Voice acting in Japan

Voice acting in Japan is acting as a narrator, or as an actor in radio plays, or as a character actors in anime and video games. It also involves performing voice-overs for non-Japanese movies and television programs. As Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world, voice acting in Japan has a far greater prominence than voice acting in most other countries.

Some voice actors—especially certain voice actresses—often have devoted international fan-clubs. Some fans may watch a show merely to hear a particular voice actor. Some Japanese voice actors have capitalized on their fame to become singers, and many others have become live movie or television actors.

There are around 130 voice-acting schools in Japan. Broadcast companies and talent agencies often have their own troupes of vocal actors. Magazines focusing specifically on voice acting are published in Japan, with Voice Animage being the longest running.

The English term character voice (or CV), has been commonly used since the 1980s by such Japanese anime magazines as Animec and Newtype, for a voice actor associated with a particular anime or game character. Conversely, the Japanese term seiyū is commonly used among English-speaking anime and game fans for Japanese voice actors.

1931 in Japan

Events in the year 1931 in Japan.

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Events

Films

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Deaths

1981 in Japan

Events in the year 1981 in Japan.

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Events

Popular culture

Arts and entertainment

In film, Station by Yasuo Furuhata won the Best film award at the Japan Academy Prize, Enrai by Kichitaro Negishi won Best film at the Hochi Film Awards, Muddy River by Kōhei Oguri won Best film at the Blue Ribbon Awards and Something Like It by Yoshimitsu Morita won Best film at the Yokohama Film Festival. For a list of Japanese films released in 1981 see Japanese films of 1981.

1897 in Japan

Events from the year 1897 in Japan.

Incumbents

Events

Births

Deaths

References

Voice acting

Voice acting is the art of doing voice-overs or providing voices for animated characters in various works, including feature films, dubbed foreign language films, animated short films, television programs, commercials, radio or audio dramas, comedy, video games, puppet shows, amusement rides, audiobooks and documentaries. Voice acting is also done for small handheld audio games.

Performers are called voice actors or actresses, voice artists or voice talent. Their roles may also involve singing, although a second voice actor is sometimes cast as the character's singing voice. Voice acting is recognized in Britain as a specialized dramatic profession, chiefly owing to the BBC's long tradition of radio drama.

Voice artists are also used to record the individual sample fragments played back by a computer in an automated announcement.

Types

Character voices

Voice actors provide voices for animated characters.

For live action production, voice acting often involves reading the parts of computer programs, radio dispatchers, or other characters who never actually appear on screen.

Japan Pavilion at Epcot

The Japan Pavilion is a Japan-themed pavilion that is part of the World Showcase, within Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Its location is between The American Adventure and Moroccan Pavilions.

History

The Japan Pavilion is one of the original World Showcase pavilions and had been in planning since the late 1970s. Many attractions have been proposed for the pavilion and one show building was built, but left unused. Meet the World was one planned attraction and was a clone of the attraction Meet the World that was once at Tokyo Disneyland. But because management thought that the Japanese film's omission of World War II might upset many Veterans, it was dropped. The show was so close to opening that the show building and rotating platform was built, but not used.

For years, Imagineers have considered building an indoor roller coaster attraction based on Matterhorn Bobsleds from Disneyland but themed to Japan's Mount Fuji inside a replica of Mount Fuji. At one point, Godzilla or a large lizard attacking guests in their cars was considered. Fujifilm originally wanted to sponsor the ride in the early 1990s, but Kodak, a major Epcot sponsor, convinced Disney to decline the sponsorship. Luckily, the Matterhorn derived design elements survived to be incorporated into Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park. Another proposed attraction was a walk-through version of "Circle-Vision", in which guests would board and walk through a Shinkansen (bullet train) and look through windows (actually film screens) that showcase Japan's changing landscapes. The train would have shaken and moved like a train traveling through the countryside.

Japan in Gulliver’s Travels

Japan is referred to in Gulliver's Travels, the satire by Jonathan Swift.

Part III of the book has the account of Lemuel Gulliver's visit to Japan, the only real location visited by him. It is used as a venue for Swift's satire on the actions of Dutch traders to that land. His description reflects the state of European knowledge of the country in the 17th and early 18th centuries, and the tensions due to commercial rivalry between the English and the Dutch at that time.

Description

Japan is shown on the map at the beginning of part III, which also shows the island of "Yesso" (i.e. Hokkaido), "Stats island" (Iturup) and "Companys Land" (Urup) to the north. The map also marks the Vries Strait and Cape Patience, though this is shown on the northeast coast of Yesso, rather than as part of Sakhalin, which was little known in Swift’s time. On the island of Japan itself the map shows "Nivato" (Nagato), Yedo, "Meaco" (Kyoto), Inaba and "Osacca" (Osaka)

The text describes Gulliver's journey from Luggnagg, which took fifteen days, and his landing at "Xamoschi" (i.e. Shimosa} which lies "on the western part of a narrow strait leading northward into a long arm of the sea, on the northwest part of which Yedo, the metropolis stands". This description matches the geography of Tokyo Bay, except that Shimosa is on the north, rather than the western shore of the bay.