Keiko Matsuzaka

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Keiko Matsuzaka

Born	July 20, 1952 (1952-07-20) (age 55) Tokyo, Japan
Years active	1967 - present

Keiko Matsuzaka (松坂慶子, Matsuzaka Keiko^?) (born July 20, 1952) is an actress from Ōta, Tokyo. Her father was a naturalized South Korean; her mother, a 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 (1993). Keiko also appeared in Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983), Shin Izakaya Yūrei (1996), Dr. Akagi by Shōhei Imamura (1998), Runin: Banished by Eiji Okuda (2004), and Inugamike no Ichizoku (scheduled for release in 2007).

Her early television appearances have included the tokusatsu superhero series Ultra Seven (1968). 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 (Yōzen'in), 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 (Kawakami Sadayakko), 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. Currently she is portraying the role of a major character Ikushima in the 2008 NHK Taiga Drama Atsuhime.

Matsuzaka has represented a variety of products and companies in television commercials. These include Nippon Menard Cosmetic Co., Nissin Foods, Yutoku Phamaceutical Industries, Nissan Sunny, Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Kleenex, and Ōtsuka Foods.

Among her other works are songs released in 1979 and 2002, and a book of photographs of her, also in 2002.