
Acting
May 8, 1983
Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
Ryuhei Matsuda
Acting
Biography
Ryuhei Matsuda (松田 龍平, Matsuda Ryūhei, born 9 May 1983) is a Japanese film and television actor. Matsuda's best known film roles include the young and desirable samurai Sōzaburō Kanō in Taboo and the rock star Ren Honjo in Nana. At age 15, Matsuda was offered the role of the desirable young samurai Kanō Sōzaburō in Nagisa Ōshima's 1999 film Taboo. The role helped boost him from an entirely unknown actor to a film star, earning him a Japanese Academy award "Newcomer of the Year", as well as "Blue Ribbon", "Kinema Junpo", and "Yokohama Film Festival" Awards for the "Best New Actor". Since appearing in Taboo, Matsuda has played a wide range of roles, from the high school student Kujo in the 2001 film Blue Spring to the rock star Ren Honjo in the 2005 film Nana. In February 2013, it was revealed that Matsuda would play the part of a Japanese gangster in the sequel to the 2012 Indonesian film The Raid, named Berandal. In 2020 portrayed Ryūnosuke Akutagawa in the film A Stranger in Shanghai. It depicts Akutagawa's time in as a reporter in the city. Since then, Matsuda has continued to work steadily across film and television. His notable award-winning period remains centered on his earlier career — most notably his Best Actor win at the 37th Japan Academy Film Prize in 2013 for The Great Passage, alongside a Best Actor win at the 2nd Hainan Island International Film Festival in 2019 for the film Shadow. More recently, his credits include the films Ichigeki (2023), Who Were We? (2023–2024), and Transcending Dimensions (2025). On television, he starred in the Netflix drama Asura (2025), based on Kazuo Kikuta's play, and in Tokyo Salad Bowl (2025). His film Disaster was released on February 20, 2026, and was also selected for the competition section of the San Sebastián Film Festival. In January 2026, Matsuda took on his first-ever leading role in a TV Asahi drama with Hey Detective, Your Backpack Is Open! He also appeared in UNDERGIRL a first movie from UNDERCOVER production, a superhero film released in Shibuya.
Feature Films (71)

When Honey's uncle gets kidnapped by the evil criminal gang known as "Panther Claw," she must use her magical powers of transformation to save him. Meanwhile the same crime group has been responsible for a number of other crime sprees across Tokyo. In the process, Honey teams up with the seemingly cold police woman Natsuko Aki and hot shot journalist Seiji Hayami as well as battle the four "claws" of the Panther Claw gang to save her uncle and the rest of the city.
Cutie Honey

Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Taboo

Original story by Yasushi AKIMOTO, writer of the mega hit movie One Missed Call (Chakushin Ari) series. As the project was in development with an idea of an "infectious song (Densen-Uta)", one of the staff called out..."There was a real Densen-Uta!" He discovers on the internet of a song back in 1933, Hungary, which caused mysterious deaths of many people. In "Densen-Uta", high school girls get mixed up in the Japanese version of this infectious song, and with the help of third rate gossip magazine reporter, tries to solve the mystery and horror behind the song. They come to know just how real, an urban legend can become.
The Suicide Song

The drama depicts the exploits of the “Ichigeki Hishikkitai”, a special combat unit formed by farmers to deal with the "Imperial Robbers" and the "Imperial Thieves" of the Satsuma Clan who were causing a stir in Edo at the end of the Edo period.
Ichigeki
Television & Series (20)

Omameda Towako recently become the president of the construction company "Shirokuma Housing". She has experienced three divorces and is currently living with her 15-year-old daughter, Uta. Although Towako has been divorced thrice, she remains bright and lives her life strongly. However, her life is constantly disrupted by her three troublemaker ex-husbands.
My Dear Exes

A Japanese bank is being targeted by Horizon, an American financial group that takes advantage of weak and struggling firms. Horizon sends the Japanese financier Masahiko Washizu to do the job with only one instruction: buy them cheap and sell them high.
Hagetaka: Road to Rebirth

In the fictional town of Mahoro on the outskirts of Tokyo is Tada Benriken, a small business which does odd jobs. Its owner is the solemn and level-headed Tada Keisuke, and his unexpected guest, the easygoing but vague Gyoten Haruhiko, a former junior high school classmate who showed up one day and started to sponge on him. The two of them get on like oil and water, and yet are somehow inseparable. They receive queer, dubious incoming odd job requests which they accept, and what comes into view are the friendship between them as well as the backgrounds of their clients.
Tada's Do-It-All House

Masaharu "Masaji" Tachibana was a brilliant programmer who got burnt out and suddenly stopped showing up to work. He now lives at home with his parents and spends his time sleeping and playing video games. He only ventures out of his room to visit the local convenience store for more energy drinks and snacks, until one day he learns that his parents have decided to build a "2.5 family" house with his sister and her family joining them. Masaji is forced to acclimate and with the change of environment begins to venture out of his room and his own head.
















