Rica Matsumoto

Rica Matsumoto (松本梨香), born on November 30, 1968 in Yokohama, Japan, is a Japanese singer, voice actress, and performer active since 1988. Her work spans J-pop, anison, and anime- and game-related music. She is best known as the voice of Satoshi, known internationally as Ash Ketchum, in the Pokémon anime, a role she played for 26 years, and she was also one of the founders of JAM Project. Alongside voice acting, Matsumoto has maintained a parallel singing career built around character songs, theme performances, live appearances, and solo releases associated with Tokuma Shoten. She sang several major Pokémon themes, including "Rival! (ライバル！)", "OK!", "High Touch! (ハイタッチ!)", and "Alola!! (アローラ!!)", and the single containing "めざせポケモンマスター" sold 1.85 million copies. She also performed as the vocalist of TRiCYCLE, founded 株式会社Matsurica in 2018, was appointed a Cool Japan Ambassador in 2019, received the Kids/Family Award at the 17th Seiyu Awards in 2023, became dean of the Voice Actor & Entertainer Department at 代々木アニメーション学院 on October 1 of that year, and in 2026 served as the lead voice actress for the nationwide release of the puppet film Yamatotakeru: Shiratori Densetsu.