posted on by Joanna Cayanan
Voice of Dragon Ball‘s Son Goku, Kitarō won as one of Japan’s voice-acting trailblazers
Voice actress Masako Nozawa received one of the 71st Kan Kikuchi Prizes on Wednesday. The annual prize is awarded to notable figures in literary, film, theatrical, sports, newspaper, broadcast, and other fields of culture from the past year. Nozawa was awarded “as a traiblazing representative of Japanese voice actors” “beloved by one generation after another.”
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature and the literary magazine Bungei Shunjū present the award. Nozawa’s agency Aoni Production also announced the award with a message from her, expressing gratitude for the characters she played, people with whom she has worked, and all the fans who support her.
Nozawa first appeared in the oiriginal 1963 Astro Boy anime series. She then voiced the character Kitarō in the 1968 Gegege no Kitarō anime, and in the 1971 sequel. She returned in the franchise to voice the character of Medama Oyaji in the 2018 Gegege no Kitarō remake, and in the 2023 GeGeGe no Kitarō ~Kappa no Terraforming anime film. Since then, Nozawa has played several lead character roles in different anime series, but she is best known as the voice of Son Goku in the Dragon Ball series.
Nozawa also holds the Guinness World Record for “voice actor who voiced the same character in a video game for the longest period” and “longest video game voice acting career,” for her work as Dragon Ball‘s Son Goku.
Sources: Comic Natalie, Aoni Production‘s Twitter account via Anime! Anime!
