is a Japanese

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

and singer.Doi, Hitoshi
"Kuwashima Houko"
''Seiyuu Database''. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011. She is capable of playing a variety of roles, ranging from young boys to feminine women. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. Her first major role was as Yurika Misumaru in ''

Martian Successor Nadesico , sometimes referred to as simply , is a Japanese anime television series produced by TV Tokyo, Yomiko Advertising and Xebec and directed by Tatsuo Satō, with manga artist Kia Asamiya providing original character designs, Keiji Gotoh servi ...

''. She had lead or major roles as Sango in ''

Inuyasha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...

'', Nakahito Kagura in ''

Steel Angel Kurumi is a Japanese manga series created by Kaishaku (manga group), Kaishaku. An anime series adaptation directed by Naohito Takahashi, animated by OLM, Inc., Oriental Light and Magic, produced by Pony Canyon with character designs by Yuriko C ...

'', Marlene Angel in '' Blue Gender'', Kenny in '' Beyblade'', Quon Kisaragi in '' RahXephon'',

Flay Allster This is a list of fictional characters featured in the Cosmic Era (CE) timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. These characters appear in the ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' and '' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny'' anime television series, as we ...

in ''

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. The ninth installment in the '' Gundam'' franchise, ''Gundam SEED'' takes place in a future calendar era, in this case the Cosmic Era. In this era, mankind has dev ...

'',

Stella Loussier This is a list of fictional characters featured in the Cosmic Era (CE) timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. These characters appear in the '' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' and '' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny'' anime television series, as we ...

in '' Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny'', Sheila in '' Tweeny Witches'', Itsuki Myoudouin / Cure Sunshine in '' Heartcatch PreCure!'', Wendy Garret in '' Gun Sword'', Shūrei Hong in '' The Story of Saiunkoku'', Clare in ''

Claymore A claymore (; from gd, claidheamh- mòr, "great sword") is either the Scottish variant of the late medieval two-handed sword or the Scottish variant of the basket-hilted sword. The former is characterised as having a cross hilt of forward- ...

'', Michru Kita in '' Zombie-Loan'', Fuyuki Hinata in ''

Sgt. Frog ''Sgt. Frog'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mine Yoshizaki. It was launched in ''Monthly Shōnen Ace'' in April 1999. The story follows the attempts of a platoon of frog-like alien invaders to c ...

'', Cirucci and Soifon in ''

Bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

'', Shigure in '' Ninja Scroll: The Series'', Allison in ''

Allison and Lilia is a Japanese anime television series adapted from the light novel series ''Allison'' and '' Lillia and Treize'' by Keiichi Sigsawa. The anime, produced and animated by Madhouse, and directed by Masayoshi Nishida, aired in Japan on the NHK B ...

'', and Uka in ''

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha , also known as for short, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Morohe Yoshida, which were serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's ''Young Ace'' magazine from August 2010 to May 2015. An anime television adaptation by Production IMS ...

.'' In video games, she voiced Seshil Pound in '' Money Puzzle Exchanger'', Mei Ling and Para-Medic in '' Metal Gear Solid'', Seong Mi-na in '' Soulcalibur'', Kasumi in '' Dead or Alive'', Presea Combatir in the ''Tales'' series, Tomoyo Sakagami in ''

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

'', Isara Gunther in ''

Valkyria Chronicles ''Valkyria Chronicles'' is a series of military-themed tactical role-playing video games created by Ryutaro Nonaka and Shuntaro Tanaka, and developed by Sega. The series began with '' Valkyria Chronicles'', which was released for the PlayStat ...

'' and Chizuru Yukimura in ''

Hakuoki is a Japanese ''otome'' video game series by Idea Factory, first released for the PlayStation 2 in 18 September 2008 and ported to many other platforms. It has been adapted into an anime series by Studio Deen; the first series was broa ...

''. On films, she had voice roles as the title character in ''

Princess Arete (also ''Princess Arite'') is a 2001 Japanese animated film written and directed by Sunao Katabuchi, animated and produced by Studio 4°C and distributed by Omega Entertainment. It is based on Diana Coles's 1983 story ''The Clever Princess''. T ...

'', Yuki Mori in ''

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 ''Star Blazers 2199'', known in Japan as , is a 2012–2013 Japanese military science fiction anime television series that is a remake of the first ''Space Battleship Yamato'' television series created by Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Leiji Mats ...

'', Rosé Thomas in '' Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa'', and Poko in '' Doraemon: Nobita in the Robot Kingdom''. She has performed songs for anime, such as , which was used as the opening theme to ''Blue Gender''.

Biography

Although a shy kid, she was interested in acting as an escapism from her real self, especially when she saw the musical and television dramas at the

Shiki Theatre Company is one of Japan's best-known and largest theatre companies. Shiki Theatre Company employs over 800 actors and staff, and stages about 2800 performances a year. Shiki Theatre Company operates nine theaters for their exclusive use. Originally, t ...

. Every time there were four seasons on local performances, it was almost like getting tickets for the parents and putting the heat that would go to see them in the family. While in elementary school, Kuwashima watched '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' while dreaming to become a voice actress. She wrote in a graduation collection, saying: "I want to make the child's voices in the anime project of Hayao Miyazaki." She learned that there is no drama club neither stage plays at the cultural festival at junior high school. At Iwate Prefectural Kurosawajiri North High School, she attended a correspondence course at Katsuta Voice Academy. The voice was blown to the cassette tape, and was corrected by voice actor

Hisashi Katsuta was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is best known for his voice-over portrayal of Professor Ochanomizu in three anime adaptations of the ''Astro Boy'' franchise, and also voiced Dr. Hoshi in '' Astroganger'' (1972–1973), Professor Tobishi ...

who was a director. However, attendance at the time of advancement was insufficient, and from the third year it was transferred to Iwate Prefectural Forest Mausoleum High school. After graduating, she moved to Tokyo. She entered Aoiso in 1994. In auditions after graduation, about 20 out of 71 people have passed the exam and belonged to Aoni Production. She made her debut in the 1995 anime series ''

Sailor Moon S The third season of the ''Sailor Moon'' anime series, ''Sailor Moon S'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S''), was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. It began broadcasting on ...

''. In 1996, in the anime series ''

'' she gained the role of heroine Yurika Misumaru and gained popularity, and before that, she voiced Necrokaizer in the OVA series adaptation of 1995 Technōs/ SNK's Neo Geo

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...

Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer ''Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer'' is a 1995 superhero-themed head-to-head fighting game produced by Technos Japan Corp. for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It was the companys second attempt at a fighting game, following the Neo Geo fighting g ...

''. The same year, her younger brother passed the University of Tsukuba. She played Shiro Bonn in ''

Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden , commonly abbreviated as or ''BBB'', is a ''CoroCoro Comic'' series created by Koichi Mikata, based on Bomberman and B-Daman. An animated television series was created and originally broadcast on Nagoya TV and TV Asahi at 17:00. It was a ...

'' and Maron Kusakabe in ''

Phantom Thief Jeanne is a magical girl ''shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Arina Tanemura. The story is about the adventures of a high school girl, Maron Kusakabe, who is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) and transforms into a phan ...

''. She was appointed a cultural ambassador of Iwate Prefecture.

Filmography

Animation

Film

Video games

Tokusatsu

Drama CD

Other dubbing

Notes

References

External links

Official agency profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuwashima, Hoko 1975 births Living people Anime singers Aoni Production voice actors Japanese women pop singers Japanese video game actresses Japanese voice actresses Musicians from Iwate Prefecture Voice actresses from Iwate Prefecture 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers