Born in 1976 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from Sophia University, he moved to the U.S. in 2002, where he graduated at the top of his class from the Pratt Institute in New York. He is a painter as well as a sculptor and installer. In his work, elements of both poles, such as East and West, ancient and modern, figurative and abstract, can be seen, reflecting Matsuyama's own experience of growing up in both Japan and the U.S. He has also worked in Japan during the Edo and Meiji periods. He is also influenced by a variety of subjects, including Japanese art of the Edo and Meiji periods, ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, French Renaissance painting, and postwar contemporary art. He has also gained acclaim for his three-dimensional works, including "Hanao," a large-scale sculpture for the rotary in front of Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. He currently maintains a studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
