---
name: "Takashi Matsuyama"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/takashi-matsuyama"
fi1m_id: "takashi-matsuyama"
imdb_id: "nm0559688"
tmdb_id: 1513913
wikidata_id: "Q3514200"
roles: ["Production designer"]
born: "22 September 1908"
died: "14 July 1977"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 93
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-25T07:44:07.726371+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Takashi Matsuyama

## Identity

Takashi Matsuyama

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/takashi-matsuyama
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** takashi-matsuyama
- **IMDb ID:** nm0559688
- **TMDB ID:** 1513913
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3514200
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Matsuyama, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3514200, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0559688/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1513913

Production designer. Born 22 September 1908 in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Died 14 July 1977.

## Details

- **Work:** Production designer
- **Born:** 22 September 1908, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
- **Died:** 14 July 1977
- **Active:** 1950–1954
- **Also known as:** まつやま たかし, So Matsuyama, So Matsuda
- **Frequently works with:** [Akira Kurosawa](https://film.one/person/akira-kurosawa.md), [Shinobu Hashimoto](https://film.one/person/shinobu-hashimoto.md), [Takashi Shimura](https://film.one/person/takashi-shimura.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 93 to 89 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Action 1, Crime 1, Mystery 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $105m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Matsuyama, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3514200, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0559688/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1513913

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Ikiru*](https://film.one/film/ikiru.md) (92), [*Rashomon*](https://film.one/film/rashomon.md) (92)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Takashi Matsuyama was a Japanese production designer and art director. He was born on 22 September 1908 in Kobe, Japan, and died on 14 July 1977.

He worked frequently with director Akira Kurosawa. His credits include production design on *Rashomon* (1950) and *Ikiru* (1952), and art direction on *Seven Samurai* (1954), *Stray Dog* (1949) and *The Burmese Harp* (1956). He received two Academy Award nominations for art direction.

Matsuyama was also credited as Sô Matsuyama or So Matsuda. He worked on numerous other Japanese films in the 1940s to 1960s.

*Sources: imdb.com, fr.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Seven Samurai* (1954), Fi1m 95, Art Direction — [page](https://film.one/film/seven-samurai.md)
- *Ikiru* (1952), Fi1m 92, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/ikiru.md)
- *Rashomon* (1950), Fi1m 92, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/rashomon.md)

## Complete filmography (94)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Green Light to Joy* (1967), as Art Direction
- *Ghost Story of Two Travelers at Tenamonya* (1967), Production Design
- *Last Days of the Tokugawa Regime: Tenamonya Confusion* (1967), as Art Direction
- *This Is Youth!* (1966), Production Design
- *Big Wind from Tokyo* (1966), as Art Direction
- *Tenamonya Tôkaidô* (1966), as Art Direction
- *The Sword of Doom* (1966), as Art Direction
- *Song of Dawn* (1965), as Art Direction
- *Taking the Castle* (1965), as Art Direction
- *The Scarlet Camellia* (1964), as Art Direction
- *Brand of Evil* (1964), as Art Direction
- *Alone Across the Pacific* (1963), as Art Direction
- *Children of Izu* (1962), as Art Direction
- *Love in Ginza* (1962), as Art Direction
- *Season of Farewell* (1962), as Art Direction
- *That Guy and I* (1961), Production Design
- *Wait for Tomorrow* (1960), Production Design
- *The Lovelorn Geisha* (1960), as Art Direction
- *Jungle Block* (1960), as Art Direction
- *Students and Daughters* (1960), Production Design
- *The Age of Our Own* (1959), Production Design
- *A Secret Rendezvous* (1959), as Art Direction
- *Yujiro in Europe* (1959), as Art Direction
- *The Praying Man* (1959), Production Design
- *Crimson Wings* (1958), as Art Direction
- *Zesshou* (1958), as Art Direction
- *Face in the Dark* (1958), as Art Direction
- *The Man Who Rode the Typhoon* (1958), as Art Direction
- *The Hotelman's Holiday* (1958), as Art Direction
- *Rusty Knife* (1958), as Art Direction
- *Forever, My Love* (1958), Production Design
- *But the Flesh is Weak* (1957), as Art Direction
- *Temptation* (1957), as Art Direction
- *The Temptress and the Monk* (1957), as Art Direction
- *Who's the Real Killer* (1957), as Art Direction
- *The Champion* (1957), as Art Direction
- *Muhō Ichidai* (1957), as Art Direction
- *Dancing Sisters* (1957), as Art Direction
- *Lunar Eclipse* (1956), as Art Direction
- *Saigo no sentō-ki* (1956), as Art Direction
- *Summer Storm* (1956), as Art Direction
- *The Shadow of Fear* (1956), as Art Direction
- *Crazed Fruit* (1956), as Art Direction
- *Season of the Sun* (1956), as Art Direction
- *The Burmese Harp* (1956), as Art Direction
- *Christ in Bronze* (1955), as Art Direction
- *Kokoro ni hana no saku hi made* (1955), as Art Direction
- *Life of Geisha* (1955), as Art Direction
- *Seven Samurai* (1954), as Art Direction — Fi1m 95, [page](https://film.one/film/seven-samurai.md)
- *An Inn at Osaka* (1954), as Art Direction
- *Hanran* (1954), Production Design
- *Hiroba no kōdoku* (1953), Production Design
- *Husband and Wife* (1953), as Art Direction
- *Oka wa hanazakari* (1952), Production Design
- *Ikiru* (1952), Production Design — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/ikiru.md)
- *Muntinlupa no yo wa fukete* (1952), as Art Direction
- *Foghorn* (1952), Production Design
- *Vendetta of a Samurai* (1952), Production Design
- *The Lady of Musashino* (1951), Production Design
- *The Blue Pearl* (1951), Production Design
- *The Idiot* (1951), as Art Direction
- *Lady Takarazuka* (1951), as Art Direction
- *Elegy* (1951), Production Design
- *Shinju fujin: Hitozuma no maki* (1950), as Art Direction
- *Battle of Roses* (1950), as Art Direction
- *Shinju fujin: Shojo no maki* (1950), as Art Direction
- *Rashomon* (1950), Production Design — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/rashomon.md)
- *Escape at Dawn* (1950), Production Design
- *Escape from Prison* (1950), as Art Direction
- *Stray Dog* (1949), Production Design
- *Hakuchō wa kanashikarazuya* (1949), as Art Direction
- *The Blue Mountains: Part II* (1949), as Art Direction
- *The Blue Mountains: Part I* (1949), Production Design, Art Direction
- *Kaze no ko* (1949), Production Design
- *The Virgin Who Embraced the Rainbow* (1948), as Art Direction
- *The Beauty of the Evening Sky* (1948), Production Design
- *Drunken Angel* (1948), as Set Decoration · Production Design
- *These Foolish Times* (1947), Production Design
- *Once More* (1947), as Art Direction
- *Hinoki Butai* (1946), as Art Direction
- *Battle Troop* (1944), Production Design
- *Nichijô no tatakai* (1944), as Art Direction
- *Colonel Kato's Falcon Squadron* (1944), Production Design
- *Chorus of Prayer* (1943), as Art Direction
- *Suicide Troops of the Watchtower* (1943), as Art Direction
- *The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya* (1942), Production Design
- *Currents of Youth* (1942), as Art Direction
- *The Battle of Kawanakajima* (1941), as Art Direction
- *Shanghai Moon* (1941), as Art Direction
- *Horse* (1941), Production Design
- *China Night* (1940), as Art Direction
- *Roppa no Hōjiro Sensei* (1939), as Art Direction
- *The Whole Family Works* (1939), as Set Decoration
- *Five Scouts* (1938), Production Design

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1957: Best Art Direction, Black and White (nominated), for *Seven Samurai*
- 1953: Best Art Direction, Black and White (nominated), for *Rashomon*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/takashi-matsuyama