Kurumi Kobato
Description
Natsue Washizu, known professionally as Kurumi Kobato, is a Japanese academic, singer, and former voice actress born on January 20, 1948, in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture. Her professional name originates from the Kurumi Art School in Tokyo, where she studied after being discovered on a singing contest at the age of three. Kobato began her entertainment career as a child, debuting as a singer at the age of four in 1952, and subsequently signed with Victor Entertainment, becoming a familiar presence on radio and television programs for over a decade.
As a voice actress, Kobato is best known for her leading roles in several prominent anime productions from the late 1960s and early 1970s. She provided the voice for the heroine Kozue Ayuhara in the 1969 television anime series Attack No. 1 and its subsequent film adaptations released in 1970 and 1971. In 1970, she voiced the character Angel in the Toei animated feature film 30,000 Miles Under the Sea. The following year, she took on the role of Sayuri in the 1972 television anime series Akado Suzunosuke. Additional voice work from this period includes the character Annie in the 1972 film The Three Musketeers in Boots. Beyond these original productions, Kobato was also selected to voice the title character in the 1980 Japanese dub of the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a role she has continued to reprise in later Disney works, being chosen specifically for her youthful singing voice.
Parallel to her performing career, Kobato pursued higher education, graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University and later earning a Master of Arts from the University of London. Her academic focus became the study of English nursery rhymes and children's education. She eventually became a professor of British and American literature at Mejiro University and a professor of linguistic and cultural studies at its graduate school. For her contributions to children's music and culture, she was awarded the Kurushima Takehiko Culture Prize in 1978 and the Japan Children's Song Award Special Award in 1983.
As a voice actress, Kobato is best known for her leading roles in several prominent anime productions from the late 1960s and early 1970s. She provided the voice for the heroine Kozue Ayuhara in the 1969 television anime series Attack No. 1 and its subsequent film adaptations released in 1970 and 1971. In 1970, she voiced the character Angel in the Toei animated feature film 30,000 Miles Under the Sea. The following year, she took on the role of Sayuri in the 1972 television anime series Akado Suzunosuke. Additional voice work from this period includes the character Annie in the 1972 film The Three Musketeers in Boots. Beyond these original productions, Kobato was also selected to voice the title character in the 1980 Japanese dub of the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a role she has continued to reprise in later Disney works, being chosen specifically for her youthful singing voice.
Parallel to her performing career, Kobato pursued higher education, graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University and later earning a Master of Arts from the University of London. Her academic focus became the study of English nursery rhymes and children's education. She eventually became a professor of British and American literature at Mejiro University and a professor of linguistic and cultural studies at its graduate school. For her contributions to children's music and culture, she was awarded the Kurushima Takehiko Culture Prize in 1978 and the Japan Children's Song Award Special Award in 1983.
All Characters
- JapaneseAnime overview: Attack No. 1
- JapaneseAnime overview: 30,000 Miles Under the Sea
- JapaneseAnime overview: Nagagutsu Sanjūshi
- JapaneseAnime overview: Akado Suzunosuke