- Won an Ovation Award for Set Design in a Smaller Theater in 1995, for "Sweeney Todd" at East West Players, in Los Angeles, CA.
- Won a Drama-Logue Award for Scenic Design (shared with Christopher Komuro) in 1992, for "Into the Woods" at East West Players in Los Angeles, CA.
- Won a LA Weekly Theater Award for Ensemble Performance (with Dennis Dun, Noel Alumit and Anthony David) in 1994, for "A Language of Their Own" at the Celebration Theatre in West Hollywood, CA.
- Worked as a scenic carpenter, sculptor and model-builder at Cinnabar set construction and effects company in Hollywood, from 1986 to 1993.
- Earned his SAG card at age 30, with three words, "Can't help you," delivered in The Perfect Weapon (1991).
- Studied violin, starting at age 6, under the Suzuki Method.
- Was named "Extraordinary APA" (Asian Pacific American) of 2012, by Pacific Citizen newspaper, in the category of Entertainment, for his work on the short film, Lil Tokyo Reporter (2012) (honors shared with Jeffrey Gee Chin and Fumiko Carole Fujita).
- Worked as a model in the early 1980s, modeling menswear in ads for The Broadway and Zody's department store.
- Received the Japanese American of the Biennium Award, in the field of Arts/Literature/Communications (shared with Tim Toyama), in 2006, from the National Japanese American Citizens League.
- Received the "Icon of Inspiration" Award, in the field of Arts and Entertainment, in 2014, from Asian Professional Exchange (APEX).
- Threw out the ceremonial First Pitch at Dodger Stadium, at Los Angeles Dodgers' Japanese American Community Night, on July 24, 1998.
- Received the Community Leadership Award, in 2015, from the Japanese American Bar Association, Los Angeles CA.
- Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch, since 1998.
- Served on the Jury for the 6th Chilean International Short Film Festival - October 1998, in Santiago, Chile.
- Has portrayed two historical figures onscreen, who each have a monument erected in their honor, in the Little Tokyo section of Downtown Los Angeles: Holocaust rescuer Chiune 'Sempo' Sugihara, in Visas and Virtue (1997), and Civil Rights pioneer Sei Fujii, in Lil Tokyo Reporter (2012).
- Won Short Film, Best Actor award at the 12th Denver International World Cinema Independent Fall Film Festival (2004), for Visas and Virtue (1997).
- Led the cast of the indie feature, Americanese (2006), which won a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Cast, at the SXSW Film Festival where the film premiered. Others in the cast include Joan Chen, Allison Sie, Michael Paul Chan, Kelly Hu, Sab Shimono, Annie Katsura Rollins and Ben Shenkman. The Award went to the director, Eric Byler.
- Served on the Short Film Awards Jury at SXSW Film Festival in 2006, in Austin Texas.
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