3 Art Universities from which popular Seiyu graduated! What schools did Daisuke Ono, Kentaro Ito, and Yuichi Juse attend?
The three most common routes to becoming a voice actor are voice actor vocational schools, training schools affiliated with voice actor agencies, and auditions. Some of them are child actors or actors, but there are also popular voice actors who attended universities in the field of art where they could learn acting and production.
We have selected 3 to introduce their respective universities! We hope this will help you in your choice of career path!
Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music
Major voice actor graduates
Joji Nakata, Mika Kanai, Rikiya Koyama, Romi Park, Yuko Miyamura, Naochika Hayashida, Kentaro Ito, Kanako Miyamoto
(Reference) Theatre Arts / Distinctive Characteristics of Learning / Specialized Subjects | Introduction of Majors | Toho Gakuen Junior College of Arts
The Toho Gakuen College of Art and Design’s Drama Major was established in 1966 as Japan’s first educational institution for the purpose of training professional actors and expressionists.
The major was founded by the masters of Japanese theater, whose predecessor was the Haiyuza Training School.
The curriculum is practical and designed to provide a systematic study of the fundamentals and applications of acting.
There are two courses, straight play andmusical, and both courses are based on acting while deepening each specialty.
The course content is well-balanced between practical skills and theory. In addition to practical skills courses such as acting exercises, Japanese dance, and voice training, theory courses such as directing theory, theater history, and play reading exercises are also offered. In addition, many opportunities for practice are provided, such as regular acting recitals, trial performances, and graduation performances.
A distinctive feature of this major is its educational policy that emphasizes not only the results but also the creative process of expression.
Through two years of intensive study, the program aims to nurture professionals with both a broad range of education and advanced expertise.
After graduation, many of our students go on to become actors, dancers, and performers, building credibility and achievement in the industry.
Tamagawa University College of Arts
Major voice actor alumni
Hozumi Gouda, Fumi Hirano, Yuichi Jose
Reference Tamagawa University College of Arts STREAM Hall 2019/ConsilienceHall 2020｜Campus Information｜Tamagawa Gakuen
Tamagawa University’s Faculty of Arts aims to nurture individuals who can contribute to society through the arts.
Starting in April 2021, the Faculty will have three departments and eight courses: Music, Art and Design, and Theatre and Dance, and is developing education with an eye toward a Society 5.0 society.
The distinctive features of this faculty are the cultivation of “expressive people” who combine skill, knowledge, and sensitivity in a well-balanced manner, and the development of practical skills for contributing to society by utilizing artistic and educational abilities. The curriculum includes not only art-related subjects in specialized fields, but also a wide range of studies that take advantage of the strengths of a comprehensive university.
In terms of facilities, we have centers of learning equipped with the latest equipment, such as STREAM Hall 2019 and Consilience Hall 2020, and emphasize “education that puts students in touch with the real thing”. As part of practical learning, the school offers a variety of off-campus activities such as collaborative projects with companies and local governments, concerts at art museums, and theater performances. The school also provides excellent support for job hunting, with individualized support provided by the Career Center.
The employment rate for graduates in March 2023 is 89.1%, with many students finding employment in general companies as well as in specialized fields. Thus, it can be said that Tamagawa University’s Faculty of Art and Design focuses on cultivating individuals who can play an active role in society by acquiring expertise in the arts and a broad range of liberal arts education.
Incidentally, voice actor Takaya Kuroda also graduated from Tamagawa University (faculty unknown)!
Nihon University College of Art
Major voice actor alumni
Toshio Furukawa, Junko Takeuchi, Hiroki Tochi, Akira Ishida, Daisuke Ono, Kyosei Tsukui, Mina Tominaga, Masatomo Nakazawa, Yuya Nakada
*Kyosei Tsukui, Junko Takeuchi, and Masamo Nakazawa are university dropouts.
(Reference)
Characteristics of NICHIGEI｜About NICHIGEI / Departments and Graduate Schools｜Nihon University College of Art
Industry-government-academia collaboration projects｜About NICHIGEI｜Nihon University College of Art
Activities of Graduates｜Careers and Employment｜Nihon University College of Art
Nihon University College of Art is a university of theater where many actors and comedians have graduated from.
Nicknamed “NICHIGEI,” it is a comprehensive school of the arts.
It consists of eight departments: Photography, Film, Fine Arts, Music, Literature, Theater, Broadcasting, and Design, and its catchphrase is “8 Arts, 1 Heart.
A distinctive feature of the school is that students can study across a wide range of artistic fields through collaboration programs that transcend departmental boundaries, as well as through the “Arts Comprehensive Course” common to all departments.
This allows students to deepen their own expertise while receiving stimulation from other genres.
The Ekoda Campus, equipped with the latest facilities and equipment, offers advanced specialized education and practical learning.
The campus also provides students with opportunities to work on solving social issues through the power of the arts, such as industry-government-academia collaborative projects and “Collaborative Project I”.
The school also provides extensive job placement support, including industry seminars and joint corporate seminars.
Many of our graduates are prominent figures in their respective fields, and many of them are particularly active in the media and creative industries.
The Nihon University College of Art aims to nurture creators who can play an active role in society by bringing out the unlimited potential of its students through an education that combines tradition and innovation.
▼A video featuring Daisuke Ono is also available on the Nichigei Channel!
Learning the basics of acting will be the food for your life as a voice actor!
(Quote)
Natsuki Hanae’s Advice on How to Become a Voice Actor What Practice and Attitude She Had in High School｜High School Student Newspaper Online｜Helpful Media Supporting High School Life and Career Choices
Natsuki Hanae, a voice actor, plays without “making it” at the most important times.
Natsuki Hanae – Wikipedia
Natsuki Hanae, well-known for his roles as Tanjiro Kamado in “Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba -” and as Okarun (Ken Takakura) in “Dandadan,” is the most popular voice actor of Japanese voice actors with the most followers on X. He has never attended voice actor training or college!
Due to financial difficulties, she was able to join a voice acting agency after sending voice samples and an e-mail directly to the agency when she was in high school.
However, this does not mean that he was able to join without preparation due to his natural talent. After making the decision to become a voice actor in his second year of high school, he trained himself to improve his smoothness of speech by reading aloud fast words, sentences from his favorite novels, and lines from manga.
She also recorded her own voice and listened back to it, not only when she read aloud, but also when she recorded her own voice that she casually uttered in her daily life. They also had people listen to their voices to get a third-party opinion.
Highly capable of self-improvement…!
She also happened to know someone who was a voice actor and asked him to show her how to practice by herself. As you all know, he has been very successful since then.
However, becoming a voice actor by self-study is a difficult hurdle to overcome, so we have introduced some of the universities from which popular voice actors who have been active for a long time have graduated.
Although it is possible to learn acting on the job, it is not always possible to be in a place where there are many professionals or to be lucky enough to participate in a big project from the beginning. I think the performances of those who are active in the field speak for themselves!
I have learned that there is also a university route for those who want to become voice actors.
We will report on vocational schools for voice actors and training schools for voice actors in the future!
These are the 3 universities in the arts where voice actors have graduated!
(Reference) Wikipedia
