A Stalker's Guide to Matsuda Shota

Hi! OAL here again with another installment of the Obsession series, this time our spotlight falls on Shota Matsuda or as I think of him in my head ''Japanese Johnny Depp''.  Why? If you followed Depp’s career from Benny and Joon and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape to Pirates of the Caribbean to whatever Tim Burton's film is out now, you will know he loves to do quirky projects. So does Matsuda – san.  

Most fans first met him in Hana Yori Dango, I actually first saw him in Liar Game.  He will forever be Akiyama to me. Then his role in Love Shuffle was amazing. To see more of him I then watched HYD. 

If you haven’t seen Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit or A Crowd of Three I recommend them.  Not a super fan of Waruboro or Hard Romanticker but that’s just my opinion.   

Also, check out A Stalkers Guide to: Matsuda Shota from 2012!

And now we come to the facts on the man himself: 

Shota Matsuda (Native name: 松田 翔太)  Born: September 10, 1985 (age 32); Suginami, Tokyo, Japan  Occupation: Actor  Years active: 2005—present  Height: 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)  Star Sign: Virgo  Blood Type: A

Early Life 

Matsuda Shota was born to Matsuda Yusaku and Matsuda (Kumagai) Miyuki to join his older brother Ryuhei and older sister in the family. Matsuda Yuhime “Yuki” of Young Juvenile Youth is his younger sister, Kumagai Mami is his maternal aunt, Kabayashi Kazuya is his cousin and his sister-in-law is Lina Ohta. With so many people in the business around him it is little wonder he joined them, and excels at it. 

A lot of his biographies stress that his father was part Korean. 

He went to School in London, England from ages 17-19, before that he's been in Italy and on the youth team of Sampdoria Serie A.  With his experience in English he helped Inoue Mao with her studies while on the set of Hana Dan who was a college student at the time. 

He played football (soccer) from elementary to Junior high for nine years. In the second year of junior high, the coach handed him a jersey that had the number twelve,  he got angry and threw the jersey down. He quit cause he wanted ten instead. 

He got into a fight so bad with his younger sister over what to eat for dinner that the neighbors called the police. 

Every year on his birthday he gives his mother a bouquet of roses to thank her for giving birth to him. 

His old Talent agency was Ken-On but it seems he and his family have opened their own talent agency Office-Saku where you can find a link to his Instagram account.  At that page you see he lists that he is an Actor, Skier, and the Tokyo Crow. 

Hobbies:  Climbing, Skiing (He is in a ski club called the Black Crows and is known as the "Japanese Crow").  He is also a car enthusiast.  He posted on Ring of color about the 68 Dodge Charger he is customizing.  He also posts about a Manga that caught his eye Ring of Color.

on Set with Taemin (supposedly)

Acting Awards   2006 16th Japan Film Critics Award Newcomer Award: Long Walk  2007 62nd Daily Film Competition Sponti Grand Prix Rookie Award : Waruboro  2008 Ikigami Nikkan Sports Film Awards: Yujiro Ishihara New Actor Award Waruboro Mainichi Film Awards: Sponichi Grand Prize New Talent Award "Rookie of the Year" (32nd) Japan Academy Prize  2009 Ikigami 32nd Japan Academy Prize: Newcomer of the Year "Rookie of the Year" Elan D’or Award  2015 55th ACC CM FESTIVAL · Craft Award Film Division Performance : CM " au Santaro Series "

CM (Commercial Messages) 

I love all of Shota’s commercials, they are entertaining to watch and you even forget that they are peddling their products. So we have a 20 year old married to a 70 year old, a wondering samurai, a man chewing gum, hiding and stealing kisses and a blue Akuma. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. 

Here is the Sofbank Shirato Family CMs: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3  Part 4 Part 5 Part 6  (August 2010-January 2012) Here is a list of the 84 CMs of the au Suntaro wandering Samurai (January 2015-) Here are the Meiji xishlish CMs (August 2014 -) The Gatsby Commercials (March 2012-)

Game Voice Work 

Ryu ga Gotoku Genshu! (March 6, 2008, SEGA ) - Kasujiro Sasaki / Muneki Yagyu (voice) 

Prosecutor Attorney (May 28, 2009, CAPCOM) - Image Character  

Music Video  

I Fell in love with Illion (Noda Yojiro from RADWIMPS) searching for Matsuda Shota.  I knew Shota the instant he hit the screen and the music pulled me in. I turned my computer chair around and closed my eyes to make sure I really liked the music vs just because Shota was in it.  I bought P.Y.L and Ubu the next day. From this one search I started to search the music of the other people I had been watching and watched the 1582 video.  From there my love of Jpop began.  <<Bows>> Arigato Matsuda-san!    

Highlight by Illion featuring 5lack.

And in case you didn't get enough here a few more pics...

Can you still breathe?  Good! : ) 

I will TRY to watch anything he is in and I only dropped one of his dramas <<Shh don't tell him>>.  So far I have loved him best as a policeman, a cameraman, an ex-con and a writer.  Oh did I forget tell you about my FAVORITE Shota movie?  It's a little one hour made for tv special called Koko ni Aru Shiawase. 

I hope you enjoyed this installment of the Obsession series, please comment below if you like it. 

Or even if you don't. 

Next episode: Yamashita Pink, I mean Yamapi, I mean Yamashita Tomohisa :)

 Thanks for reading!

Sources: Office Saku - Wikipedia - Asianwiki - Instagram - Wiki d-addicts - Japanese wikipedia - IMDB - Ring of Color - Black Crows - Illion official YT channel