OBITUARY | Remembering Nobuyo Oyama, the Voice that Defined Doraemon

Nobuyo Oyama, best known for voicing Doraemon, passed away at the age of 90 on September 29 from natural causes. She provided Doraemon's iconic raspy voice in the second anime TV series of the franchise.

Born in Tokyo in 1933, Oyama initially pursued a career in acting. In 1957, she entered the world of voice acting, providing the voice for the titular character in the Japanese dub of the TV series Lassie.

Defining the Voice of Doraemon

In 1965, she landed her first major voice acting role as Punch in the anime Hustle Punch. Her unique, husky voice gained her further recognition, and she went on to portray characters like Jin Kappei in Invincible Super Man Zambot 3.

In 1964, Oyama married actor and tarento Keisuke Sagawa, whom she had met through a stage performance. The couple was known for their strong bond.

In 1979, Oyama began voicing Doraemon, the iconic robotic cat from the future, defining the character's signature slow and deliberate speech. She held the role for 26 years, retiring in 2005, and became beloved by fans across generations.

That same year, she was honored with Japan's Broadcasting Woman Award. In 2007, she became the principal of the Institute of Sound Arts in Tokyo's Minato Ward.

Oyama returned to voice acting in 2010 as Monokuma in the game Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. But in 2012, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her husband supported her throughout her illness until his passing from ureteral cancer in 2017. In recent years, Oyama had been living in a nursing home.

A New Generation

Among the five main cast members who worked alongside Oyama in the 1979-2005 Doraemon series, only Michiko Nomura, who played Shizuka, remains alive at 86.

Before the well-known TV Asahi version, Doraemon aired for six months in 1973 on Nippon TV, with Kosei Tomita as Doraemon. Tomita passed away in 2020 at the age of 84.

After 2005, Wasabi Mizuta took over from Oyama, and all five main characters, who often gathered in the open lot with three concrete pipes, were recast in a sweeping generational shift. The average age of the cast dropped by over 40 years.

Among Oyama's original castmates, Kazuya Tatekabe, who voiced Gian, passed away in 2015, followed by Kaneta Kimotsuki, who voiced Suneo, in 2016, both at age 80. Noriko Ohara, who voiced Nobita, passed away in July 2024 at the age of 88.

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Author: The Sankei Shimbun