Masako Nozawa is a celebrated Japanese actress and voice actress, born on October 25, 1936, in Tokyo. She began her career in entertainment as a child actress at the age of three. Her transition to voice acting occurred in her late teens, a move that would inadvertently become her primary occupation and establish her as a pioneer in the industry.

Her extensive filmography is highlighted by several iconic and long-running roles. She is globally renowned as the voice of Son Goku in the Dragon Ball franchise, a role she has played since the first anime adaptation in 1986. In a remarkable display of range, she also voices Goku's sons, Son Gohan and Son Goten, as well as other related characters like Bardock and the villainous Goku Black. This ability to portray multiple members of the same family, often in conversation with one another, is a hallmark of her career. Other major roles include Tetsurō Hoshino in Galaxy Express 999 and Kitarō in the first two anime adaptations of GeGeGe no Kitarō. Her career is also notable for being the second voice of Doraemon in the 1973 anime and for her role as Guilmon in Digimon Tamers.

Throughout her decades-long career, Nozawa has been affiliated with several talent agencies, including Production Baobab and 81 Produce. She briefly ran her own agency, Office Nozawa, before becoming affiliated with Aoni Production. Her influence and dedication to the craft have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards. In 2013, she received a Special Achievement Award at the 7th Seiyu Awards. In 2017, Guinness World Records presented her with two records for her work as Goku in video games: the longest career as a video game voice actor and the longest time voicing the same character in video games. Her pioneering status was further cemented in 2025 when she became the first voice actor ever to be named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government, an honor she accepted on behalf of the voice acting community.