Nobuyo Oyama, the voice artist of Doraemon, a popular Japanese cartoon has died of natural causes on September 29, reports AFP.
Her agency, Actor Seven confirmed her death to the media on Friday.
“Oyama voiced Doraemon for more than a quarter century,” said the agency adding that she was 90 at the time of death. “Her funeral was held privately by her relatives.”
However, she performed as the voice of the blue-and-white robotic cat from 1979 to 2005.
Born in Tokyo in 1933, Oyama was an aspiring actor and debuted in a 1956 drama on Japan’s NHK public television. She had her first voice acting role in 1957 in the dubbed version of the TV drama series “Lassie.”
Oyama’s raspy voice quickly gained her admiration in anime and children’s programs. She was the voice of one of three piglets in a popular children’s puppet show in the early 1960s and of teenage boy Katsuo in the family anime series “Sazaesan” prior to “Doraemon.”
In March 2005, Oyama retired from the role as a part of a renewal of the voice actors for the main characters. “I hope Doraemon will still be a beloved character in the distant future,” Oyama said.
In 2015, Oyama’s husband disclosed that she had developed dementia. Even so, as head of a sound arts school, Oyama was known to always succeed on the first try when she was asked to perform in her Doraemon voice.
Doraemon, an anime masterpiece created in 1970 by cartoonist Fujiko F. Fujio, is a story of his friendship with Nobita, a good-hearted but somewhat lazy boy, became hugely popular. Millions of fans from Japan and across the globe have read and watched the manga, a Japanese style comic book, and anime series. The series was translated into dozens of languages.
According to the story of the series, Doraemon arrives from the 22nd century and helps Nobita in difficult situations, often with gadgets from the future such as an “anywhere door” and “take-copter.”
Born in Tokyo in 1933, Oyama was an aspiring actor and debuted in a 1956 drama on Japan’s NHK public television. She had her first voice acting role in 1957 in the dubbed version of the TV drama series “Lassie.”
Bd-Pratidin English/ Afsar Munna
