is a Japanese

voice actress Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

and singer. She is capable of playing a variety of roles, ranging from young boys to feminine women. She is affiliated with

Aoni Production is a Japanese talent agency representing a fair number of Voice acting in Japan, voice actors and other Japanese entertainers. It was founded in 1969 by Susumu Kubo. Voice actors currently affiliated with Aoni All names are in Western order (g ...

. Her first major role was as Yurika Misumaru in ''

Martian Successor Nadesico , sometimes referred to as simply , is a Japanese anime television series produced by Xebec and directed by Tatsuo Satō, with manga artist Kia Asamiya providing original character designs, Keiji Gotoh serving as chief animation director, Mi ...

'' and she has had lead or major roles in a number of others. She has voiced characters in several video games. On film, she has had voice roles as the title character in ''

Princess Arete (also ''Princess Arite'') is a 2001 Japanese animated film written and directed by Sunao Katabuchi, animated and produced by Studio 4°C and distributed by Omega Entertainment. It is based on Diana Coles's 1983 book ''The Clever Princess''. The ...

'' and in '' Space Battleship Yamato 2199'', '' Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa'' and '' Doraemon: Nobita in the Robot Kingdom''. She has performed songs for anime, such as , which was used as the opening theme to ''Blue Gender''.

Biography

Although a shy child, she was interested in acting as an escape from her real self, especially when she saw the musical and television dramas at the

Shiki Theatre Company is one of Japan's best-known and largest theatre companies. Shiki Theatre Company employs around 1,400 actors and staff, and stages more than 3,000 performances to around 3 million audience members a year. It operates seven theaters for their ex ...

. While in elementary school, Kuwashima watched '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' while dreaming of becoming a voice actress. She wrote in a graduation collection, "I want to make the child's voices in the anime project of

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

." She learned that there was no drama club or stage plays at the cultural festival at junior high school. At Iwate Prefectural Kurosawajiri North High School, she attended a correspondence course at Katsuta Voice Academy.The voice was recorded to cassette tape and corrected by the voice actor

Hisashi Katsuta was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is best known for his voice-over portrayal of Professor Ochanomizu in three anime adaptations of the ''Astro Boy'' franchise, and also voiced Dr. Hoshi in '' Astroganger'' (1972–1973), Professor Tobish ...

who was a director. However, attendance at the time of advancement was insufficient, and from the third year it was transferred to Iwate Prefectural Forest Mausoleum High School. After graduating, she moved to Tokyo. She entered Aoiso in 1994. In auditions after graduation, about 20 out of 71 people passed the examination and joined Aoni Production. She made her debut in the 1995 anime series ''

Sailor Moon S The third season of the ''Sailor Moon'' anime series, ''Sailor Moon S'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S''), was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. It began broadcasting on ...

'' and voiced Necrokaizer in the OVA series adaptation Technōs/

SNK is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing arcade games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company established many franchises ...

Neo Geo The , stylized as NEO•GEO, is a video game platform released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was initially released in two ROM cartridge-based formats: an arcade system board (Multi Video System; MVS) and a home video gam ...

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer ''Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer'' is a 1995 superhero-themed fighting game produced by Technos Japan Corp. for the Neo Geo arcade and home console including Neo Geo CD. It was the companys second attempt at a fighting game, following the Neo Geo fig ...

''. In 1996, in the anime series ''

'', she had the role of the heroine Yurika Misumaru and gained popularity. She played Shiro Bonn in ''

Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden , commonly abbreviated as or ''BBB'', is a ''CoroCoro Comic'' series created by Koichi Mikata, based on Bomberman and B-Daman. An animated television series was created and originally broadcast on Nagoya TV and TV Asahi at 17:00. It was al ...

'' and Maron Kusakabe in '' Phantom Thief Jeanne''. In 1999, she sang the songs "Tokihanate!" and "Ai ga Oshiete Kureta", which were used as the opening and ending themes respectively to the anime series ''

Blue Gender ''Blue Gender'' is a Japanese anime television series created by Ryōsuke Takahashi, the creator of '' Armored Trooper Votoms'' and '' Gasaraki'', broadcast in Japan from 1999 to 2000 and spanning 26 episodes. ''Blue Gender'' was animated by ...

''. She was appointed a cultural ambassador of Iwate Prefecture.

Filmography

Animation

Film

Video games

''Tokusatsu''

Drama CD

Other dubbing

Notes

References

External links

Official agency profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuwashima, Hoko 1975 births Living people Anime singers Aoni Production voice actors Japanese women pop singers Japanese video game actresses Singers from Iwate Prefecture Voice actresses from Iwate Prefecture 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers