Jai West

Jai Tatsuto West
Jai Tatsuto West
	Jai West at event for Good People in 2019
Born	Jai Tatsuto West; October 24, 1976 (age 48); Vancouver, British Columbia
Other names	Jei Uesuto; Lotus Chamelion
Occupation(s)	Actor, poet
Years active	1990 - Present

Jai West (ジェイ・ウェスト; born October 24, 1976) is an actor and poet of French Canadian and Japanese descent born in Vancouver, British Columbia and currently based in Tokyo, Japan.

He is best known for his work on screen as manic Japanese American gangster Lee in Sion Sono's Hazard (2005), a thief grappling with his sexual identity in Gen Sekiguchi's Survive Style 5+ (2004), and portraying Beethoven in the popular Tokyo Gas commercials. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, from 21 Jump Street (1990) to Takashi Shimizu's The Great Horror Family (2004) and Takashi Miike's Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006). West has released two spoken word poetry albums in Japanese and English under the pseudonym Lotus Chamelion.

In 2018, he became the chairman of Iron Chef Canada.

Career

In 2000, West collaborated with his then-girlfriend, J-pop singer Olivia Lufkin, on two tracks for her debut solo studio album, Synchronicity, which was released by Avex Trax. He co-wrote and performed on "Liquid Skies", a whimsical fairy tale about a pegasus and a mermaid coming together to fulfill her longing for wings and "Soulmate", a duet that explores the theme of reincarnation. The album peaked at number twenty on the Oricon Charts.^[1]

In 2016, West starred alongside Pamela Anderson and Dree Hemingway in the Canadian-Japanese drama The People Garden. He played a mysterious driver and worker.^[2]^[3]

In 2018, West was announced as the Iron Chef Canada chairman, which premiered on October 17 on Food Network.^[4]

In 2021, West portrayed the arch-villain Lyon Arkland in the Kamen Rider film Zero-one Others: Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai. The movie's release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the historic tokusatsu superhero franchise. Lyon Arkland is the CEO of ZAIA Enterprise, a global weapons manufacturing company and transforms into Kamen Rider Zaia.^[5]

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1995	Once in a Blue Moon	Mexican Bandito
2000	Worst Contact	Kerara	Short film
2001	Bus Panic!!!	The Busjacker	Short film
2004	Survive Style 5+	J - Burglar
2004	Lost Samurai	Bob	Short film Writer Co-producer
2005	Hazard	Lee
2006	Hachimitsu to Clover	Man at party
	13 no tsuki	Mori
	Big Bang Love, Juvenile A	Deranged Prisoner
	Cherry Girl	Joji	Direct-to-video
2007	Tokyo no uso	Tamura
2007	Tengu Gaiden	Louis	Short film
2008	Love Exposure	Bosozoku Leader	Credited as Jei Uesuto
2010	King Game	Johnny B.
2014	Pancakes	Billy
2016	The People Garden	Mak	Credited as Jai Tatsuto West	^[2]^[3]
2016	El Diablo	Foreigner	Short film
2017	My Little Guidebook	Luke Gardener		^[2]
2018	Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story	Club Customer
2020	Sayo	The Driver
2021	Zero-One Others: Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai	Lyon Arkland/Kamen Rider ZAIA	V-cinema
2021	Prisoners of the Ghostland	Jay

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1992-1998	KidZone	Himself
1990	21 Jump Street	Young Ioki
1993	Highlander	The Kid
1992	The Odyssey	Feelgood	Episode: "Checkpoint Eagle"
1994	The Odyssey	Spook	2 episodes
1995	The Surrogate	Matt	TV film
2001	Yonimo kimyô na monogatari: Aki no tokubetsu hen	Jack the Rabbit	TV film Segment: "Mama shin hatsubai!" Credited as Jei Uesuto
2002	Mike Hama, the Private Detective	Jake the Bellhop	Known as "Shiritsu tantei Hama Maiku" in Japanese
2004	X'smap: Tora to raion to gonin no otoko		TV film
2004	The Great Horror Family	Tonaka Kyoojoorou
2005	Tameiki no riyû	Tetsuya Ihara
2007	Ojisan Sensei	Nakategawa	12 episodes
2018-present	Iron Chef Canada	The Chairman	Chairman of Iron Chef Canada	^[4]

References

^ "OLIVIAの歌詞一覧リスト".
^ ^a ^b ^c O'Hara, Matthew (May 10, 2016). "The People Garden: A mysterious bi-lingual role for Japanese Canadian actor Jai West". Nikkei Voice. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Monk, Katherine (April 24, 2016). "Nadia Litz and Jai West dig deep in The People Garden". The Ex-Press. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Clapson, Dan (September 18, 2018). "Daily bite: Iron Chef Canada to debut on October 17". Eat North. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
^ 映画ナタリー編集部, Natasha. "Vシネ「ゼロワン Others 仮面ライダー滅亡迅雷」あらすじ解禁、敵役はジェイ・ウェスト". 映画ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-04-14.

External links

[OLIVIAの歌詞一覧リスト-1] "OLIVIAの歌詞一覧リスト".

[nikkeivoiceinterview-2] O'Hara, Matthew (May 10, 2016). "The People Garden: A mysterious bi-lingual role for Japanese Canadian actor Jai West". Nikkei Voice. Retrieved October 25, 2018.

[thepeoplegardenex-press-3] Monk, Katherine (April 24, 2016). "Nadia Litz and Jai West dig deep in The People Garden". The Ex-Press. Retrieved October 25, 2018.

[eatnorthironchefcanada-4] Clapson, Dan (September 18, 2018). "Daily bite: Iron Chef Canada to debut on October 17". Eat North. Retrieved October 25, 2018.

[5] 映画ナタリー編集部, Natasha. "Vシネ「ゼロワン Others 仮面ライダー滅亡迅雷」あらすじ解禁、敵役はジェイ・ウェスト". 映画ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-04-14.

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