Let's make a list of all the American movies which have the following 2 male lead characteristics.

[ZombieHorde]

Male lead characteristic one: The male lead's ethnicity is from the far east; e.g., China, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, etc.

Male lead characteristic two: The male lead is not a trained killer.

So we're looking for American movies with a non-fighting male lead who's ancestors are from the far east.

[slackmaster]

1. Karate Kid

Mr. Miyagi is a pacifist who teaches a purely defensive discipline of fighting.

[ZombieHorde]

3. Mr. Miyagi is a trained killer. He fought in the war, and he knows karate. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. And he is not the lead.

[Book Lover]

2. The Harold and Kumar movies

[ZombieHorde]

4. I have only seen the previews, but I think they count. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Charlie Chan?

[RZM]

7. What about movies adapted from Amy Tan novels?

Like 'Eat, Drink, Man, Woman'?

[TygrBright]

8. "Flower Drum Song" n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. ahhhh...James Shigeta.

He made history in that role.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

10. American Pastime (2007), Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), Harold & Kumar (2004)

[TygrBright]

11. Does Lou Diamond Phillips count? n/t

[pnwmom]

12. The King and I (except the lead isn't really Asian).

[thelordofhell]

14. Anna And The King

Chow Yun Fat is the male lead

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166485/

[ZombieHorde]

19. That was the only one I could think of when I made the OP.

That one is interesting because Fat is not just a male lead, he is a romantic male lead, as opposed to a comedic male lead.

[thelordofhell]

22. The only other film I could think of was a comedy

Gung Ho

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091159/

Gedde Watanabe is kind of a co-male lead on this one.

[pnwmom]

13. Snow Falling on Cedars. A lovely movie.

[pnwmom]

15. Benjamin Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji) in "House of Sand and Fog."

Also in "Mrs. Harris" an American made-for-TV movie.

[pnwmom]

16. Ken Watanabe in "Memoirs of a Geisha."

[pnwmom]

17. Kal Penn in "The Namesake."

And other films.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal_Penn#Films

[pnwmom]

18. "Better Luck Tomorrow" -- Sundance film, all Asian American cast.

[ZombieHorde]

20. I have never heard of it. What do you like about it? nt

[pnwmom]

21. Part of what I liked was the cinematography.

And I'd read the book first, so I saw it through that lens, too. I notice that the reviewers weren't that keen about the film version -- too quiet, too much "romanticism."

It was about a Japanese-American fisherman, living on an island in the Pacific Northwest after WW2, falsely accused of murder.

[mackerel]

23. Chan is Missing

[mackerel]

24. The Wedding Banquest

(Ang Lee film)

[mackerel]

25. A Great Wall

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091151/

[pnwmom]

26. Sounds interesting!

[mackerel]

27. Living on Tokyo Time

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093429/

[Rowdyboy]

28. The Last Emperor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Sun_%28film%29

The Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures.<3> Puyi's life is depicted from his ascent to the throne as a small boy to his imprisonment and political rehabilitation by the Chinese Communist authorities.

The film stars John Lone as Puyi, with Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Maggie Han, Ric Young, Vivian Wu, and Chen Kaige. It was the first feature film for which the producers were authorized by the Chinese government to film in the Forbidden City in Beijing.<1> It won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

[ZombieHorde]

34. I think I may have seen that movie a long time ago. nt

[thelordofhell]

36. Your link is wrong

Here's the right one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Emperor

[Rowdyboy]

37. Thank you! Can't believe I posted the right picture but the wrong link....

It was late and I was very "relaxed". Good catch.

[thelordofhell]

38. No worries

Empire Of The Sun is a damn good movie too

[Rowdyboy]

39. Both came out in 1987 and I remember that both of them moved me-

though in very different ways.

[Tunkamerica]

29. children of invention

[ZombieHorde]

33. I never heard of it. nt

[Tunkamerica]

40. it is by an asian or asian-american director/writer... but it takes place in boston

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1322282/

[ZombieHorde]

44. Looks interesting. Is it good? nt

[Tunkamerica]

46. I liked it. Actually wasn't expecting to.

[Tunkamerica]

30. cheech and chong movies

[ZombieHorde]

32. Funny. nt

[thelordofhell]

35. Rob Schneider movies

[Bluenorthwest]

31. Tokyo Pop

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096281/

[Forkboy]

41. Now let's make a list of all the Japanese movies where the female isn't a schoolgirl.

With swords coming out of her breasts.

Yeah, I just watched Mutant Girls Squad...what of it???? :)

[mackerel]

42. LMFAO!

[Forkboy]

43. I don't know what's going on over in Japan...

...but I hope it never stops. The only advice I have for Japan is, "Don't ever change." :)

[ZombieHorde]

45. So fucking awesome.

OK, I'll start.

Angel Dust

Tokyo Gore Police

Ghost in the Shell

[GomezLives]

47. The Good Earth