Hitoshi Matsumoto (松本 人志, Matsumoto Hitoshi; born September 8, 1963) is a Japanese comedian and filmmaker. He was born…
Hitoshi Matsumoto (松本 人志, Matsumoto Hitoshi; born September 8, 1963) is a Japanese comedian and filmmaker. He was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is one half of the comedy duo Downtown, alongside Masatoshi Hamada, and is one of the most popular comedians in Japan. Matsumoto has directed several movies beginning in 2007 with Big Man Japan, in several of which he also starred as the main character. He currently hosts Documental on Amazon Prime. His Amazon Prime Video series Documental which he created and hosted has been adapted internationally as LOL: Last One Laughing, with versions distributed in more than 25 countries and regions. In late 2023, the Japanese weekly magazine Shūkan Bunshun published allegations concerning Matsumoto’s conduct at private gatherings, including claims of non-consensual sexual activity. In early 2024, Matsumoto suspended his public entertainment activities while pursuing a defamation lawsuit against the magazine’s publisher. He later withdrew the lawsuit in 2024. In November 2025, he resumed his entertaiment activities through DOWNTOWN+,a paid streaming service launched that month.
Famous People from Hyogo Prefecture
Hyogo Prefecture: 7 people
Yoshito Terakado (寺門 義人, Terakado Yoshito; born 25 November 1962, in Kawanishi, Hyōgo, Japan), better known as Jimon…
Yoshito Terakado (寺門 義人, Terakado Yoshito; born 25 November 1962, in Kawanishi, Hyōgo, Japan), better known as Jimon Terakado (寺門 ジモン, Terakado Jimon), is a Japanese comedian who is represented by the talent agency Ohta Production. He is part of the comedy trio Dachou Club. He is known for his love of food, in particular beef, and appears often on gourmet programs on television.
Shozin Fukui (福居ショウジン, Fukui Shōjin; 29 July 1961 – 2 April 2026) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was…
Shozin Fukui (福居ショウジン, Fukui Shōjin; 29 July 1961 – 2 April 2026) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was best known for his contributions to the cyberpunk genre.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (黒沢 清, Kurosawa Kiyoshi; born July 19, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker, critic, author, actor, and a…
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (黒沢 清, Kurosawa Kiyoshi; born July 19, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker, critic, author, actor, and a former professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (2005–23). Noted for his psychological films that often focus on ambiguous narratives and on their characters' inner turmoils and quests for meaning and connections, he is best known for his contributions to psychological horror and Japanese horror, notably his acclaimed 1997 film Cure and his 2001 film Pulse, although he has also worked in a variety of other genres. While most of his work has been in Japanese, two of his films, Daguerrotype (2016) and Serpent's Path (2024; a remake of his own 1998 film of the same name), were in French. Kurosawa received the Medal with Purple Ribbon for his contributions to Japanese cinema, in 2021. The New York Times stated that Kurosawa "is to psychological fright what David Cronenberg is to body horror."
Osao Chosei Funahara (born December 10, 1953) is a musician and film director and producer. Born in Hyōgo Prefecture of…
Osao Chosei Funahara (born December 10, 1953) is a musician and film director and producer. Born in Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan, Chosei Funahara was educated in both the United States and Japan. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Nihon University College of Art's Cinema department in Tokyo. While pursuing New York University's NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science (Cinema Studies), he performed as bassist and founding member of the cult punk rock group the Plasmatics.
Kirio Urayama (浦山 桐郎, Urayama Kirio; 14 December 1930 – 20 October 1985) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.
Toshio Masuda (舛田 利雄, Masuda Toshio; October 5, 1927 – August 26, 2026) was a Japanese film director, screenwriter and…
Toshio Masuda (舛田 利雄, Masuda Toshio; October 5, 1927 – August 26, 2026) was a Japanese film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. He developed a reputation as a consistent box office hit-maker. Over the course of five decades, 16 of his films made the yearly top ten lists at the Japanese box office—a second place record in the industry. Between 1958 and 1968 he directed 52 films for the Nikkatsu Company. Masuda was their top director of action films and worked with the company's top stars, including Yujiro Ishihara with whom he made 25 films. After the breakdown of the studio system, he moved on to a succession of big-budget movies including the American-Japanese co-production Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and the disaster epic Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974). He worked on such anime productions as the Space Battleship Yamato series. His corporate drama Company Funeral (1989) earned him a Japanese Academy Award nomination and wins at the Blue Ribbon Awards and Mainichi Film Awards. In Japan, his films are well-remembered by fans and called genre landmarks by critics. He remains little known abroad save for rare exceptions of his post-Nikkatsu work such as Tora! Tora! Tora!. However, a number of his films were screened in a 2005 Nikkatsu Action Cinema retrospective in Italy, and a few have since made their way to the United States. In 2009, he helped produce Space Battleship Yamato: Resurrection.