is a Japanese actor. Matsuda began acting in

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

when a girl he had a crush on convinced him to join the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

club. He later joined the sho-gekijo theatrical troupe Haiyu-Za. Nowadays known for roles such as Kagero in the low-budget films ''Shinobi: The Law of Shinobi'', 2002, and its sequels ''Shinobi: Runaway'', 2005 (not related to the 2005 film '' Shinobi: Heart Under Blade''), ''Shinobi: Hidden Techniques'', and ''Shinobi: A Way Out''. He is probably best known in Japan for numerous roles he has played in the

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...

genre: starting with ''

Kamen Rider Hibiki is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series, serving as the fifteenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. ''Kamen Rider Hibiki'' first ai ...

'' as Zaoumaru Zaitsuhara/ Kamen Rider Zanki (as well as related characters: Buddhist monk Kamen Rider Touki in the movie special - a Sengoku-era version of Zanki - and an alternate Zanki from the Hibiki World as depicted in ''

Kamen Rider Decade is a Japanese television show and the 2009 installment of the long-running ''Kamen Rider'' series of tokusatsu dramas. ''Decade'', as its title suggests, is the tenth anniversary series of ''Kamen Rider''s Heisei era, and the final installment ...

''), and in ''

Kamen Rider Kiva is the 2008 ''Kamen Rider'' Japanese ''tokusatsu'' television series produced by Toei Company and Ishimori Productions. It is the series' ninth series in its Heisei era, and 18th series overall since the debut of ''Kamen Rider'' in 1971. It pr ...

'' as Jiro/Garulu (who made a cameo appearance in '' Cho Kamen Rider Den-O & Decade Neo Generations: The Onigashima Warship''). He has also appeared in a cameo in the ''

Kamen Rider G is a Japanese television show and the 2009 installment of the long-running ''Kamen Rider'' series of tokusatsu dramas. ''Decade'', as its title suggests, is the tenth anniversary series of ''Kamen Rider''s Heisei era, and the final installment o ...

'' special and has a recurring role in the series Garo: Makai Senki. He played the role of Raizo Gabi in ''

Shuriken Sentai Ninninger is a Japanese television series, the 39th entry of Toei's long-running Super Sentai metaseries, following '' Ressha Sentai ToQger''. It is the third ninja-based Sentai, and the fourth to be based on Japanese mythology and culture (after Samura ...

''. He is most internationally known, however, for his role as the

butterfly knife A balisong, also known as a butterfly knife, fan knife or Batangas knife, is a type of folding pocketknife that originated in the Philippines. Its distinct features are two handles counter-rotating around the tang such that, when closed, the b ...

-wielding gangster in

Ryuhei Kitamura is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Kitamura relocated to Sydney, Australia at age 17 and attended a school for visual arts for two years. In 1997, Kitamura directed and produced the short film ''Down to Hell'', which receiv ...

's pop culture hit film, ''

Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...

''. He has also lent his voice to the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

video game Dragon Quest Swords as the hero's father, Baud. He also play the role of Zebra from the series ''

Toriko is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from May 2008 to November 2016, with its chapters collected into 43 volumes. The seri ...

''.

External links

Official blog
* 1971 births Living people Kamen Rider People from Ibaraki, Osaka Japanese male actors {{Japan-screen-actor-stub