Kōjirō Shimizu is a Japanese actor and singer born on November 10, 1964, in Tokyo, Japan. His career in entertainment began in the mid-1980s and has continued for several decades, encompassing live-action film, music, and voice acting for anime. While his work spans numerous genres, he is particularly recognized for his role as a voice actor in a landmark animated feature.

Shimizu is best known in the world of anime for providing the Japanese voice of Ryu, the wandering martial artist and protagonist of the Street Fighter video game franchise. He voiced this iconic character in the Fighter II: The Animated Movie, which brought the popular video game series to cinema screens with high-quality animation and fight choreography. This performance remains his most prominent voice acting credit and has introduced his work to a wide international audience.

Beyond his voice role as Ryu, Shimizu has had a prolific career as a live-action actor. He made his acting debut in 1985, starring as Hiroshi Katō in the film Be-Bop Highschool. This role proved to be a significant breakthrough, and he reprised the character of Katō throughout the decade in several sequels, including Be-Bop Highschool: Kōkō Yotarō Aika and Be-Bop Highschool: Kōkō Yotarō Kōshinkyoku, solidifying his status as a lead actor in Japanese youth action cinema. His later filmography shows a shift toward yakuza and direct-to-video action films, with appearances in titles such as the Ambition Without Honor series. His career in film extended into the 2020s with a role in the 2022 film Be-Bop's Ossan. Through these diverse roles, Shimizu has maintained a long-standing presence in Japanese entertainment.