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Voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
in Japan is an industry where actors provide voice-overs as characters or narrators in media including
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
, video games,
audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
s, commercials, and dubbing for non-Japanese films and television programs. In
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and actresses have devoted fan clubs due to a crossover with the
idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...
industry, and some fans may watch a show merely to hear a particular voice actor. Many voice actors have concurrent singing careers and have also crossed over to live-action media. There are around 130 voice acting schools in Japan. Broadcast companies and talent agencies often have their own troupes of vocal actors. Magazines focusing specifically on voice acting are published in Japan, with '' Voice Animage'' being the longest running. The term character voice (abbreviated CV) has been commonly used since the 1980s by such Japanese anime magazines as ' and ''
Newtype is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime (and to a lesser extent, tokusatsu, manga, Japanese science fiction, seiyuu, and video games). It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985, with i ...
'' to describe a voice actor associated with a particular anime or game character.


Definition and role

A provides voice-overs for characters and narration for various types of media, including
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
,
video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
,
audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
s, live-action stunt and puppet shows, and commercials. A voice actor also provides dubbing for non-Japanese television programs and films. The initial term for voice actors in Japan was , but was later shortened to a compound word to make the word . While several voice actors opposed the term, believing it devalued their roles as actors, only after voice acting became more prominent did the word become more widespread. There are three main factors that set voice actors and actors apart. * Their professional upbringing by the , formed by
NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...
and other private networks during the golden age of radio . * The lack of Japan-made movies and dramas forced TV networks to air foreign shows, which raised demand for voice actors. * The boom in the anime world market, which produced a wave of young talents who wanted to become voice actors, rather than actors.


History

Voice acting has existed in Japan since the advent of radio. It was only in the 1970s that the term seiyū entered popular usage because of the anime ''
Space Battleship Yamato is a Japanese science fiction anime series produced and written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975 ...
''. According to a newspaper interview with a voice talent manager, "Since the Yamato boom, the word 'seiyū' has become instantly recognised; before that, actors and actresses who introduced themselves as seiyū were often asked, 'You mean you work for Seiyu supermarket?'"


Early history

The earliest Japanese animation would predate the introduction of audio in film by at least a decade. Much like their live-action contemporaries during this period, screenings would have musical accompaniment and oftentimes include a ''
benshi were Japanese performers who provided live narration for silent films (both Japanese films and Western films). ''Benshi'' are sometimes called or . Role The earliest films available for public display were produced by Western studios, portraying ...
'' (narrator). The benshi would fulfill a role similar to ones in the Japanese puppet theater and magic lantern shows, where the narration would fill in dialogue and other story elements. With the introduction of sound in film, voices were often pulled from the available staff. For example, in '' Benkei tai Ushiwaka'' animator
Kenzō Masaoka was an early anime creator. Masaoka was the first to use cel animation and recorded sound in anime.Kōdansha (1993). ''Japan: an illustrated encyclopedia.'' Kōdansha, He worked at a number of companies as an animator and actor, and was one of ...
cast himself and his wife as the titular Benkei and Ushiwaka, respectively.


Radio drama era

In 1925, the Tokyo Broadcasting Company (predecessor to the
NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...
, Japan's public broadcasting system) started radio broadcasts. In that same year, twelve students who were specialising in voice-only performances became the first voice actors in Japan when a performance of a radio drama was broadcast. They referred to themselves as "seiyū", but in those days the term was used by newspapers to refer to the profession. In 1941, NHK opened a training program to the public to prepare actors to specialise in radio dramas. This was called the . Then in 1942, the Tokyo Broadcasting Drama Troupe debuted its first performance. This was the second time that the term "seiyū" was used to refer to voice actors. There are several theories as to how the term "seiyū" was coined. One theory is that Oyhashi Tokusaburo, a reporter for the Yomiuri Newspaper, coined the term. Another theory is that Tatsu Ooka, an entertainment programming managing producer for the NHK, came up with it. At first, voice actors, like those at the Tokyo Radio Drama Troupe and similar companies specialised in radio dramas; with the advent of television, the term took on the additional meaning of one who does dubbing for animation. Television broadcasting aside, when radio was the leading mass medium, actors who played in radio dramas were not without their fans; for example, actors in the Nagoya Radio Drama troupe who played the lead love interest roles often received many fan letters.


1950s: First voice actor boom

Starting in the 1950s, a rise in the popularity of radio dramas as well as foreign television and film created many new opportunities for voice actors. After the 1950 Broadcasting Act, the '' Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK)'' began public broadcasting. Among these new broadcasts were several radio dramas, such as the 1952 drama '' Kimi no Nawa (Your Name)'', which would receive several adaptations on film, television, and stage due to its popularity. Actors that were famous for their roles in dubbing and radio were used for their star power to voice similar characters in several anime productions. For example,
Yasuo Yamada was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. Career Yamada left the faculty of literature of Waseda University, and had performed in many stage, radio, and television productions. He appeared in performances of plays by Hisashi Inoue. His ...
, who was famous for his Japanese dub of
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
, was chosen to voice
Arsène Lupin III is a fictional character created by Kazuhiko Kato aka Monkey Punch as the protagonist for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in '' Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. According to his creator, Lupin is the grandson of Maurice ...
for the ''
Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsèn ...
series.''


1960s

In 1961, during the early days of commercial television broadcasting, the
Five-Company Agreement The was an agreement signed 10 September 1953 between five major Japanese entertainment companies: Shochiku, Toho, Daiei, Shin-Toho, and Toei. Although nominally it prohibited hiring away a cosignatory company's actors and directors, in realit ...
(Gosha Agreement) caused the supply of Japanese movies that were available to Japanese television stations to dry up. As a result, in the 1960s many foreign dramas and other foreign programming was imported and dubbed into Japanese language for television broadcast. At first, the NHK subtitled most foreign shows; however, shows dubbed in the Japanese language soon became the standard. At the centre of the first voice acting boom were actors like
Nachi Nozawa was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and theatre director from Tokyo. He was affiliated with Office PAC at the time of his death. His real name was . Nozawa was the official dub-over artist of Al Pacino and Alain Delon. Also he was known ...
, who dubbed the same foreign actors, in Nozawa's case Alain Delon,
Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
, and Giuliano Gemma. Because of problems with pay guarantees arising from the Gosha Agreement, cinema actors were prevented from dubbing foreign movies for television. Television actors were also prevented from dubbing because of a similar agreement. This caused studios to turn to actors from the radio age and actors from the '' Shingeki'' style of acting. Around this time dubbing of foreign animation was done by Rakugo story tellers,
Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the . History The ...
comedians, and the like, and voice actors were called "dubbing talents" if they specialised in dubbing, while those giving voice to a character went under the name of "''ateshi''". It is during this golden age for dubbing that the Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society was founded. Later, Haikyo voice acting managers left and opened their own management agencies. Voice actors in Japan also voiced anime. The first dubbed show broadcast in Japan was an episode of the American cartoon ''
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
'', on October 9, 1955, on KRT (today TBS), and the first non-animated dubbed show broadcast was ''Cowboy G-Men'', again by KRT, in 1956. Both were dubbed live; the first show to be broadcast with pre-recorded dubbing was on April 8, 1956.


1970s: Second voice actor boom

During the late 1970s,
Akio Nojima is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Nishitōkyō, Tokyo. His sons, Hirofumi Nojima and Kenji Nojima, are voice actors and his other son Satoshi is a nature writer. He was formerly affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperat ...
,
Kazuyuki Sogabe Kazuyuki Sogabe ( (formerly ) ''Sogabe Kazuyuki'', April 16, 1948 – September 17, 2006) was a Japanese actor, voice actor, musician and narrator. During his life, he has been attached to Theatre Echo; he was attached to Aoni Production at the ...
, Akira Kamiya,
Tōru Furuya is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. As a child, he was a member of Gekidan Himawari, a children's acting troupe. He is currently employed by the talent management firm Aoni Production. Furuya is most known for the anime roles of Amu ...
and
Toshio Furukawa is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator affiliated with Aoni Production. He is married to fellow voice actor Shino Kakinuma. Career He became famous for his roles in his career as Kagege (''Keroro Gunso''), Kai Shiden (''Mobile Suit Gun ...
were the first to unite into a band,
Slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
, and perform live. Many other voice actors released their own albums. At around 1979 the first anime magazines began to be published. The then editor-in-chief of
Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'', was serialized in ''Animage'' from 1982 through 1994. Oth ...
,
Hideo Ogata was a producer and planner in Japan. He was also the founding editor of ''Animage'' magazine, the second largest anime and manga magazine in Japan, and the editor of the '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' manga series. Ogata assisted in the ...
, was the first to publish editorials on the ongoing transformation of voice actors into idols. Following his lead, the other magazines created "seiyū corners" with information and gossip about voice actors; this was one of the main causes of young anime fans yearning to become voice actors. This period also saw a gradual split of anime voice actors from their roots in theater. With the rise of voice actor specific training centers and audio-only productions, voice actors could start their careers working full time without any association to a broadcasting theater company. The term "seiyu" emerged to describe these voice actors who focused solely on voicing for anime productions. This boom lasted until the first half of the 1980s.


1980s

In 1989, the voice actors of the five main stars of the animated television show ''
Ronin Warriors ''Ronin Warriors'', known in Japan by its original title , is a Japanese anime series created by Hajime Yatate and animated by Sunrise. The television series, co-produced by Nagoya TV, aired across Japan on the All-Nippon News Network from ...
'' (
Nozomu Sasaki is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He is represented by the voice actor management firm, 81 Produce, and was previously represented by Arts Vision. In 1988, he voiced the character Tetsuo Shima in the movie '' Akira'', which was adapted fro ...
,
Takeshi Kusao is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer. He was born in Tokorozawa, Saitama, and works for Aoni Production.Doi, Hitoshi"Kusao Takeshi" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 11, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011. Among his many roles, he is best kno ...
,
Hiroshi Takemura is a Japanese voice actor. He is an alumnus of the theatrical troupe Gekidan Baraza, which was directed by Nachi Nozawa. His hobbies include billiards, skiing, fishing and tennis. Takemura is employed by a talent management firm. Anime TV *''Aft ...
,
Tomohiro Nishimura is a Japanese actor, voice actor, singer-songwriter, theatre director and sound director. He used to be employed by the talent management firm 81 Produce, but today he is freelance. He is often mixed up with Tomomichi Nishimura. Since 2003, Nis ...
and
Daiki Nakamura is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with 81 Produce. Some of his best-known work includes Gaine in ''The Brave Express Might Gaine'' and Grandpa in '' Grandpa Danger''. Filmography Anime *''After War Gundam X'' (Shingo Mori) *'' Aoki Densets ...
) formed an all-male singing group called "NG5". The group was featured as the subject of a special documentary program on
MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepalese politician Places * MBS International Airport (IATA code: MBS), Freeland, Michigan, US * Mari ...
. During this period, voice acting production companies also began to provide specialised courses at on-site training schools specifically for training in animation dubbing.


1990s

The 1960s and 1970s booms were centered on media, such as the TV. In the 1990s, a new boom centred on more personal ways of communication, such as radio shows,
Original Video Animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
, television quizzes, public events and the Internet, gave way to the publication of the first dedicated voice acting magazines, and Voice Animage. Voice actors acquired many new fans thanks to the radio, and their CD sale figures increased. Concerts began to be held in the bigger halls. While the second boom also saw the voice actors become DJs, this time the recording houses backed the voice actor radio shows as sponsors, and large sums of money began to circulate.
Megumi Hayashibara is a Japanese voice actress, singer, lyricist and radio personality from Kita ward in Tokyo and is affiliated with self-founded Woodpark Office. One of the most prominent Japanese voice actresses since the 1990s, Hayashibara is best known for ...
,
Hekiru Shiina is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She debuted as a singer at the age of 17. Her first voice role was Tenshiko in ''K.O. Beast'' in 1992. Some of her major voice roles include Hikaru Shidou in '' Magic Knight Rayearth'', Alpha in ''Yokoha ...
and
Mariko Kouda is a Japanese actress, voice actress, J-pop singer and radio personality. She graduated from Kasukabe Kyōei High School and went on to major in Communications at Tamagawa University in Machida City, Tokyo, graduating in 1990. Kouda has had at l ...
are the first examples of this new trend. Recording companies and voice acting schools began to devise new ways to raise young voice actors. When voice acting was introduced in television games, the same voice actors would perform in a series of events related to the television game world, making appearances and participating in radio programs based on the television games to attract the fanbase. In the second half of the 1990s, the boom in the animation world led to the increase of anime shown in the Tokyo area. With the Internet, gathering information on their favourite voice actors became easy for fans, and voice actors began to appear in Internet-based radio shows. From to , the world's first digital
satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...
broadcaster, St.GIGA, transmitted
episodic video game An episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are develo ...
s with voice acted overdubs in a separate and continually streaming vocal track (a technique called
SoundLink The is a satellite modem peripheral produced by Nintendo for the Super Famicom in 1995. Containing 1 megabyte of ROM space and an additional 512 kB of RAM, Satellaview allowed players to download games, magazines, and other media through sate ...
), to be played in Japan on
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
's
Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
video game console with its
Satellaview The is a satellite modem peripheral produced by Nintendo for the Super Famicom in 1995. Containing 1 megabyte of ROM space and an additional 512 kB of RAM, Satellaview allowed players to download games, magazines, and other media through sate ...
peripheral.Mamoru, Sakamoto.
PCM音声放送デッドヒートのゆくえ(St.GIGA開局前夜
''. Alpha-Net. 2 October 2003.
'' BS Zelda no Densetsu'' was identified by Nintendo as the world's first integrated radio-game.


2000–present: Idol and real-life crossovers

During the mid-to-late 2000s, voice acting talents began crossing over with the
Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...
industry. Prominent examples include
Aya Hirano is a Japanese actress and singer associated with the voice acting agency Grick. Beginning in the entertainment industry as a child actor in television commercials, she appeared in her first voice acting role in the anime television series ''An ...
,
Koharu Kusumi is a Japanese actress, model, television personality, singer, and voice actress. In 2005, she became the only seventh generation member of the Japanese girl group Morning Musume, a part of Hello! Project. While Kusumi was in Morning Musume, she p ...
, and
Nana Mizuki is a Japanese voice actress, singer and narrator from Niihama, Ehime. She is represented by the agency StarCrew. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, releasing one single under her birth name, Nana Kondō, in 1993 and made her debut as a voice ...
, all of whom were established actors or singers in mainstream entertainment before entering voice acting. While character song tie-ins were already common in the film industry by then, some voice actors also began making crossover television, stage, and concert appearances as their characters as well, leading them to be closely associated with one another. The term "2.5D", which picked up frequent usage in the mid-2010s, was used to describe voice actors who would portray their characters in real life, such as television or stage plays. Over the mid-to-late 2010s, multimedia projects where the voice actors would appear as their characters in real-life became popular, such as '' The Idolmaster'' and ''
Love Live! is a Japanese multimedia project created by Hajime Yatate and Sakurako Kimino and co-produced by Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa through ASCII Media Works; Bandai Namco Music Live through music label Lantis (company), Lantis; and animation studio ...
'' The magazine ''Seiyū Grand Prix'' noted that over 1,500 voice actors were active in 2021, compared to 370 voice actors (145 men and 225 women) in 2001.


See also

*
Seiyu Awards The are award ceremonies for the recognition of voice acting talent for outstanding performance in anime and other media in Japan. The first Seiyu Awards were held on March 3, 2007 at the 3D Theatre of the Tokyo Anime Center in Akihabara. Award ...
*
Voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
*
Japanese voice actor management companies Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspo ...


References


Sources

* *


External links


Seiyū (voice actor) databaseMiracle voice actors and magical voice actresses
Voice actor database
Anime News Network Encyclopedia
Database of anime staff and cast members. {{DEFAULTSORT:Voice Acting In Japan category:otaku
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
fi:Ääninäyttelijä#Japanissa