Rica Matsumoto

is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer who was born in Yokohama, Japan. Her name is also sometimes romanized as Rika Matsumoto. She was one of the founders of the anison band JAM Project.

After early stage work, she began both voice acting and singing careers. Her most notable role is Satoshi (Ash Ketchum in English localizations), the original main character of the anime series ''Pokémon''. Other notable roles include Ryo Bakura in ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', Midori Kodama in ''Azuki Chan'', and Aoi Futaba in ''You're Under Arrest''. Matsumoto also performs the songs for many of the openings for the Japanese ''Pokémon'' anime.

Matsumoto 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. In April 2008, she announced in she was taking time off from JAM Project to focus on her solo work. Provided by Wikipedia