Kaneto Shiozawa was a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo, born on January 28, 1954. His real name was Toshikazu Shiozawa, and he adopted the stage name "Kaneto" from the renowned film director Kaneto Shindō. He was affiliated with the talent management firm Aoni Production at the time of his death.

Shiozawa was known for his distinctive calm, cool, and aristocratic-sounding voice, which frequently led to him being cast as villainous or anti-heroic strategists and intellectuals. Despite this typecasting, his career demonstrated remarkable range, encompassing heroes, comedic characters, and even okama roles. He graduated from Nihon University Second Senior High School, where he was part of the art department.

His career, spanning from 1975 to 2000, was prolific, with major roles in numerous television series, original video animations (OVAs), films, and video games. In television anime, he was well known as Rei in Fist of the North Star, M'Quve in Mobile Suit Gundam, Buriburizaemon in Crayon Shin-chan, Prince Demande in Sailor Moon, and Aries Mu in Saint Seiya. He was also the first voice of Inspector Ninzaburo Shiratori in Detective Conan and voiced Devimon in Digimon Adventure. Many of the roles listed for him, such as Blaster Kid in Galaxy Cyclone Braiger, Leonardo Medici Bundle in GoShogun, and Dai Monohoshi in High School! Kimengumi, are documented in his filmography.

Shiozawa was also highly active in OVAs and films, a medium that flourished during his career. He took on iconic roles such as the titular character D in Vampire Hunter D, Shin Kazama in Area 88, Paul von Oberstein in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Iason Mink in Ai no Kusabi. In the film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, he voiced the character Balrog Fabio la Cerda (known as Vega in Japan). He also had a significant presence in video games, most notably as the Cyborg Ninja (Gray Fox) in Metal Gear Solid, a role for which he is particularly remembered. Other game roles included Zato-1 in the Guilty Gear series and Duke Rambert in Battle Arena Toshinden.

Throughout his career, Shiozawa developed recurring collaborations with specific directors and fellow voice actors. He trusted sound director Noriyoshi Matsuura and participated in many of his works. He was close friends with voice actors Akira Kamiya and Hidekatsu Shibata, with Shibata later speaking at his funeral. He also had a noted professional rivalry with contemporary Kazuhiko Inoue, who would eventually succeed him in the role of Inspector Shiratori.

Kaneto Shiozawa died on May 10, 2000, at the age of 46. The previous day, he had fallen down the stairs at his home in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Initially appearing uninjured, his condition suddenly deteriorated hours later, and he died from a cerebral contusion. His sudden death led to many of his ongoing roles being recast. In some cases, such as with Zato-1 in Guilty Gear and Hyo Imawano in Rival Schools, the characters were written out of the story as a tribute, with their deaths reflecting the loss of the voice actor. Voice actor Hikaru Midorikawa paid tribute to him, calling Shiozawa his hero.