Kinrey Matsuyama

Kinrey Matsuyama (松山 金嶺) was a Japanese billiards player. A Time article from 1952 referred to Matsuyama as a Japanese Willie Hoppe. By 1952 Matsuyama's last visit to the United States was in 1936. Matsuyama coached Masako Katsura. Matsuyama died on December 20, 1953, from a heart ailment. Matsuyama had had plans to move to Honolulu with his family, become an American citizen, and purchase a billiard parlor. His eldest son, Hideo, 18, was attending a San Francisco high school at the time. Matsuyama was said to have taught all of Japan's top players, among whom Katsura was his star pupil.