Yoneko Matsukane is a Japanese actress and voice actress born on October 22, 1949, in Tokyo, Japan. Her birth name is Yoneko Ashida. She graduated from Tobo Girls High School and began her career in the entertainment industry in 1969 when she joined the theatre company Theatre Echo as a trainee. Her debut performance was in the stage play "Hyōri Uragenai Kaeru Gassen". Over her career, she has been affiliated with several theatre companies, including Theatre Echo, Gekidan Tokyo Denki Battery, and Knockout.

Matsukane has built an extensive career as a voice actress, featuring in numerous anime television series from the 1970s onward, often in roles that require youthful or characterful voices. Some of her notable voice roles include the Narrator in the long-running series Furusato Meguri Nippon no Mukashi Banashi, a role she performed alongside actor Akira Emoto. In the 1970s, she voiced several characters in classic anime, such as Iggy in Little Lulu and Her Little Friends, Carrie Ingalls in Laura, a Little Girl on the Prairie, Chicchi and Ylvi in Vicke the Little Viking, and the title character Tamageta in Tonari no Tamageta-kun. Her other prominent roles from this era include Genevieve Rostain in Paris no Isabelle and Miyoko in Zō no Inai Dōbutsuen. In the 1980s, she continued her voice work with roles such as Torakichi in Hello! Spank, for which she also performed an insert song, Tamako Aichi in Miss Machiko, and Tora Hitotsuboshi in Hitotsuboshi-ke no Ultra Baa-san. She also contributed to the anime adaptations of Cutie Honey, Jungle Kurobe, and The Rose of Versailles.

Beyond anime, Matsukane is widely recognized as the consistent Japanese dub voice for actress Talia Shire, particularly in her role as Adrian in the Rocky film series. She has also had a prolific career as a live-action actress, appearing in numerous television dramas and films. Her notable live-action credits include the long-running film series Otoko wa Tsurai yo (Tora-san) starting in 1993, the television drama Ichi Rittoru no Namida (One Litre of Tears) in 2005, and more recently, the critically acclaimed series Rebooting (2023) and the film Perfect Days (2023). In recognition of her stage work, she received the 16th Kinokuniya Theater Award for Individual Performance in 1981.