- Yusaku Matsuda
-
Yusaku Matsuda Born September 21, 1949
Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, JapanDied November 6, 1989 (aged 40)
Tokyo, JapanOccupation Actor Years active 1972–1989 Spouse Michiko Kumamoto (1975–1981, divorced)
Miyuki Kumagai (1983–1989, his death)Yusaku Matsuda (松田 優作 Matsuda Yūsaku , September 21, 1949 – November 6, 1989) was a Japanese actor. Yusaku was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi to a Zainichi Korean mother. His father is not known. His date was wrongly recorded as 1950 on his birth records due to a parental error in filing a report.[citation needed]
Contents
Career
He became an actor when he was 23 as a rookie police officer, the "Jeans Detective", for the 1970s Japanese TV detective drama called Taiyō ni hoero! (太陽にほえろ! "Bark at the Sun") in Japan. Apart from this role, his other defining role on television was in Tantei Monogatari (detective story), in which he starred as an incompetent private detective. He featured in many other TV shows and movies. He won the award for best actor at the 8th Hochi Film Award for Detective Story and The Family Game.[1] He specialized in physical action movies. The 1989 movie Black Rain— directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia— opened the door for Matsuda as an international actor. However, shortly after he made this movie, he died due to bladder cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1988.[2] His legacy was succeeded by his four children (including Ryuhei And Shota, both of whom became actors).
Personal Life
His mother Kaneko Matsuda (nee Kim) was Korean who married a Japanese man, who perished during World War II. After his death, Kaneko became a prostitute to support Yusaku's half brothers and met his father was married man. Matsuda never met his father. [3] In 1966, he stayed with his aunt in America for one year.
He married Michiko Kumamoto in 1975 and had one daughter, before they divorced in 1981 after six years of marriage. In 1983, he married Miyuki Kumagai (whom their relationship begun when she was 17) and had three children (two of them would follow his footsteps in acting), before his death in 1989. He would become a grandfather, when his son Ryuhei's daughter was born on July 4, 2009.
Battle with bladder cancer and death
In 1988, Matsuda was diagnosed with bladder cancer, before shooting began for Black Rain. According to his widow, Matsuda refused the doctor's orders of undergoing chemotherapy, as he thought it would affect his ability to act in the film. She also said that during the filming, he would urinate blood. After shooting of the film was finished in March 1989, his cancer had spread to his spine and lungs, making it inoperable. Director Ridley Scott and Matsuda's American co-stars Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, and Kate Capshaw highly praised him for his professionalism and performance, despite the fact that he was suffering.
On October 7, 1989, Matsuda was hospitalized; nearly a month later, on November 6, nearly seven weeks after Black Rain's release in theaters, Yusaku Matsuda passed away at 6:45 PM JST in a hospital in Tokyo; he was 40 years old. His death shocked the Japanese world, as he influenced a generation of fans through his work that is still being felt today.
He was buried in Nishitama cemetery, in Akiruno, Tokyo.[4]
Filmography
Film
Year Film Role 1973 Ookami no Monsho Haguro 1974 Tomodachi Komatsu Ryoma Ansatsu Yuta Abayo Dachi Ko 1976 Bouryoku Kyoshitsu Hito Goroshi 1977 Ningen no Shomei Detective Koichiro Munesue 1978 Mottomo Kiken na Yugi Shouhei Narumi Satsujin Yugi 1979 Midare Karakuri Oretachi ni Haka wa Nai Katsuo Shima The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf Tetsuya Asakura Shokei Yugi Shohei Narumi 1980 Rape Hunter Nnerawareta Onna Bara no Hyoteki Hotel guest The Beast to Die Kunihiko Date 1981 Yokohama BJ Blues BJ Kagero-za Shungo Matsuzaki 1983 The Family Game Katsu Yoshimoto Detective Story Shuichi Tsujiyama 1985 Sorekara Daisuke Nagai 1986 A Homansu Kaze 1988 Wuthering Heights Onimaru A Chaos of Flowers Takeo Arishima 1989 Black Rain Sato Television
- Taiyō ni Hoero!
- Akai Meiro
- Oretachi no Kunsho
- Daitokai (Guest)
- Saraba Ronin (Guest)
- Daitokai Part II
- Daitsuiseki (Guest)
- Ameyukisan
- Tantei Monogatari
- Haru ga Kita
- Shi no Dangai
- Shin-Jiken Dr Stop
- Home Sweet Home (Guest)
- Anchan (Guest)
- Nettai ya
- Dansen
- Shin-Yumechiyo Nikki
- Onna Goroshi Abura no Jigoku
- Ou otoko
- Sakurako wa Warau
- Kareinaru Tsuiseki - with Florence Griffith-Joyner
Characters modeled after him
- "Aokiji", the role of a Marine Admiral in "One Piece" (manga).
- "Yagyu Jubei (柳生十兵衛)", the protagonist in "Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny" (video game).
- "Spike Spiegel", the main character in the series "Cowboy Bebop"
- "Jinpei Matsuda", a detective from the manga and anime "Case Closed"
- "Shohei Narumi", a detective (named after his role as Shohei Narumi) from the video game "Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army" and its sequel.
Honours
The asteroid 79333 Yusaku was named in his honour on 1 June 2007.
References
- ^ "報知映画賞ヒストリー" (in Japanese). Cinema Hochi. http://cinemahochi.yomiuri.co.jp/h_award/1983/. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ^ "Yusaku Matsuda, 39, Japanese Movie Actor". New York Times. 9 November 1989. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/09/obituaries/yusaku-matsuda-39-japanese-movie-actor.html. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ^ http://aisuru-yusaku.6.ql.bz/eigo2.htm
- ^ "世界恩人巡礼大写真館" (in Japanese). http://kajipon.sakura.ne.jp/haka/h-haiyuu.htm#yuusaku. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
External links
- Article about Matsuda's works and legacy
- Official Website of Yusaku Matsuda (in Japanese)
- Yusaku Matsuda at the Internet Movie Database
- Yusaku Matusda's life
Yokohama Film Festival Best Actor Ken Ogata (1980) · Masato Furuoya (1981) · Toshiyuki Nagashima (1982) · Ruudo Uzaki (1983) · Yusaku Matsuda (1984) · Takeshi Kaga (1985) · Minori Terada (1986) · Kouichi Iwaki (1987) · Saburō Tokitō (1988) · Hiroyuki Sanada (1989) · Ryo Ishibashi (1990) · Masato Furuoya (1991) · Hidekazu Akai (1992) · Masahiro Motoki (1993) · Hiroyuki Sanada (1994) · Eiji Okuda (1995) · Etsushi Toyokawa (1996) · Kōji Yakusho / Tadanobu Asano (1997) · Yoshio Harada (1998) · Kiichi Nakai / Claude Maki (1999) · Ken Takakura (2000) · Tadanobu Asano (2001) · Yōsuke Kubozuka (2002) · Kyōzō Nagatsuka / Seiichi Tanabe (2003) · Satoshi Tsumabuki (2004) · Kōji Yakusho (2005) · Joe Odagiri (2006) · Teruyuki Kagawa (2007) · Ryō Kase (2008) · Kaoru Kobayashi (2009) · Masato Sakai (2010)
Hochi Film Award for Best Actor Tatsuya Fuji (1976) · Ken Takakura (1977) · Ken Ogata (1978) · Kenji Sawada (1979) · Masato Furuoya (1980) · Toshiyuki Nagashima (1981) · Mitsuru Hirata (1982) · Yusaku Matsuda (1983) · Saburō Tokitō (1984) · Kin'ya Kitaōji (1985) · Yuya Uchida (1986) · Takanori Jinnai (1987) · Hiroyuki Sanada (1988) · Rentaro Mikuni (1989) · Bunta Sugawara (1990) · Masatoshi Nagase (1991) · Masahiro Motoki (1992) · Ken Tanaka (1993) · Kenichi Hagiwara (1994) · Hiroyuki Sanada (1995) · Kōji Yakusho (1996) · Kōji Yakusho (1997) · Akira Emoto (1998) · Tomakazu Miura (1999) · Yūji Oda (2000) · Yosuke Kubozuka (2001) · Seiichi Tanabe (2002) · Toshiyuki Nishida (2003) · Satoshi Tsumabuki (2004) · Somegoro Ichikawa (2005) · Ken Watanabe (2006) · Ryō Kase (2007) · Shinichi Tsutsumi (2008) · Ken Watanabe (2009)
Categories:- Japanese film actors
- Japanese people of Korean descent
- 1949 births
- 1989 deaths
- Deaths from bladder cancer
- People from Shimonoseki
- Cancer deaths in Japan
- Japanese television actors
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