Person: Matsumoto Rika

Matsumoto Rika, born November 30, 1968, is a voice actress and J-pop singer who was born in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. She is affiliated with Sun Music Production (サンミュージックプロダクション).

She was one of the original members of the popular vocal group JAM Project. After the way of the stage, she embarked on voice acting and a singing career. The most popular role by Rika is Satoshi (Ash Ketchum), the main character of the anime series Pokémon (Pocket Monsters). She especially likes to take on roles for young boys. She is also known as the Japanese voice of Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore and Patricia Arquette.

Matsumoto is another widely-heard voice artist, both in her music recordings and her work in anime, where she has had lead or supporting roles in dozens of series. She has also had a radio show in Japan and does some dubbing work for translations of American films and TV series into Japanese. While she is still active in voice acting, her major performance now is with the group JAM Project, which performs songs for and from anime; one of their famous performances was a 24-hour marathon during which members of the group sang excerpts from one thousand anime songs. Matsumoto's CD "Mezase Pokémon Master" (Pokémon Japanese theme song) has sold over 1.85 million copies in Japan.

Since April 7, 2008, she announced that she was taking time off from JAM Project as well as her solo work. She then resumed when she and Megumi Toyoguchi sang the 3rd OP of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl but has no plans on going back to the group.