Kenichi Matsuyama

Kenichi Matsuyama is a Japanese actor who gained international prominence for his portrayals of distinctive and unusual characters. He is widely recognized for his performance as the character L in the live-action film adaptations Death Note and Death Note 2: The Last Name in 2006, as well as the 2008 spin-off L: Change the World. Additionally, he portrayed the protagonist Toru Watanabe in the feature film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel Norwegian Wood.

Matsuyama enrolled at Aomori Prefectural Ominato High School in 2000. He launched his modeling career in 2001 after winning the top prize at the New Style Audition, a joint venture involving the agency Horipro, where he was selected from a pool of 16,572 entrants to model for PARCO. He later completed his secondary education at Tokyo Metropolitan Toyama High School. A native speaker of the Shimokita dialect, his professional stage name renders his given name in katakana characters rather than traditional kanji.

His television debut occurred in 2002 with a role in the drama series Gokusen. The following year, he made his initial appearance on the cinema screen in the 2003 film Bright Future. In 2004, Matsuyama landed a lead role in the movie Winning Pass, portraying a character inspired by actual wheelchair basketball competitor Kohei Kamimura.

Throughout his career, Matsuyama has taken on a variety of diverse projects across different media. In 2009, he starred in Ultra Miracle Love Story, a film in which he delivered his performance using the Tsugaru dialect. He also expanded into stage acting, appearing in the 2017 theatrical production Seven Souls in the Skull Castle. That same year, he provided the voice for Balthazar Bratt in the Japanese dubbed release of the animated film Despicable Me 3.

His later work includes playing a police detective in the 2023 television drama series Why Didn't I Tell You a Million Times?. Beyond his acting roles, a scene in L: Change the World featuring his character speaking to another character in English suggests he possesses English language skills.

In his personal life, Matsuyama married actress Koyuki Katō on April 1, 2011, after the two appeared together in the film Kamui Gaiden. The couple has three children: a first child born in January 2012, a second born in South Korea in January 2013, and a third born in July 2015.