Akira Kamiya

Akira Kamiya (神谷 明 Kamiya Akira, born September 18, 1946) is a veteran Japanese voice actor from Kanagawa Prefecture in Yokohama, Japan.

He began his career as a voice actor in 1970. One of the first important characters he played was Babel II in the anime of the same name from 1970. Since then, he has accumulated a solid career of more than 40 years in the Japanese dubbing industry. Among his most memorable characters include Kikkikuman in the homologous anime, Kogoro Mouri in Detective Conan, Tadashi Yaiba in Captain Harlock and Professor Tomoe in Sailor Moon, among many others; he is also known for playing Shun Mitaka in Maison Ikkoku, Shutaro Mendou in Urusei Yatsura, and Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star, including his later films and video games.

He is very close to famous mangaka Rumiko Takahashi. She, along with the director of the Urusei Yatsura series, recommended him to provide the voice of Tatewaki Kuno in the anime adaptation of Takahashi's manga Ranma ½, but in the end the late seiyū Hirotaka Suzuoki was cast; Takahashi then recommended him for the character Sasuke Sagurakure, but the director did not like and instead the character was cast with Shigeru Chiba.

In addition to his work as a seiyū, in recent years he has dedicated himself to teaching at the Nihon Kogakuin College. Among his students include Megumi Toyoguchi, Ryoko Shintani and Ai Shimizu, who are now outstanding seiyūs in the industry.

After being represented at the beginning of his career by the company Theater Echo, Kamiya then joined Aoni Production, and also went through other companies. He is currently represented by Saeba Shoji.