Kōichi Kitamura was a respected Japanese voice actor born on December 18, 1931, in Osaka, Japan. His real name was Hajimu Kimura, and he was affiliated with the talent management agency Mausu Promotion throughout his career. Kitamura passed away on October 2, 2007, at the age of 75 due to pneumonia.

His career in voice acting spanned nearly five decades, from 1959 to 2007, during which he built an extensive portfolio of roles in anime, foreign film dubbing, and video games. He was particularly well-known for providing the Japanese voices for older, dignified, and mentor-like characters, a niche he occupied from early in his career. This included being the regular dubbing voice for actor Peter Cushing. His work in foreign film and animation dubbing was extensive; he was the Japanese voice for iconic characters such as Scrooge McDuck in Disney's DuckTales, Mr. Burns in The Simpsons, and Sleepy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In anime, Kitamura's career was marked by a vast number of roles across many of the industry's most enduring series. He had a long-standing association with the Lupin III franchise, voicing numerous characters across Lupin III: Part II, Lupin III: Part III, and various specials. He was also a recurring presence in the works of renowned director Mitsuru Adachi, most notably as Coach Shigenori Nishio in the Touch series, including the television anime and several films like Touch 2: Sayonara no Okurimono, Touch 3: Don't Pass Me By, and Touch: Cross Road - Kaze no Yukue. He voiced Daijirō Ōhara, the police chief, in the long-running series Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikouen-mae Hashutsujo. Other notable anime roles include Garrison Tokida in Muteki Kōjin Daitarn 3, Professor Genius in Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, General Helmut Wolfe in Monster, and Professor Clover in One Piece. He also contributed his voice to classic films like Akira, where he played Miyako and a committee member.

Beyond anime and dubbing, Kitamura was also active in video games, with roles in prominent titles such as the Sakura Wars series, Lunar: The Silver Star, Brave Fencer Musashi, and the Tenchu series. His contributions to the industry were also felt through his work as a mentor, teaching acting at the training school affiliated with Mausu Promotion. Kōichi Kitamura's long and prolific career left a significant mark on Japanese voice acting, particularly through his embodiment of wise and elderly characters that resonated with audiences for generations.