The voice of 'Doraemon': Nobuyo Oyama passes at age 90

Doraemon is an iconic figure in many fans of classic Japanese animation, and it is tragic news that the voice of Doraemon, Nobuyo Oyama, passed on September 29. The news was reported much later, on October 11, CNN states.

Nobuyo Oyama was a multi-talented Japanese voice actress who was also a singer, essayist, actress, screenwriter, and TV personality. She is also the wife of the late Japanese actor Keisuke Sagawa.

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Nobuyo Oyama was born on October 16, 1933, in Shibuya, in Tokyo Prefecture, Japan.

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According to the publication ‘Showa Voice Actors: The Great Actors Who Supported the Early Days of Television’, by Komakusa Publishing, Nobuyo Oyama’s talent for voice acting was prevalent at an early age in elementary school, where many had thought she sounded like a boy.

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Did you know?: Nobuyo Oyama initially did not embrace the gift of her voice when she realised how unique it was. When her classmate first pointed out that she sounded ‘strange’, she took it negatively and would not speak, and was even bullied for sounding ‘weird’, reports the Kyoiku Shuppan.

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Nobuyo Oyama only broke out of her shell thanks to her mother, who encouraged her to change her perspective regarding her own voice and to join in her school’s broadcasting research club, notes the Seiyuu Grand Prix.

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Peers and even her homeroom teacher initially opposed Nobuyo Oyama's decision to join her school's broadcasting club, according to the same Seiyuu Grand Prix article. After a month, however, protests came to a stop, and she was even chosen to play the evil stepmother in the school theatre production of "Cinderella"!

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Being cast in her school play was likely fate for Nobuyo Oyama, as it probably had influenced her to pursue acting as a career. Weekly Bunshun reports that she then made her acting debut in NHK’s ‘Kono Hitomi’ in 1956.

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Nobuyo Oyama went from acting to voice acting in 1957, when she voiced acted for the Japanese dub over for ‘Lassie Come-Home’, a novel by the English writer Eric Knight. She then moved on to many other roles such as the animes ‘Hustle Punch’, and her most famous work, ‘Doraemon’!

Nobuyo Oyama was the main voice for Doraemon in the anime of the same name for 26 years, reports TV Asahi. However, she had to step down from the role in 2005 due to a diagnosis that revealed that she had contracted rectal cancer.

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Despite her cancer diagnosis and after surviving a cerebral infraction in 2008, Nobuyo Oyama continued to work and had even played a role in the popular ‘Danganronpa’ video game series as the villain Monokuma.

Nobuyo Oyama was met with yet another obstacle to her health when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, reports NHK. However, the report states that she ultimately passed of old age, at the age of 90, on September 29. The news was only known to the public upon release by her agency on 11th October, reports Nikkan Sports.