born on november 19, 1957, matsuyama grew up in bunkyō-ku, tokyo. after graduating from seishi elementary school, and then from , he enrolled in science division-i of the university of tokyo, in 1976. among those in his class in the division was makoto gonokami (physicist and current president of the university of tokyo). matsuyama later switched to international relations. among those in his class there were toyohisa kozuki (current ambassador to russia), (current ambassador to singapore, former ambassador to the united nations and sweden) and former ldp diet member . it was through his studies in international relations that he came across economics for the first time. although he passed the advanced-level of the japanese government in his senior year, he chose to continue his studies in economics.