Yūsaku Matsuda

Biography

Yūsaku Matsuda was a Japanese actor born in Shimonoseki to a Japanese father and Zainichi Korean mother. He began acting as a junior police officer in the TV detective drama Taiyō ni hoero! at age 23, followed by notable roles in Tantei monogatari and several action films, including Black Rain (1989), which marked his international breakthrough. Matsuda won awards for his performances before his death from bladder cancer at 40, leaving behind a legacy as one of Japan's most important film actors.