Personal info
Known for
Actor
Gender
Male
Birthday
28 November
Location
Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Edit pageKen Matsudaira
Biography
Ken Matsudaira (Matsudaira Ken, familiarly shortened as Matsuken, born November 28, 1953) is a Japanese actor and musician from Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan. His real name is Sueshichi Suzuki (Suzuki Sueshichi).
In 1974, he joined Shintaro Katsu's production company and made his debut with the television series Zatoichi as a guest. For a quarter of a century, he starred in the series The Unfettered Shogun as Tokugawa Yoshimune, the title character. He also played a similar role in Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful.
Other noteworthy roles include Hōjō Yoshitoki in the 1979 NHK series Kusa Moeru, Irobe Matashiro in the 1999 NHK series Genroku Ryoran (involving the chushingura, that is, the story of the Forty-seven rōnin), Shibata Katsuie in the 2002 NHK series Toshiie to Matsu, Ōtomo Sōrin in the 2004 NHK special Ōtomo Sōrin—Kokoro no Ōkoku wo Motomete, and Ōishi Kuranosuke in the 2004 TV Asahi series Chushingura.
He also played Asano Takumi no Kami, an important (although brief) role, in an earlier chushingura, making a career of that story. In 2005, he appeared as Benkei in Yoshitsune, the yearlong NHK Taiga drama.
TV Asahi tapped Matsudaira to star as Tōyama no Kin-san in the latest (2007) version of their program of the same name. He appeared in Tokugawa Fūun-roku, the annual jidaigeki spectacular which was shown on TV Tokyo on January 2, 2008.
