Takako Matsu

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/songwriter.

Takako Matsu was born into a traditional kabuki & buyō house, which produced famous actors and actresses, including her father Matsumoto Hakuō II, kabuki actor and head of the buyō house; her uncle Nakamura Kichiemon II, Kabuki performer and actor; her elder brother Matsumoto Kōshirō X, Kabuki performer and actor; her sister, six years her elder Kio Matsumoto, stage director and actress and her husband Kazuhisa Kawahara, actor. Her mother Noriko Fujima is a businesswoman. She married guitarist and record producer Yoshiyuki Sahashi on December 28, 2007, and her married name is now Takako Sahashi (佐橋隆子, Sahashi Takako). She also has the name of Natori (the accredited master) 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 her family. In one interview, she notes that she, along with her two brothers and sisters are relatively close to her mother.

Takako debuted in theater when she was sixteen years old, in Ninjō-banashi: Bunshichi Mottoi at Tokyo Kabuki-za in 1993. Her first lead role in television was in the NHK Drama Hana no Ran (Child's part) in 1994, and she also starred in NHK Drama Kura in 1995. Because Shirayuri Gakuen, her high school, prohibited working in the entertainment industry, she transferred to Horikoshi High School.

In 1996, she appeared on the drama Long Vacation starring Takuya Kimura of SMAP, following matriculating to college. She was a supporting role, but, began to establish in full-scale her position as an actress because the drama was a major hit. In the same year, she hosted the 47th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen at the age of 19, making her the youngest ever to host the show.

In 1997, she debuted with the single "Ashita, Haru ga Kitara". She appeared on NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen again as a singer on the last day of the year. In an interview with NHK in 2007, Matsu recalled the incident that triggered her musical debut. At the wrap-up ceremony of the drama, Matsu sang karaoke which was heard by its director who suggested that she give singing a try. Although she refused at first, as she was not confident enough in her singing, Matsu eventually accepted because she saw it as "[a] chance that not everyone got". In the same year, she starred opposite Takuya Kimura in the drama Love Generation, in which she played a lead role with Takuya Kimura.

In 2001, she starred in Hero with Takuya Kimura again. In 2003, she has also published a photo essay book, Matsu no Hitorigoto, through Asahi Shimbun Publishers. In 2004 she was Kim in Miss Saigon.

In September, 2004, she released "Toki no Fune", which was composed by the Japanese singer Akeboshi. It is similar to his song, "A nine days' wonder", which was released after the "Toki no Fune" single. The single also contains a cover of Akeboshi's "White Reply" previously recorded on her sixth album, Harvest Songs.

In late 2004, she 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, Matsu and Kimura starred in a special one-night edition of Hero. In October 2006, Matsu was in a weekly drama for the first time in over three years titled Yakusha Damashii for Fuji TV alongside 73-year-old actor Makoto Fujita, a family friend.

In May 2007, Matsu kicked off her third concert tour to commemorate her tenth year as a singer.

In releasing her album Cherish you in 2007, the song "Ashita Haru ga Kitara" was redone to combine Matsu's voice as a 20-year-old with her current one.

On November 27, 2014, Matsu revealed on her official website that she was pregnant with her first child. On March 30, 2015, she gave birth to her daughter. She revealed on her website that the baby was 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” during the 92nd Academy Awards. Every international performer sang one line of the song in a different language: Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg in Danish, Willemijn Verkaik in German, Matsu in Japanese, Carmen Sarahí in Latin American Spanish, Lisa Stokke in Norwegian, Kasia Łaska in Polish, Anna Buturlina in Russian, Gisela in European Spanish and Gam Wichayanee in Thai.

Matsu has an established career as a songwriter and singer and the style of her music is often laid-back and relaxing. She has worked with many different producers, but in her third album, Sakura no Ame, Itsuka, she worked on every song (either composing the melody or lyrics) on the album. This was her most successful album recorded with Universal Music.

• 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)