is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

actor and musician from

Toyohashi is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefecture's second-lar ...

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

, Japan. His real name is .

Career

In 1974, he joined Shintaro Katsu's production company and made his debut with the television series

Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay , part of Shimozawa's ''Futokoro Techō'' se ...

as a guest. For a quarter of a century, he starred in the series ''

The Unfettered Shogun (Abarenbō Shōgun) was a Japanese television program on the TV Asahi network. Set in the eighteenth century, it showed fictitious events in the life of Tokugawa Yoshimune, Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa clan, Tokugawa ''shōgun''. The program s ...

'' as

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lineage Yoshimu ...

, the title character. He also played a similar role in Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful. Other noteworthy roles include

Hōjō Yoshitoki was the second Hōjō ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate and head of the Hōjō clan. He was the second son of Hōjō Tokimasa. He was ''shikken'' from the abdication of his father Tokimasa in 1205 until his death in 1224. Early ...

in the 1979

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

series ''Kusa Moeru'', Irobe Matashiro in the 1999 NHK series ''Genroku Ryoran'' (involving the chushingura, that is, the story of the Forty-seven ''rōnin''),

Shibata Katsuie or was a Japanese samurai and military commander during the Sengoku period. He served Oda Nobunaga as one of his trusted generals, was severely wounded in the 1571 first siege of Nagashima, but then fought in the 1575 Battle of Nagashino an ...

in the 2002 NHK series ''Toshiie to Matsu'',

Ōtomo Sōrin , also known as Fujiwara no Yoshishige (藤原義鎮) and Ōtomo Yoshishige (大友義鎮), was a Japanese feudal lord (''daimyō'') of the Ōtomo clan, one of the few to have converted to Roman Catholicism (Christianity). The eldest son of , he ...

in the 2004 NHK special ''Ōtomo Sōrin—Kokoro no Ōkoku wo Motomete'', and

Ōishi Kuranosuke Oishi may refer to: * Ōishi (surname), a Japanese surname * Oishi (Philippine brand), a snack company from the Philippines * Oishi Group, a Thai food-and-drink company * Ōishi Station is a railway station on the Hanshin Electric Railway Mai ...

in the 2004

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...

series ''Chushingura''. He also played Asano Takumi no Kami, an important (although brief) role, in an earlier chushingura, making a career of that story. In 2005, he is appearing as

Benkei , popularly known as simply Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk ('' sōhei'') who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185) .html" ;"title="/sup>">/sup>. Benkei led a varied life, first becoming a monk, then a mountain ascetic ...

in ''Yoshitsune'', the yearlong NHK Taiga drama. TV Asahi tapped Matsudaira to star as

Tōyama no Kin-san is a popular character based on the historical Tōyama Kagemoto, a samurai and official of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history. In kabuki and kōdan, he was celebrated under his childhood name, Kinshirō, shortened to ...

in the latest (2007) version of their program of the same name. He appeared in '' Tokugawa Fūun-roku'', the annual ''jidaigeki'' spectacular which was shown on TV Tokyo on January 2, 2008.

''Matsuken Samba''

Matsudaira is also famous as a singer. His most popular song "

Matsuken Samba II Matsuken Samba II (マツケンサンバII) is one of a song series named ''Matsuken Samba'' performed by a Japanese taiga drama actor and singer Ken Matsudaira who is popular in Japan. Overview The song was made in 1994 and is performed in the ...

" (マツケンサンバII) was released in 2004 and became popular with his fanbase. The song gained national attention because his appearance in the likeness of a person in

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

with glittery

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

and a hip-swiveling dance became the topic of some television programs, including parodying him on an idol group

SMAP SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six- ...

's variety show, ''

SMAP×SMAP ''SMAP×SMAP'', often referred to simply as ''Sma-Sma'', was a Japanese television variety show hosted by boy band SMAP. Debuting on April 15, 1996, it was produced by Kansai TV and Fuji TV and aired on Fuji TV every Monday from 10:00 p.m. t ...

''. The new attention of the media made Matsudaira visible to a younger fanbase. The song became a certified hit, staying on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...

Top 100 chart for over a year. A version called featuring

Shu Watanabe is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Numazu, Shizuoka and graduate of Waseda University, he worked at the national newspaper ''Yomiuri ...

(Eiji Hino/Kamen Rider OOO) and Ryosuke Miura (Ankh/Shingo Izumi) was released on August 3, 2011, as an ending theme for the movie '' Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals''.

Filmography

Film

*''

Baruto no Gakuen or ''Ode to Joy'' is a Japanese film released in 2006 and based on the true story of the Bandō prisoner-of-war camp in World War I. It depicts the friendship of the German POWs with the director of the camp and local residents at the stage of Nar ...

'' (2006) *'' Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals'' (2011) -

*''

Sanada 10 Braves is a 2016 Japanese jidaigeki action film directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. It was released in Japan by Shochiku and Nikkatsu on September 22, 2016. Plot Cast * Nakamura Kankurō VI as Sarutobi Sasuke *Tori Matsuzaka as Kirigakure Saizō * Yuko O ...

'' (2016) -

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

*''Musashi'' (2019) -

Sasaki Kojirō was a Japanese swordsman who may have lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods and is known primarily for the story of his battle with Miyamoto Musashi in 1612, where Sasaki was killed. Although suffering from defeat as well ...

Television

* ''

'' (1978–2003) – Tokugawa Yoshimune * '' Akō Rōshi'' (1979) – Asano "Takumi no Kami" Naganori * ''

Kusa Moeru is a 1979 Japanese television series. It is the 17th NHK taiga drama. Story Kusa Moeru deals with the Kamakura period. Based on Michiko Nagai's novels "Hojo Masako" and "Enkan". The story chronicles the life of Hōjō Masako. Cast Minamoto ...

'' (1979) –

* ''Taira no Kiyomori'' (1992) –

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and ''kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Heian-kyō, Japan, in 1118 as the first so ...

* ''

Unmeitōge is a Japanese jidaigeki or period drama that was broadcast in prime-time in 1974. It is based on Renzaburō Shibata's novel of the same title. The lead star is Masakazu Tamura. Plot Akizuki Rokurōta was born as a child of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but ...

'' (1993) - Akizuki Rokurota * ''Benkei'' (1997) – Musashibō Benkei * ''Toshiie and Matsu'' (2002) –

* '' Yoshitsune'' (2005) – Musashibō Benkei * ''

Samurai Rebellion is a 1967 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. The film is based on ''Hairyozuma shimatsu'', a short story by Yasuhiko Takiguchi. Film historian Donald Richie suggests an approximate translation for its original Japanese title, ...

'' (2013) * '' Naotora: The Lady Warlord'' (2017) –

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

* ''

The 13 Lords of the Shogun is a Japanese historical drama television series starring Shun Oguri as Hōjō Yoshitoki. The series is the 61st NHK taiga drama. Cast Starring role *Shun Oguri as Hōjō Yoshitoki. Kōki Mitani pointed out some similarities between him and ...

'' (2022) –

Theatrical animation

* '' Doraemon: Nobita's Secret Gadget Museum'' (2013) - Mustard * ''

Her Blue Sky is a 2019 Japanese animated film produced by CloverWorks. The film is directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai and written by Mari Okada, with Masayoshi Tanaka designing the characters and serving as chief animation director. The trio under the creative tea ...

'' (2019) - Dankichi Nitobe

Television animation

* '' Rowdy Sumo Wrestler Matsutaro!!'' (2014) - Matsutarō Sakaguchi

Video Games

* '' Kamen Rider: Battride War 2'' (2014) - Tokugawa Yoshimune

Japanese dub

*'' X-Men: Apocalypse'' (2016) - Apocalypse (

Oscar Isaac Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is a Guatemalan-born American actor. Known for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Latino characters in Hollywood. He was named the best actor of his gene ...

)

Awards

References

External links

*
Ken Matsudaira profile at Teichiku record companyKen Matsudaira at NHK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsudaira, Ken Japanese male actors 1953 births Living people People from Toyohashi Actors from Aichi Prefecture