His older brother is Naoyuki Matsuda, a musical translator and professor at Komazawa University.
He joined the Himawari Theatre Group at age five and made his child debut in the TV drama Mother's Suzu in 1974.
He gained attention as an actor in the 1983 TBS television drama Family Game (as Shigeyuki Numata).
In 1997, he voiced Ashitaka in the anime movie Princess Mononoke, and voiced Leonardo DiCaprio's role Jack Dawson in the American film Titanic to raise his profile.
He became active around the stage, working with directors such as Yukio Ninagawa and Yoji Aoi.