On November 28th, the legendary Japanese actor Bunta Sugawara passed away, Yahoo News reports.

Bunta Sugawara, probably most well-known for his roles in movies such as Wolf Children, Spirited Away, the Battles Without Honor and Humanity and is known as being the model for the design of the One Piece character Sakazuki “Akainu.”

According to Yahoo News, the actor suffered from metastatic liver cancer and consequently passed away from liver failure on the 28th. His family held a funeral on 30th in Fukuoka.

Mr. Sugawara has featured in over 200 movies and started his career as model before becoming an actor for almost 60 years. He retired in February 2012. Our thoughts go out to his family.

Edit: According to Yûsuke Murata’s official twitter account, he used Sugawara as a model for the Eyeshield 21 character Yamamoto Onihei.

Update: Eiichirô Oda himself also commented on Bunta Sugawara’s passing in the Weekly Shônen Jump issue of Dec. 15:

