Kazuya Tatekabe

Biography

Tatekabe was born in Kimobetsu, Hokkaidō on July 25, 1934. His ancestors were pyrethrum farmers. His late father worked for the Iburi Longitudinal Railway until ill health forced the family to move to Shimokitazawa, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, in 1942, when Tatekabe was in second grade. He once said, "I might have worked for an agricultural cooperative, gotten married, had grandchildren, watched Doraemon by the stove, and listened to the voice of Gian, who was probably played by someone else, and wondered, 'Who is that nasty voice?'"

As an only child, he resembled Nobita in his youth, speaking with a slight Hokkaido accent and being frequently bullied. During the war, while in fourth grade, he was evacuated first to Asama Onsen in northeast Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, then to Senba in Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture. He wet his bed nightly for about six months near the war's end, stopping only after returning to his parents' home. Back in Tokyo, he attended Daizawa National School (now Daizawa Elementary School) in Setagaya Ward and played baseball daily, a passion he continued at Tokyo Agricultural Education College Junior High School.

Career

In high school, he was asked to perform Dr. Jüttner in Alt Heidelberg for the drama club; the praise he received convinced him he had acting talent and that theater was interesting, though he never joined the club because he disliked commitments. He began seeing plays across Tokyo nearly every week, feeling that acting was the only way he could live. After high school, he entered the Department of Theater Arts at Nihon University College of Art, where his classmate and friend was Kiyoshi Kobayashi.

After graduating, he failed all job interviews at broadcasting companies. While working as a stagehand at Nippon Television, he teamed up with university classmate Yasuo Tanaka to form the theater company Engeki-za and performed "Poison and Old Lady" in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Kobayashi asked Tatekabe to join his Izumiza theater company, which Tatekabe agreed to. After TV broadcasting began, he officially began his career as a voice actor, first dubbing foreign films.

His television drama debut was in Dial 110. He was a member of the theater company Mitou, Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society and Ezaki Productions throughout his career. He originally performed under his real name Kazuya Tatekabe (立壁 和也), but after appearing in Time Bokan, he changed his name to Kazuya Tatekabe (たてかべ和也) so children could easily understand it. In 1979, he officially founded Office Chuo, serving as both its president and as a voice actor.

Awards

During his time at Office Chuo, he met Kenyu Horiuchi. In 1984, they merged into Production Baobab. After Horiuchi left Baobab to establish Kenyu Office, Tatekabe also left with him to work for the same agency, serving as director. In 2005, along his Doraemon co-stars Nobuyo Ōyama, Noriko Ohara, Michiko Nomura, and Kaneta Kimotsuki, he received the Rikiya Tayama Award at the 14th Japan Movie Critics Awards.

Final years and death

In November 2006, they received the Special Award at the 11th Animation Kobe, and in March 2007, they received the 3rd Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tokyo International Anime Fair. In 2009, Tatekabe was diagnosed with gastric cancer and had his entire stomach removed. He died from acute respiratory failure in Tokyo on June 18, 2015, at 80 years old. He was single all his life, and was said to have been attended by his relatives and staff at his agency during his final moments.

After undergoing gastrectomy in 2009, he did not suffer from a recurrence of cancer, but his health declined until his final years, and he died of senility, with his final voice acting role being Max Tennyson in the Japanese version of Ben 10.

Personality

Tatekabe was born an only child, and as a young boy, he was similar to the character of Nobita, as he spoke with a slight Hokkaido accent and was a frequent victim of bullying throughout his childhood years. During high school, he did not end up joining the drama club because he disliked being tied down to anything. After graduating from high school, he wanted to join a professional theater company as soon as possible and become a trainee, but as an only child, he had previously thought that he would become a businessman someday and take care of his parents.

He also did not like studying very much, and had the impression that he would be able to just have fun in the theater department, so he went to the university. Even after entering university, he did not study, but participated in many theater productions, including "The Bottom". Around this time, Tatekabe began to become interested in producing, and for a while focused on studying as a production staff member. After graduating, he went around applying to various broadcasting companies with hopes of becoming a television producer, but ended up failing at all of the job interviews.

There was a slight misunderstanding between Tatekabe and his manager at the agency, and he initially thought it was a mismatch, but soon realized that there were other people around him who had similar doubts. Having decided to do it himself, in 1979, Tatekabe officially founded Office Chuo, serving as both its president and as a voice actor. He tried to sell everyone by acting as a manager, but in the end, he was the only popular one, so he had no desire to be actor and manager at the same time.

He had no choice but to do it because of Time Bokan and Doraemon, though in reality he wanted to sell everyone. The people who had been with him despite the opposition of the agency members said, "Let's keep going like this," because they had been working hard for five years. However, as pressure came on the agency, they realized that things would be hard if they went on as is, so they decided to merge in 1984 and absorbed into Production Baobab.

Tributes

After Horiuchi ended up leaving Baobab to establish Kenyu Office, Tatekabe also decided to leave with him in order to work for the same agency, serving as director. At his wake, Kaneta Kimotsuki, a very close friend, prayed for the Hanshin Tigers' victory for Tatekabe, as he was a Hanshin Tigers fan, saying, "Hanshin is in the running to win. I hope they win", and ended by crying out in Doraemon character Suneo's voice, "Gian, why did you go before me, even though you're Gian?"

At his funeral, Kimotsuki read a eulogy, expressing his gratitude by saying, "The 26 years of Doraemon have been really fun. It's all thanks to you, Kabe-san," and concluded by shouting "Gian!" as Suneo.

Did You Know?

• He once said that if his family hadn't moved to Tokyo in 1942, he might have stayed in Hokkaidō, worked for an agricultural cooperative, and wondered who played Gian's 'nasty voice' while watching Doraemon by the stove.
• In 2009, he had his entire stomach removed due to gastric cancer, but he was determined to complete his role as Tonzura in the Yatterman series before treatment.