Southern California and was an exchange student in Japan. He studied kendo and Shotokan karate under Masatoshi Nakayama, at the Japan Karate Association.

Tagawa played Heihachi Mishima in Tekken, the film adaptation of the video game franchise.

In 1993, he starred as the wayward scion of a Japanese industrialist in Rising Sun. He appeared in the film Mortal Kombat (1995) as the sorcerer Shang Tsung; he reprised the role in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy in 2013, and in the video game Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019.

In November 2015, both he and Taimak (The Last Dragon) were honorees for the Fists of Legends Legacy Award at the Urban Action Showcase & Expo.

In 2015, Tagawa converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, and in 2016, he acquired Russian citizenship.

His breakthrough as an actor came when he was cast as the Eunuch Chang in The Last Emperor (1987).