Keiko Matsuzaka

Who is Keiko Matsuzaka?

Keiko Matsuzaka is a Japanese actress.

Born in Ōta, Tokyo, her father was a naturalized South Korean while her mother was Japanese. Active as a child actress in the 1960s, she came into her own as an adult with Daiei, then in 1972 with Shochiku.

Keiko played the "Madonna" role in the 1981 film Naniwa no Koi no Torajirō, the 27th in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series. The producers called on her again for that role in Torajirō no Endan, the 46th of the 49 installments. Keiko also appeared in Legend of the Eight Samurai, Shin Izakaya Yūrei, Dr. Akagi by Shōhei Imamura, Runin: Banished by Eiji Okuda, and Inugamike no Ichizoku. She won the award for best actress at the 6th Hochi Film Award for The Gate of Youth and Tora-san's Love in Osaka, and at the 15th Hochi Film Award for The Sting of Death.

Her early television appearances have included the tokusatsu superhero series Ultra Seven. She portrayed Nohime, wife of Oda Nobunaga, in the 1973 NHK Taiga drama Kunitori Monogatari. From 1973 to 1981, she appeared in Edo o Kiru, including five seasons as the character Oyuki. The 1975 Taiga drama Genroku Taiheiki featured Keiko as Aguri, the wife and later widow of Asano Naganori in the dramatization of the events of the Forty-seven Ronin. She then appeared in Kusa Moeru in the same time slot in 1979, and portrayed Sada, the lead role in the 1985 Taiga drama Haru no Hatō. Having portrayed Aguri, Keiko also played Riku, the wife of Oishi Yoshio, in Chūshingura Yōzen'in no Inbō, broadcast on January 2, 2007. She has made numerous other television appearances in series and specials, jidaigeki, contemporary dramas, and variety shows. Recently she is portrayed "Ikushima" in the 2008 NHK Taiga Drama Atsuhime.