Kenichi Matsuyama

I'll always have a soft spot for Kenichi Matsuyama because of his L in Death Note, that hunched, sugar-devouring oddball he made completely his own and somehow lovable. What gets me is how a guy with the looks to coast as a leading man instead keeps diving headfirst into the strangest roles he can find. He came out of Mutsu, a small town up in Aomori, and quietly built himself into one of Japan's most chameleonic actors, racking up a Japanese Academy Prize and an Élan d'or along the way without ever seeming the least bit precious about it. At 180 centimeters he photographs like a star, yet I love that he reportedly got into forestry and rural living, refusing to play the glossy celebrity game. There's something genuinely cool about that kind of restless, unbothered career.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Kenichi Matsuyama is a Japanese actor and model born on March 5, 1985, in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture. He has established himself as one of Japan's leading actors, earning Japan Academy Prize honors for an excellent supporting performance in 2007 and an excellent leading performance in 2009, as well as the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor in 2017. He is known for his willingness to take on physically and emotionally demanding roles across a wide range of genres.

Name (English)

Kenichi Matsuyama

Name (Japanese)

松山ケンイチ

Reading

まつやま けんいち

Born

March 5, 1985 (age 41)

Origin

Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, Japan

Height

180 cm

Occupation

Actor / Model / Fashion Model

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Pisces / Ox

Blood type

B

Agency

Horipro

Active years

2001 -

Awards & achievements

• 2005 – Elan d'Or Award, New Actor Prize
• 2007 – Japan Academy Prize, Excellent Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
• 2009 – Japan Academy Prize, Excellent Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
• 2017 – Blue Ribbon Award, Best Actor
• 2010 – Mainichi Film Award, Best Actor

Spouse

Koyuki

Works summary

Appearances

169 (2002–2027)

By year (titles with a known year)

2002: 1, 2003: 5, 2004: 8, 2005: 9, 2006: 7, 2007: 11, 2008: 9, 2009: 11, 2010: 6, 2011: 4, 2012: 6, 2013: 3, 2014: 6, 2015: 7, 2016: 6, 2017: 6, 2018: 4, 2019: 6, 2020: 5, 2021: 5, 2022: 5, 2023: 4, 2024: 4, 2025: 9, 2026: 9, 2027: 1, year unknown: 12

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttp://www.horipro.co.jp/hm/matuyama/
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/momiji2022_official/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%BE%E5%B1%B1%E3%82%B1%E3%83%B3%E3%82%A4%E3%83%81
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q360986

Tags

• From Aomori Prefecture
• Actor
• Model
• Fashion Model

Last updated

November 2, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.