He has a deep fascination with German culture, and expresses it through his work, especially in "Uchû kaizoku kyaputen Hârokku" (1978) (Space Pirate Captain Harlock).He participated in the design and commission of a Tokyo water bus, the Himiko, which runs between Asakusa and Toyosu. Its design featured a futuristic look/décor and contains models of "Ginga tetsudô Three-Nine" (1978)'s main cast (Tetsuro, Maetel and the Conductor).His show "Uchû senkan Yamato" (1974) (Space Battleship Yamato) was dubbed and released into the United States as "Star Blazers" (1979) to wide popularity and acclaim. The series is considered a groundbreaker for introducing a new term/genre to the world - anime.In 1981, to promote his upcoming series "Shin taketori monogatari: 1000-nen joô" (1981), he shot a special video which combined animation with live-action. The video features the Yamato (the eponymous "Uchû senkan Yamato" (1974)) docking on Earth, and its crew disembarking. While most of the crew rendezvous at a park to honour their Captain, Yuki Mori heads to Matsumoto's house, along with her comrades Queen Starsha and Sasha; Maetel from "Ginga tetsudô Three-Nine" (1978); Queen Emeraldas from "Uchû kaizoku kyaputen Hârokku" (1978); and Yukino Yayoi of "Shin taketori monogatari: 1000-nen joô" (1981) (all Matsumoto's heroines). There, all the women interview him about his work. This is considered the first feature to combine animation with live-action, long before big films like Space Jam (1996) did the same.He used to draw pictures of actress Kaoru Yachigusa (her faces and hands) and carry them around as a lucky charm.His favourite actress is Marianne Hold , whom he had watched in Marianne de ma jeunesse (1955/I).The basic look for all Matsumoto's heroines was inspired by an old photograph he discovered during the Second World War. The photo was of Takako Mise, the granddaughter of Dr Philipp Franz Von Siebold, a Dutchman and the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan during the 1800s. Matsumoto was also inspired by actresses Marianne Hold , Eleanor Parker , Danielle Darrieux and Kaoru Yachigusa .Matsumoto has based many of his characters on people he personally knew. Captain Okita was based on his father; Susumu Kodai was named after Matsumoto's younger brother; Yuki Mori was based on a pen pal of Matsumoto's; Dr Sado was based on an assistant who served Matsumoto; Captain Harlock was based on an elementary-school classmate.He notes sci-fi writers Jyuza Unno and H.G. Wells , artists Shigeru Komatsuzaki, Tetsuji Fukushima and Fukujiro Yokoi, and animators Walt Disney , Max Fleischer and Osamu Tezuka as an influence on his work.He has allowed many characters in his shows to cross over into each other's stories. This has caused fans to officially link together the worlds he has created (although this has resulted in continuity issues) into a fictional universe, known as the Leijiverse.He owns a Revi C-12D gunsight, used in World War II fighter planes. This gunsight was used as a visual reference for the animators working on Waga seishun no Arcadia (1982).His character Captain Harlock was voted by Mania.com as the fourth most iconic anime hero.In 1999, the Matsumoto Symbol Road was constructed in the city of Tsuruga, to commemorate the town's 100th anniversary (Tsuraga is noted for being a place of science and progress). The Road is lined with a series of 4-foot bronze statues, of characters/scenes from Matsumoto's shows "Uchû senkan Yamato" (1974) and "Ginga tetsudô Three-Nine" (1978).He supervised the creation of several music videos for the French electronic-music group Daft Punk (who are big fans of Matsumoto), set to tracks from their album "Discovery". These videos were issued end-to-end, making a full-length animated movie titled Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003).The music group Daft Punk is big a fan of Matsumoto's work and commissioned him to work on the music videos of their album "Discovery". This inspired Toei Animation to hire both the group and Matsumoto to make Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003).His wife is manga artist Miyako Maki, who achieved renown as the creator of Licca-chan, a popular Japanese doll.Kaoru Shintani served as Matsumoto's assistant; Matsumoto claimed that one of his characters, Yatterman from "Space Pirate Captain Harlock", was drawn to resemble Shintani. When Shintani went on to make his own career in anime, his works had a distinct Matsumoto influence (notably, his "Area 88" saga was a military drama like "Yamato").Matsumoto had originally planned to a course in mechanical engineering, but due to family financial difficulties he instead took a course in art. He later encouraged and supported his brother Susumu Matsumoto to take the engineering course. Susumu went on to become the director of the Nagasaki Research Institute, and as of 2011 is a technical officer at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries technology HQ (he designed the core of the H-IIA missile).In grade school, he made up the word "harlock" and would call it out while walking down the road. The term became the name of his hero Captain Harlock.He cites the period/military drama "Shinsengami keppuroku" as an influence on Yamato.He holds a collection of antiques, especially ancient weaponry (mostly swords and guns). He is such an aficionado on historical weaponry that he is able to verify their authenticity and approve ownership applications for such artifacts.In his youth he was quite a globetrotter, travelling to the United States, Brazil, Peru, Africa, Russia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, India and China.Apart from anime, he has also written a great deal of children's fantasy stories, mostly fairytales about girls and animals.His penname of Leiji means "eternal samurai", while his birthname of Akira means "become sun/light/fire.".