Akinori Matsuo was born on November 5, 1928 in Japan. Akinori was a director and assistant director, known for Yakuza sensei (1960), Meiji keppûroku: Taka to ôkami (1968) and Tekka no hanamichi (1968). Akinori died on July 12, 2010.

Originally named Matsuo Akinori, Ma was one of the Japanese directors who was hired by Shaw Brothers, and soon started the genre of Hong Kong films with a Japanese touch. Together with Inoue Umetsugu and Koh Nakahira (stage-named Yang Shu-Shin), they directed films like "Operation Lipstick" (directed by Inoue), "Interpol" (directed by Nakahira) and "Asia-Pol" (directed by Akinori).