Boyle's Sunshine. He has a long-standing friendship with Jackie Chan. Outside of Japan, Sanada was often credited in his younger days as Henry Sanada, Harry Sanada, or Duke Sanada. Sanada received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Nihon University. From 1980 to 1991, Sanada released a series of albums and singles in Japan as a singer; several of these were tied to films, TV shows, or stage productions he was starring in. In 2010 and 2011, compilations were released covering his songs for movies and pop hits respectively. Sanada has established himself as a character actor who is adept at playing a variety of roles. He was first noticed as a serious actor in the movie Mahjong Hourouki directed by Makoto Wada. Since then he has acted in Wada's movies—works filled with humour and nostalgia for classic films. In 1999 and 2000, he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in their production of King Lear, for which he was awarded as an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2002, citing his "contribution to spreading British culture in Japan through his performance in a joint Shakespeare production." Some media reports erroneously stated that Sanada received the honour for being the first Japanese actor to perform with the RSC, but Togo Igawa had joined the troupe much earlier, in 1986. Some of Sanada's more famous movies are Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai), Ring, Kaitō Ruby, and The Last Samurai. Sanada played Matsuda (the Japanese imperialist who befriends Ralph Fiennes' character Todd Jackson) in the 2005 film The White Countess directed by James Ivory. He starred in the Chinese film The Promise directed by Chen Kaige as General Guangming. Sanada has appeared in Rush Hour 3 in 2007 with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, and in The City of Your Final Destination in 2009 in which he plays the younger lover of Anthony Hopkins' character Adam Gund. Sanada joined the cast of the ABC TV series Lost in 2010 during its sixth and final season. He portrayed Dogen, a high-ranking member of "The Others". In 2013, he appears in 47 Ronin (the first English-language adaptation of the Chushingura legend, Japan's most famous tale of samurai loyalty and revenge) alongside Keanu Reeves, and as Shingen Yashida in The Wolverine opposite Hugh Jackman. Sanada was a guest star as Takehaya, a former Japanese Navy officer and legendary pirate captain