Three months ago, practically nobody in the Philippines had heard of the name Daniel Matsunaga. But his life changed after he appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine's 2009 Cosmo Men supplement in September, wearing nothing but a naughty smirk.

His bold stint in Cosmo obviously caught the eye of Pinoys. Daniel now boasts a slew of commercials, print ads, and runway shows that any newbie would envy.

For his first TV exposure, he shared the screen with KC Concepcion in Close Up. Subsequently, he starred in a recent Sun Cellular commercial, and showed off his ripped upper body for the latest Solmux campaign.

It all began when Daniel was contacted by local agency Mercator Model and Artist Management. Daniel, along with his sister and fellow model Vanessa, jetted to the country to try their luck.

"I came because I heard that there's a good market for acting and there are better opportunities for models," the three-fourths Brazilian, one-fourth Japanese looker tells Cosmo.ph (click here for the interview). "The market is [more] open for commercials and better jobs than some other countries in Asia and Europe."

Daniel immediately felt at home in Manila. "It's nice place, nice weather. I like this rainy weather. It looks like Brazil sometimes." And, the people here are "very nice."

Daniel is a well-traveled model.  "I've been to Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Holland, LA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Indonesia... everywhere!" he related. Manila is the latest pit stop in his long list of modeling milestones.

The hot Brapanese was actually a professional football player in Hong Kong, but for now, he'd like to focus on modeling. "Modeling [comes] first, 'cause I'm trying to do acting later. I'm learning Tagalog. I'm taking lessons. Football is just a second option if it doesn't happen."

Turning only 21 this month, Daniel certainly looks like he has a long, bright modeling career ahead of him!