Yusaku Matsuda filmography

1970s Yusaku

A huge star in Japan, actor Yusaku Matsuda (1949-1989) is almost unknown elsewhere except for his final role as the villain, Sato, in the 1989 film Black Rain.

As "Sato" in "Black Rain"

Despite starring in many films, in Japan he is most famous for his first role as "Jiipan" in the TV detective series Taiyo Ni Hoero and a private detective in the television series Tantei Monogatari (detective story).

In the 1970s his films include the "Yugi" (game) series in which he played hit man Shohei Narumi, and Yomigaeru Kinro in which he played a master criminal. In the 1980s, he changed his haircut and his acting style and created a series of more or less interesting films like Tantei Monogatari, A-homansu, and Kazoku Gemu.

His dream was to star in a Hollywood film; in 1989 it came true with a role as the villain, Sato, in Black Rain. But during the filming he was already suffering from the cancer which killed him. His final role was in a television special with athlete Florence Joyner. He died in 1989, at the time that Black Rain was released.

The following filmography contains a a short review for most of the films, for the DVD or television version. Click on the film's title to go to the full page.

• Taiyo Ni Hoero — “Bark at the sun”² [TV] [太陽にほえろ]
• Abayo Dachi-Ko — “The Four Roughnecks”¹ [あばよダチ公]
• Akai Meiro — “Red Maze”² [TV] [赤い迷路]
• Ryoma Ansatsu — “The Assassination of Ryoma”¹ [竜馬暗殺]
• Ore-tachi no kunsho — “Our medals”² [TV] [俺たちの勲章]
• Boryoku kyoshitsu — “The Classroom of Terror”¹ [暴力教室]
• Hitogoroshi — “Murderer”² [ひとごろし]
• Ningen no Shomei — “Proof of the man”¹ [人間の証明]
• Daitokai Part II [TV] [大都会 PART II]
• Mottomo Kiken Na Yugi — “The most dangerous game”² [最も危険な遊戯]
• Satsujin Yugi — “The murder game”² [殺人遊戯]
• Midarekarakuri [乱れからくり]
• Ore-Tachi Ni Haka Wa Nai — “No Grave For Us”¹ [俺達に墓はない]
• Yomigaeru Kinro — “Resurrection of the golden wolf”¹ [蘇える金狼]
• Shokei Yugi — “The execution game”² [処刑遊戯]
• Tantei Monogatari (TV Series) — “Detective Story”² [TV]
• Yaju Shisubeshi — “The Beast To Die”¹ [野獣死すべし]
• Yokohama BJ Blues [ヨコハマBJブルース]
• Kagero-za [陽炎座]
• Kazoku Gemu — “The Family Game”¹ [家族ゲーム]
• Tantei Monogatari — “Detective Story”² [探偵物語]
• Sore kara — “And then”¹ [それから]
• A-homansu — “Stupid performance”² [ア・ホーマンス]
• Arashi-Ga-Oka [嵐ヶ丘]
• Hana No Ran — “A Chaos of Flowers / The Rage of Love”¹ [華の乱]
• Black Rain [ブラック・レイン]
• Yomigaeru Yusaku - Tantei Monogatari Tokubetsu-hen — “Yusaku comes back to life - Detective Story Special edition”² [蘇る優作 -探偵物語特別編]
• Soul Red

Footnotes

1. This is the English name by which the film is known outside Japan.
2. This English name is a translation (supplied because the official English name is unknown or non-existent). Where I've been able to find an existing title translation, I've used that. Where I could not find an existing translation, I've translated the title myself.

• Midnight Eye article on Yusaku Matsuda

  I used the some of the film title translations in this article where they existed. I couldn't find any evidence that "Daitokai Part II" was ever called "Tokyo Assembly", and since the TV programme wasn't even repeated in Japan until 2008, it's unlikely to have been translated into English, so that is probably a human error.

  On the topic of errors, some of the other information in this article isn't correct. For example Yusaku Matsuda spent less than one year in Seaside (not San Francisco) in California, and there is definitely no "Detroit Muscle Car" in the three "Yugi" films. In Mottomo Kiken Na Yugi Yusaku actually pursues his opponents (who are driving what looks like a Datsun) on foot.

• Yusaku Matsuda Forever

  "Yusaku Matsuda Forever" is a fan page in English. It contains a filmography, a "TVgraphy" (I don't know the right word either) and a "discography". There are brief descriptions and some reviews for some of the better known films.