# Nobuyo Ōyama

Nobuyo Yamashita (山下羨代, Yamashita Nobuyo, née Ōyama, October 16, 1933 – September 29, 2024), known professionally as Nobuyo Ōyama (大山 のぶ代, Ōyama Nobuyo), was a Japanese actress, voice actress, screenwriter, singer, essayist, and television personality affiliated with Actors Seven. Her husband was the television personality Keisuke Sagawa. She is best known for voicing the title character in the Doraemon anime series that ran from 1979 to 2005, for 26 years.
She also voiced Monokuma, the main villain from the Danganronpa video game series, from 2010 to 2016 for the first three video games, two Danganronpa stageshows, and Danganronpa: The Animation.

## Career

In 1965, Nobuyo Ōyama began her career in anime voice acting as the character of Punch in Hustle Punch. She later voiced Katsuo Isono in Sazae-san from the show's start in October 1969 to December of that year. After a number of minor roles, she landed the role of the titular character of the long-running anime series Doraemon from April 2, 1979 until March 18, 2005 when she chose to step down due to health problems she faced in July of 2001 and she stopped voicing Doraemon in 2005. Wasabi Mizuta replaced Ōyama as the voice actress of Doraemon in the 2005 series. Five years after Nobuyo Ōyama retired from voicing Doraemon, she made a major comeback by voicing Monokuma, the major antagonist of the Danganronpa series, from 2010 to 2016.

## Illness and death

On May 13, 2015, her husband Keisuke Sagawa revealed on a radio show that she was living with dementia, putting any planned future work on indefinite hold. This notably prevented her from reprising the role of Monokuma for future Danganronpa projects, and in April 2016, it was announced that Tarako had assumed the role. Tarako voiced Monokuma until her death in March 2024.
In April 2016, Ōyama was moved to live in an undisclosed retirement home, due to Sagawa starting to face health problems while he was taking care of her at their home. When Keisuke Sagawa died on July 11, 2017, her long-time manager Akiko Kobayashi continued to visit and look after her, per Sagawa's wishes before he died. While her dementia had progressed, it was last said in October 2017 that she was in good health despite her condition, and enjoyed interacting with the other residents and partook in activities such as choir.
Ōyama died on September 29, 2024, at the age of 90, in a hospital in Tokyo. Her death was announced by her management company on October 11. It was revealed in articles covering her death that over the past year, she started suffering from health problems and had difficulty speaking due to senility.
She kept visiting the hospital repeatedly over the course of the past year and kept getting discharged until her final hospitalization on September 19.
Following her death, a private funeral was held by her relatives before the news was publicized. At her funeral, it was said that there was a photograph of her late husband Sagawa, a chestnut yokan from Toraya, and a stuffed toy of Doraemon by her side inside the coffin she was in.
At the end of episode 832 of the Doraemon (2005) series, which was broadcast on TV Asahi on October 12, 2024, a message of condolence and gratitude for Nobuyo Ōyama with scenes from the Doraemon (1979) series, playing in a montage were broadcast in her memory.
The voice actress for Doraemon since 2005 in the current series, Wasabi Mizuta, expressed her remembrance over Ōyama on her official blog on October 12 in honor of her death.
On October 13, the Sazae-san anime had a memorial caption for Ōyama at the start of the first episode broadcast that day.
In January 2025, she and Doraemon co-star Noriko Ohara were posthumously awarded the "Chairman's Prize" in the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize for "outstanding contributions and outstanding results in the film industry over many years".

## Filmography
### Television animation

List of voice performances in television animation :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965–1966 | Hustle Punch | Punch | first voice |
| 1969 | Sazae-san | Katsuo Isono | first voice |
| 1970–1971 | Norakuro | Norakuro | |
| 1971–1971 | Andersen Stories | Top | Ep. 20 |
| 1972–1973 | Hazedon | Hazedon | |
| 1977–1978 | Invincible Super Man Zambot 3 | Jin Kappei | |
| 1979–2005 | Doraemon | Doraemon | |
| 2013 | Danganronpa: The Animation | Monokuma | |
| 2014 | Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life: Awakening Arc | Monokuma | Ep. 10 |

### Theatrical animation

List of voice performances in theatrical animation :
| Year | Title | Role |
| 1971 | Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves | Huck |
| 1980 | Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur | Doraemon |
| 1981 | Doraemon: The Records of Nobita, Spaceblazer | Doraemon |
| 1981 | What Am I for Momotaro | Doraemon |
| 1982 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil | Doraemon |
| 1983 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil | Doraemon |
| 1984 | Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld | Doraemon |
| 1985 | Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars | Doraemon |
| 1986 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Steel Troops | Doraemon |
| 1987 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Knights on Dinosaurs | Doraemon |
| 1988 | Doraemon: The Record of Nobita's Parallel Visit to the West | Doraemon |
| 1989 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan | Doraemon |
| 1990 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Animal Planet | Doraemon |
| 1991 | Doraemon: Nobita's Dorabian Nights | Doraemon |
| 1992 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Kingdom of Clouds | Doraemon |
| 1993 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Tin Labyrinth | Doraemon |
| 1994 | Doraemon: Nobita's Three Visionary Swordsmen | Doraemon |
| 1995 | Doraemon: Nobita's Diary of the Creation of the World | Doraemon |
| 1995 | 2112: The Birth of Doraemon | Doraemon |
| 1996 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-express | Doraemon |
| 1996 | Dorami & Doraemons: Robot School's Seven Mysteries | Doraemon |
| 1997 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Spiral City | Doraemon |
| 1997 | The Puzzling Challenge Letter of the Mysterious Thief Dorapan | Doraemon |
| 1998 | Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure in the South Seas | Doraemon |
| 1998 | Doraemon Comes Back | Doraemon |
| 1999 | Doraemon: Nobita Drifts in the Universe | Doraemon |
| 1999 | Funny Candy of Okashinana!? | Doraemon |
| 1999 | Doraemon: Nobita's the Night Before a Wedding | Doraemon |
| 2000 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King | Doraemon |
| 2000 | Doki Doki Wildcat Engine | Doraemon |
| 2000 | Doraemon: A Grandmother's Recollections | Doraemon |
| 2001 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Winged Braves | Doraemon |
| 2001 | Ganbare! Gian!! | Doraemon |
| 2002 | Doraemon: Nobita in the Robot Kingdom | Doraemon |
| 2002 | Doraemon: The Day When I Was Born | Doraemon |
| 2003 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Windmasters | Doraemon |
| 2004 | Doraemon: Nobita in the Wan-Nyan Spacetime Odyssey | Doraemon |

### Video games

List of voice performances in video games :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995–2004 | Doraemon video games | Doraemon | |
| 1997 | Doraemon: Nobita to Mittsu no Seireiseki | Doraemon | |
| 2010 | Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | Monokuma | PSP |
| 2012 | Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | Monokuma | PSP, also Reload in 2013 |
| 2014 | Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls | Monokuma | PS Vita |

### Other dubbing

List of voice performances in other dubbing :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1966 | Night on the Galactic Railroad | Giovanni ジョバンニ | Radio |
| 1998 | Hoshin Engi | Hakutsuru Doji 白鶴童子 | Radio |
| 1999 | Hoshin Engi Part Two: The Court Army Strikes Back 封神演義 第二部～朝廷軍の逆襲～ | Hakutsuru Doji 白鶴童子 | Radio |
| 2000 | Hoshin Engi Part Three: Dynastic Revolution 封神演義 第三部～易姓革命～ | Hakutsuru Doji 白鶴童子 | Radio |