Masashi Matsumoto

From Clumsy Media

Masashi Matsumoto (松本 正志, Matsumoto Masashi, born August 20, 1991) is a Japanese model and actor. He made made his debut into the entertainment industry at a young age and gained massive attention for his appearance and height. His rising popularity gave opportunities to acting projects and enabled him a smooth transition into becoming a respectable teen idol actor.

His sister Bella Matsumoto is also an actress, and are known in the industry for their close bond.

Contents

Background Information

Birthname: Matsumoto Masashi / 松本正志
Nationality: Japanese
DOB: November 20, 1991
Height: 188 cm
Graudate: Tokyo Gakuen High School (2007-2009) || University of Tokyo (2010-2014)
Management: Clumsy Media (2010-current)

Early Life

Matsumoto was born August 20, 1991 in Rebun Island, Hokkaido of Japan, the daughter of Chisato Akera, a theatre actress and his father is a retired army sniper. There are limited information available about his childhood life. He has been known inside the industry to have an extremely private personal life and refuses to share any information in regards to his family member or early experiences, such as in school or growing up. Many has since suspected that it is due to his father being active in Japan's biggest underground crime organisation Yamaguchi-yumi (see personal life section) which was reported by the media in early 2013, a total of six years after his debut. The news has never been confirmed.

He graduated from Tokyo Gakuen High School in 2009 and was accepted into the prestigous University of Tokyo the following year as a major in Engineering to which he graduated in 2014 with First Class Honours.

Career

2007-2010: Street scouting, modelling and acting debut

Matsumoto was discovered by a street agent at sixteen years of age and became a commerical model. His appearances in several popular teen magazines established his name strongly and he became one of the most known models among the age group. He continued with the modelling activities for three years and in 2010 became a full-time model at the magazine TeenPop. His popularity later enabled a role in the film Partners and Norwegian Wood. Both films' commerical and critical success allowed him a smooth career transitin from a model to an actor.

2011-2012: Rising popularity and national scandal

The following year Matsumoto made his small screen debut in the NHK historical drama The Tempest, it was also his only public appearance that year. He rejected to participate in all public events and was given the name of "Mysterious Matsu" by the media. For two years he was inactive in the mainstream industry and only endorsed the brand Pocky, which the advertisement started a nation phenomenon and created a popular game among teenage couples, known as 'the Pocky Game'. He also participated in an exclusive interview and photo with Interview Japan magazine but otherwise remained silent. Despite this his popularity did not take a slide but rather steadily risen over time.

In September 2012 gossip magazine Shukan Bunshun published an article that Matsumoto was romantically linked with model-turned-actress Nozomi Sasaki. The report even claimed to the pair to be in a "casual sexual relationship" instead. The news caused major media coverage at the time but neither sides responded and was met with denial.

2013-2015: Comeback and revival of status

In May 2013 after a two year silence he announced a come back in a string of projects: TV Asashi's historical drama The Knife and the Sword, Fuji TV's romance drama Bitter Sweet Home Kyoto and the film The End of Summer and Prism and would be making a cameo appearance in the teenage romance drama Mischievous Kiss-Love in Tokyo. The news was met with beyond positive response despite the previous scandals. On May 21 at the press conference event for his comeback drama Matsumoto openly commented on both of the scandals for the first time. He claimed that he has always seperated work and personal matters, "There's not much I can and want to say, [...] What I will say today is that if I have done anything wrong the police wouldn't gotten me by now." He finished off by asking for everyone's continuing support and thanked his fans.

Shortly after he was cast in the film Vancouver's Asahi. In 2014 his first project with the Fuji TV drama Young People.

Filmography

Movies

Dramas

Modelling

  • "Interview Japan" (2012)
  • "TeenPop" (2010)

Endorsement

  • "JMS Denim Jeans Skin Fit" (2013)
  • "Adidas X Tokyo Club" (2013)
  • "Pocky My Sweet Valentine" (2012)
  • "Meiji Sweets Collections" (2011)

Personal life

His younger sibling Bella Matsumoto is also active in the entertainment industry, and are known in the industry for their close bond.

On March 17, 2013 various news reported that Matsumoto along with his younger sister, actress Bella Matsumoto are related to someone of high position in Japan's biggest crime gang organisation, the Yamaguchi-gumi. Both were accused of being involved in illegal activities as minors currently and at the time of the previous events. Reports further claimed that their father is an active member in the organisation, being in charge of the Tokyo divide. The evidence of such accusations were none other than the official police public reports released two days earlier. It claimed that public figures "'M.M' and 'B. Matsumoto'" were seen at several meetings and even at the Kobe headquarters of the underground active team.

In particular one magazine revealed an feature on revealing that Matsumoto's real name is actually Kato Matsumoto and under this name he was charged by the police for various drugs, violence abuse and illegal activities back in 2007 as a minor under-age offender. The news was shortly denied by his representatives and the police also did not press any charges forward.

Friendships

  • Takeru Sato is a popular actor. They were able to meet each other through the drama "Mei's Butler" back in 2009 as revealed by Sato.
  • Lena Fujii is a Japanese commerical fashion model turned singer and actress.
  • Maeda Atsuko is a actress and singer, popularly known as the former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48. They're known to be each other's closest friends inside the entertainment industry although it is unsure as to how they met.
  • Tomomi Itano is a singer and ex-member of the Japanese idol group AKB48. Itano revealed they were able to meet each other with the help of Atsuko's introductions. Their friendship has been acknowledged by the public and other celebrities alike and are known in the industry for their strong friendship bond.
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