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Norio Wakamoto | |
|---|---|
若本 規夫 | |
 Wakamoto at Desucon Frostbite in Lahti, Finland in 2013 | |
| Born | Noriaki Wakamoto October 18, 1945 Shimonoseki, Japan |
| Alma mater | Waseda University |
| Occupation | Voice actor |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Agent | Sigma Seven |
Norio Wakamoto (若本 規夫, Wakamoto Norio, born October 18, 1945) is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with the Sigma Seven talent agency. He was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and was raised in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. He graduated from Waseda University.
On adult works, like OVAs or dating sims, he goes by the alias Kyōnosuke Hiruma (比留間 京之介, Hiruma Kyōnosuke).
Biography
Wakamoto studied in Waseda University under the Faculty of Law.[1] During his time there, he participated in Shorin Kempo activities.[1]
Wakamoto entered the Nakano Police Academy, intending to become a police officer.[1] He sought advice from a career counselor after his professor did not agree with his plans to do graduate studies.[2] He was later assigned to his first post at the Kuramae Police Station.[2] Later on, he was assigned to be in an anti-riot unit and was deployed to arrest rioters participating the Shinjuku riot in 1968.[3] Wakamoto became disillusioned with his duties and decided to leave.[2]
Wakamoto joined the Consumers Union of Japan after leaving the force.[2] But he got into trouble at times as he did his work without getting approval from his superiors.[4][2]
According to Wakamoto, he decided to do voice work, starting from dubbing foreign movies, when he saw an ad calling for applications to Ryo Kurosawa's training school[5] after he left the union due to a fight with his boss while drunk.[6] Tohokushinsha's dubbing director, Kanji Nakano, encouraged him to go into voice acting despite uncertainties if he would be able to get potential work as a voice actor.[2]