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Takako Matsu
松 たか子
Born
Takako Fujima

(1977-06-10) June 10, 1977 (age 47)
Tokyo, Japan
Occupation
  • Actress
  • singer
  • songwriter
Years active 1993–present
Agent
  • BMG Japan (1997–1998/2006–present)
    Universal Music Japan (1998–2005)
    BMG Japan (2006–2009)
  • Ariola Japan/Sony (2009–)
Spouse(s)
Yoshiyuki Sahashi
(m. 2007)
Children 1
Parents
  • Matsumoto Hakuō II (father)
  • Noriko Fujima (mother)
Relatives Matsumoto Hakuō I (grandfather)
Nakamura Kichiemon I (grandfather)
Nakamura Kichiemon II (uncle)
Matsumoto Kōshirō X (older brother)
Kio Matsumoto (sister)
Sonoko Fujima (sister-in-law)
Ichikawa Somegorō VIII (nephew)
Mio Matsuda (niece)
Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII (cousin)
Musical career
Genres J-pop
Associated acts Sayaka Kanda, Pierre Taki, Shunsuke Takeuchi

Takako Matsu (松 たか子, Matsu Takako) (born Takako Fujima (藤間 隆子, Fujima Takako) on June 10, 1977) is a Japanese actress and pop singer.

Personal life

Matsu was born to a family of buyō and kabuki actors, including her father Matsumoto Hakuō II, her mother and businesswoman Noriko Fujima, her uncle, Nakamura Kichiemon II, her elder brother Matsumoto Kōshirō X, her sister Kio Matsumoto, and stage director Kazuhisa Kawahara. She married guitarist and record producer Yoshiyuki Sahashi on December 28, 2007. Her married name is Takako Sahashi (佐橋隆子, Sahashi Takako). She has the name of Natori of the Matsumoto school of Nippon Buyō (Japanese dancing); Shodai Matsumoto Kōka (初代 松本 幸華, "Kōka Matsumoto the First"). She chose the surname "Matsu" to honor the family. In an interview, she said she and her siblings are close to their mother.

Career

Matsu starred in her stage debut Ninjō-banashi: Bunshichi Mottoi at Kabuki-za. Her first television role was in the NHK Drama Hana no Ran and starred in the NHK drama Kura. Because Shirayuri Gakuen, her high school, prohibited working in the industry, she moved to Horikoshi High School. Matsu starred in the drama Long Vacation after matriculating to college. She had a supporting role, but established in full-scale her position, because the drama was a major hit. She hosted the 47th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen and debuted with the single "Ashita, Haru ga Kitara". She returned to the show as a singer on the last day of the year. In an interview with NHK, Matsu recalled the incident with her musical debut. She sang karaoke which was heard by the director who suggested she gave a song. Although she declined it and was not confident enough with the song, she accepted because she saw it as "[a] chance that not everyone got".

In the same year, she starred in the drama Love Generation in a leading role. She starred in Hero. She published a photo essay book, Matsu no Hitorigoto, through Asahi Shimbun Publishers. She released "Toki no Fune" in September 2004, which was composed by Akeboshi. It is similar to the song, "A nine days' wonder", which was released after the "Toki no Fune" single. The single contained a cover of Akeboshi's "White Reply" previously recorded on her sixth album, Harvest Songs.

Matsu won the Best Actress of the Year of the 29th Hochi Film Award and the 28th Japan Academy Prize at the same time for The Hidden Blade. In July 2006, she and Takuya Kimura starred in a special one-night edition of Hero. In October 2006, Matsu and Makoto Fujita starred in a weekly drama Yakusha Damashii. Matsu left the third concert tour in May 2007 to commemorate her tenth year as a singer. In her album Cherish You, the song "Ashita Haru ga Kitara" was redone to combine her voice on her youth.

On November 27, 2014, Matsu revealed on her official website that she was pregnant with her first child. Her daughter was born on March 30, 2015, and had 3466 grams. On February 9, 2020, Matsu was called to join Idina Menzel, Aurora and eight more of Elsa's international dubbers to perform the song “Into the Unknown” at the 92nd Academy Awards. Every international performer sang one line of the song in a different languages, including Maria Lucia Rosenberg, Willemijn Verkaik, Carmen Sarahí, Lisa Stokke, Katarzyna Łaska, Anna Buturlina, Gisela and Wichayanee Pearklin. Matsu worked with the producers. Her third album, Sakura no Ame, Itsuka was released at Universal Music.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1997 Tokyo Fair Weather Mizutani
1998 April Story Uzuki Nireno Lead role
2004 The Hidden Blade Kie
2006 Brave Story Wataru (voice) Lead role
2007 Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad Mizue
Hero Maiko Amamiya
2009 Villon's Wife Sachi Lead role
2010 Confessions Yuko Moriguchi Lead role
2012 Dreams for Sale Satoko Ichizawa Lead role
2014 The Little House Tokiko Hirai Lead role
2015 Hero Maiko Amamiya
2017 Fireworks Nazuna's mother (voice)
2018 It Comes Kotoko Higa
2019 Masquerade Hotel Maki Nagakura
2020 Last Letter Yuri Kishibeno Lead role
2022 The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai Osuga
The Zen Diary Machiko
2025 First Kiss Kanna Suzuri Lead role

TV dramas

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1994 Hana no Ran Tsubaki Taiga drama
1996 Furuhata Ninzaburō Saki Mōri Episode 21
Long Vacation Ryoko Okusawa
Hideyoshi Cha-cha Taiga drama
1997 Under the Same Roof Miki Mochizuki Season 2
Love Generation Riko Uesugi Lead role
2000 Match Making Setsuko Nakatani Lead role
2001 Hero Maiko Amamiya
Chūshingura 1/47 Aguri (Yōzen-in) Television film
2005 Hiroshima, August 6, 1945 Shinobu Yajima Lead role; television film
2009–11 Clouds Over the Hill Tami Akiyama
2012 Man of Destiny Yuriko Yuminari
2017 Quartet Maki Maki Lead role
2019 No Side Manager Maki Kimishima
2021 My Dear Exes Towako Omameda Lead role

Japanese dub

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 Frozen Elsa
2015 Frozen Fever Elsa
2017 Olaf's Frozen Adventure Elsa
2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet Elsa
2019 Frozen II Elsa

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1996 The 47th Kōhaku Uta Gassen Red team host
1997 The 48th Kōhaku Uta Gassen Contestant
1999 The 50th Kōhaku Uta Gassen Contestant
2017 The 68th Kōhaku Uta Gassen Contestant

Video games

Year Title Voice role Notes Ref.
2019 Kingdom Hearts III Elsa

Theater

  • Ninjō-banashi: Bunshichi Mottoi (人情噺文七元結, Real-life story: Bunshichi paper cord for tying the hair) (Kabuki-za, 1993) - Ohisa
  • Koiki na Yūrei (小粋な幽霊, a Stylish Ghost) (Shinbashi Enbujō, 1994) - Botan
  • Ajisai (あぢさゐ, Hydrangea) (Shinbashi Enbujō, 1994) - Omitsu
  • Taki no Shiraito (滝の白糸, the White Thread in the Waterfall) (Shinbashi Enbujō, 1994) - Kikyō
  • Jyunsaihan (じゅんさいはん) (Shinbashi Enbujō, 1994) - Oume
  • Man of La Mancha
    • (Aoyama Theater 1995) (Meitetsu Hall/ Aoyama Theatre, 1997) (Theater Hiten/ Aoyama Theatre, 1999) - Antonia
    • (Hakata-za/ Imperial Garden Theater, 2002), (Meitetsu Hall/ Imperial Garden Theater, 2005), (Imperial Garden Theater, 2008), (Theater Brava!, 2009) - Aldonza
  • Hamlet (Ginza Cezon Theater 1995, 1998, etc.) - Ophelia
  • Tengai no Hana (天涯の花) (Shinbashi Enbujō, 1999) - Tamako Taira
  • The Good Person of Szechwan (New National Theater, 1999/ Akasaka ACT Theater 2001) - Shen Te/ Shui Ta
  • Okepi (Aoyama Theatre, 2000) - Shinonome
  • Voyage ~Senjō no Syanikusai~ (〜船上の謝肉祭〜, ~Carnival on the ship~) (Theater Cocoon, 2000) - (lead role)
  • Natsu Hoteru (夏ホテル, Summer Hotel) (Parco Theater 2001) - Kaoru
  • Wuthering Heights (Shinbashi Enbujō, 2002) - Catherine Earnshaw
  • Mozart! (Nissei Theater; 2002) - Constanze Mozart
  • Noda Map: Oil (Theater Cocoon, 2003/ Kintetsu Theater 2003) - Fuji
  • Ohatsu (おはつ) (Shinbashi Enbujō, 2004) - Ohatsu
  • Roningai (Aoyama Theatre, 2004) - Oshin
  • Miss Saigon (Imperial Garden Theater, 2004) - Kim
  • The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Setagaya Public Theater, 2005) - Gursha
  • Noda Map: Fake Crime and Punishment (Theater Cocoon 2005–6, Theater Brava!, 2005–6) - Hanabusa Sanjo
  • Metal Macbeth (Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre/ Aoyama Theatre/ Osaka Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, 2006) - Mrs. RandomStar
  • Hibari (ひばり, Skylark) (Theater Cocoon, 2007) - Joan of Arc
  • Romance (Setagaya Public Theater, 2007) - Maria Chekhova
  • Sisters (Parco Theater, 2008) - Kaoru Ozaki
  • Noda Map: Piper (Theater Cocoon, 2009) - Deimos
  • Jane Eyre (Nissei Theater, 2009, 2012) - Jane Eyre
  • Futari no Otto to Watashi no Jijou (2人の夫とわたしの事情, Family reason of my two husbands and me) (Original title: Home and Beauty) (Theater Cocoon, 2010) - Victoria
  • Twelfth Night (Theater Cocoon, 2011) - Sebastian/ Viola
  • Oto no Inai Sekai de (音のいない世界で, In the world without the sound) (New National Theatre, 2012–2013) - Sei
  • Motto Naiteyo Flapper (もっと泣いてよフラッパー, Cry More, Flapper) (Theater Cocoon, 2014) - Trunk Jill
  • Kagami no kanata wa tanaka no naka de (かがみのかなたはたなかのなかで) (New National Theatre, 2015, 2017–2018) - Keiko
  • Noda Map: Gekirin (逆鱗, Wrath) (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, 2016) - Ningyo(Mermaid)
  • Metropolis (Theater Cocoon, 2016) - Maria/ Parody
  • Sekai wa hitori (世界は一人)(Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, 2019) - Miko Tanaka/ Kazue Mori
  • Noda Map: Q: A Night At The Kabuki (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, 2019) - Sore kara no Julie(Juliet)
  • Inubito-Inujin-(イヌビト犬人)(New National Theatre, 2020) - Guide / Mazda Takeko / Petit
  • Pa Lapa Pan Pan (COCOON PRODUCTION 2021+大人計画『パ・ラパパンパン』2021) - novelist for teens

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work(s) Result Ref.
1997 21st Elan d'or Awards Newcomer of the Year Herself Won
22nd Hochi Film Awards Best New Artist Tokyo Fair Weather Won
2004 29th Hochi Film Awards Best Actress The Hidden Blade Won
2005 28th Japan Academy Film Prize Best Actress Nominated
2008 31st Japan Academy Film Prize Best Supporting Actress Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad Nominated
2009 34th Hochi Film Awards Best Actress Villon's Wife Won
22nd Nikkan Sports Film Awards Best Actress Won
2010 33rd Japan Academy Film Prize Best Actress Won
83rd Kinema Junpo Awards Best Actress Won
2011 34th Japan Academy Film Prize Best Actress Confessions Nominated
2013 34th Yokohama Film Festival Best Actress Dreams for Sale Won
36th Japan Academy Film Prize Best Actress Nominated

Discography

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Takako Matsu para niños

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