# Akira Kamiya (神谷明)
**Akira Kamiya** (神谷明, Kamiya Akira, born 1946) is a Japanese voice actor, singer, and narrator from Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, known for voicing Kenshiro in *Fist of the North Star*, Kinnikuman, Ryo Saeba in *City Hunter*, Shutaro Mendo in *Urusei Yatsura*, and the original Kogoro Mouri in *Detective Conan*.[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html) • [2](https://tvdb.app/en/person/24201) He has worked in voice acting for more than 50 years and continues to perform the same leading characters he took on in the 1980s.[3](https://www.tokai-tv.com/tokainews/article_20230917_30081)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1946, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture; trained at the theater company Theater Echo (劇団テアトル・エコー)[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html) |
| Current agency | Saeba Shoji (冴羽商事), the office he runs himself[4](https://dragon-ballwiki.com/wiki/akira-kamiya/) |
| Voice profile | Bright, clear high baritone; vocal range G to F; height 163 cm[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html) |
| Anime debut | *Mahou no Mako-chan*, 1970[5](https://www.tvguide.or.jp/column/column-2381765/) |
| Signature roles | Kenshiro (*Fist of the North Star*, 1984–1988), Kinnikuman (1983–1986, 1991–1992), Ryo Saeba (*City Hunter*, from 1987), Kogoro Mouri (*Detective Conan*, 1996–2009)[5](https://www.tvguide.or.jp/column/column-2381765/) • [6](https://dragon-quest.org/wiki/Akira_Kamiya) |
| Recognition | Anime Grand Prix Best Voice Actor Award 11 times[7](https://anibase.net/en/people/1XERR/Akira-Kamiya) |
| Radio milestone | Host of *Kamiya Akira no All Night Nippon* from 1979, the first voice actor to host the program[8](https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2023/09/17/kiji/20230916s00041000632000c.html) |
## Early career and the 1970s robot era
Kamiya began as a stage actor. He joined Theater Echo, and his training there formed the base of his acting, in his own account.[9](https://futabasha-change.com/articles/-/319?page=1) His anime voice debut came in *Mahou no Mako-chan* in 1970.[5](https://www.tvguide.or.jp/column/column-2381765/)
**Lead roles in robot anime.** After taking lead parts in *Babel II* and *Kouya no Shounen Isamu* in 1973, he voiced the leads in *Getter Robo* (1974) as Ryoma Nagare and *Brave Raideen* (1975) as Akira Hibiki.[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html) His shouting delivery in the climactic calls of these shows earned him the industry nickname "Sakebi no Kamiya" (Kamiya of the Shout), and a sentiment arose in anime production that robot works should cast him.[10](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/24832387/) His robot-era credits also include *Zero Tester*, *Gaiking*, *Daimos*, and *Danguard Ace* as leads, and Tadao Daiba in *Captain Harlock*.[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html)
## The 1980s: Kinnikuman, Kenshiro, and City Hunter
Kamiya has described the 1980s as a deliberate sequence of voice registers. He had worked mainly in handsome-lead (**nimaideme**) parts until *Urusei Yatsura* (1981–1986), where the vain Shutaro Mendo opened the door to comic roles; he then voiced the clownish [Kinnikuman](https://www.edgepedia.org/kinnikuman), the gruff Kenshiro in *Fist of the North Star* (1984–1988), and finally Ryo Saeba in *City Hunter* from 1987.[11](https://news.ntv.co.jp/category/culture/af078f431e2740738ac968484d18bec0) In interviews he calls Ryo Saeba his culminating role, one that contains everything he had played before: the half-comic lead of Mendo, the clown of Kinnikuman, and the gravity of Kenshiro.[12](https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1664355824)
The path to Ryo Saeba was specific. Watching his senior Yasuo Yamada's rapidly changing performances in Theater Echo rehearsals, Kamiya decided he wanted to act that way one day; when he read Tsukasa Hojo's *[City Hunter](https://www.edgepedia.org/city-hunter)* in *Weekly Shonen Jump*, he decided the role of Ryo was his to take, entered the audition, and passed it. He has said that had he encountered the role a few years earlier, in his youth, he could not have played it convincingly.[13](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0138886) • [9](https://futabasha-change.com/articles/-/319?page=1)
Other major 1980s and 1990s roles include Shun Mitaka in *Maison Ikkoku*, Roy Focker in *The Super Dimension Fortress Macross*, Sincline in *Beast King GoLion*, and Kogoro Mouri, the original voice of the character in *Detective Conan* from 1996 to 2009, after which Rikiya Koyama took over.[2](https://tvdb.app/en/person/24201) • [6](https://dragon-quest.org/wiki/Akira_Kamiya)
## Technique, voice range, and teaching
**A self-built vocal catalog.** In a 2021 lecture Kamiya demonstrated nine distinct voice types he uses by register and timbre: a high voice for boys, a mid voice such as Ryo Saeba's, a low voice such as Kenshiro's, husky variants of each for animals and for Kinnikuman and Kogoro Mouri, a falsetto high used in *Purinpurin Monogatari*, and altered falsetto modes for elderly or comedic voices.[14](https://note.com/suwacchi2/n/n47e07df7820c) His agency profile lists his base voice as a bright, clear high baritone with a range from G to F.[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html)
He rejects the idea that voice acting has a fundamentally separate technique from acting. In his words, the work is the same as an actor's, and the appeal of the profession is that a voice actor can transform into anything, from animals and plants to minerals and celestial bodies.[15](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/15976916/) He spent years as an instructor at Nihon Kogakuin College and actively mentors younger performers.[7](https://anibase.net/en/people/1XERR/Akira-Kamiya) • [10](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/24832387/) He has also written several books on the profession, including *Kimi mo Seiyuu ni Nareru!* and *Seiyuu Heartful Talk 21*.[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html)
## Longevity with Ryo Saeba and recent work
Kamiya has voiced Ryo Saeba continuously since the *City Hunter* television anime began in 1987, more than 36 years, across four television series and the theatrical films.[3](https://www.tokai-tv.com/tokainews/article_20230917_30081) • [13](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0138886) For *City Hunter the Movie: Angel Dust* (2023), the fourth film in the series' revival that began with *Shinjuku Private Eyes* (2019), he spent about a year on articulation and vocal exercises at home, singing loudly and practicing difficult phrases, to match the performances of 36 years earlier; he noted that his speaking tempo has naturally slowed with age and that hiding this is one of his working challenges.[3](https://www.tokai-tv.com/tokainews/article_20230917_30081) • [16](https://www.joqr.co.jp/qr/article/100569/) At a 2023 stage greeting he noted, jokingly, that the film's regular cast average age had passed 70, with none of the original members missing.[16](https://www.joqr.co.jp/qr/article/100569/)
His earlier signature roles also returned. In December 2023, the 2024 television anime *Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc* was announced with Kamiya voicing Mayumi Kinniku and Prince Kamehame, opposite [Mamoru Miyano](https://www.edgepedia.org/mamoru-miyano) as the new Kinnikuman (Suguru's grown portrayal).[17](https://wpb.shueisha.co.jp/news/entertainment/20231229-121696/) • [20](https://www.production-ig.co.jp/works/kin29man-shisohen/staf_cast.html)
His dubbing work extends beyond anime: he is the standard Japanese dub voice of [Pierce Brosnan](https://www.edgepedia.org/pierce-brosnan)'s James Bond in *GoldenEye* and *Tomorrow Never Dies*, and voiced [Remington Steele](https://www.edgepedia.org/remington-steele); IMDb also lists him in the credits of *Pixels* (2015), *Pom Poko* (1994), and *GoldenEye* (1995).[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html) • [18](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0436776/)
## Music and other activities
From 1977 to 1986 Kamiya played bass in the voice-actor band SLAPSTICK, alongside [Toshio Furukawa](https://www.edgepedia.org/toshio-furukawa) on rhythm guitar, Yūji Mitsuya and later Hirotaka Suzuoki on keyboards, [Tōru Furuya](https://www.edgepedia.org/toru-furuya) on drums, and Kazuyuki Sogabe on lead guitar.[4](https://dragon-ballwiki.com/wiki/akira-kamiya/) He and Furukawa, rivals and co-stars since their youth, still appear together at events; at the Kitakyushu Pop Culture Festival 2018 the two held a widely covered "kakegoe" (vocal-call) battle, with Kamiya performing Kenshiro's famous shout without a microphone.[19](https://asianbeat.com/ja/feature/interview/74.html) He also maintains a broad sideline in radio hosting, narration for commercials and video packages, and CDs under his own office label.[1](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html)
## References
1. [神谷明事務所 冴羽商事｜所属メンバー 神谷明 (official profile)](https://www.tokyosaeba.com/profile_kamiya.html)
2. [Akira Kamiya | TVDB](https://tvdb.app/en/person/24201)
3. [TVは1987年放送開始…『劇場版シティーハンター』舞台挨拶で神谷明さん「1年位かけて滑舌と発声練習した」, 東海テレビNEWS (2023)](https://www.tokai-tv.com/tokainews/article_20230917_30081)
4. [Akira Kamiya | Dragon Ball Wiki](https://dragon-ballwiki.com/wiki/akira-kamiya/)
5. [「劇場版シティーハンター 天使の涙（エンジェルダスト）」神谷明 インタビュー | TVガイドWeb (2023)](https://www.tvguide.or.jp/column/column-2381765/)
6. [Akira Kamiya - Dragon Quest Wiki](https://dragon-quest.org/wiki/Akira_Kamiya)
7. [Akira Kamiya | AniBase](https://anibase.net/en/people/1XERR/Akira-Kamiya)
8. [76歳レジェンド声優・神谷明 自らの声に導かれ、導く存在に, スポニチ (2023)](https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2023/09/17/kiji/20230916s00041000632000c.html)
9. [レジェンド声優・神谷明「演技って入口と出口の"センス"」, 双葉社 THE CHANGE (2023)](https://futabasha-change.com/articles/-/319?page=1)
10. [「声が出るうちは現役ですよ」レジェンド声優・神谷明が後輩たちに伝える"声優の道", ライブドアニュース](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/24832387/)
11. [『シティーハンター』や『北斗の拳』 声優・神谷明"苦手を前向きに捉える"仕事論, 日テレNEWS (2023)](https://news.ntv.co.jp/category/culture/af078f431e2740738ac968484d18bec0)
12. [〖内海賢二 彼が生きた時代：連載第4回〗神谷明インタビュー, アニメイトタイムズ (2022)](https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1664355824)
13. [『シティーハンター』神谷明、レジェンド声優の自覚と感謝, シネマトゥデイ (2023)](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0138886)
14. [神谷明さん②｜すわっち日記, note (2021)](https://note.com/suwacchi2/n/n47e07df7820c)
15. [〖インタビュー〗僕らの背中を追いかけてきてほしい。神谷明から"まだ見ぬ後輩たち"に贈る言葉, ライブドアニュース](https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/15976916/)
16. [神谷明「劇場版シティハンターの声優の平均年齢は70歳を超えました(笑)」, 文化放送 (2023)](https://www.joqr.co.jp/qr/article/100569/)
17. [〖重大発表〗新キン肉マン・宮野真守×初代キン肉マン・神谷明対談!! - 週プレNEWS (2023)](https://wpb.shueisha.co.jp/news/entertainment/20231229-121696/)
18. [Akira Kamiya - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0436776/)
19. [Interview Now ～ 神谷明、古川登志夫 ～ | asianbeat (2018)](https://asianbeat.com/ja/feature/interview/74.html)
20. [スタッフ・キャスト](https://www.production-ig.co.jp/works/kin29man-shisohen/staf_cast.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Voice performers › Japanese voice performers › Surnames symbols to M*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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