Kazuo Kumakura

I've got a soft spot for the kind of performer you recognize by ear before you ever match a face, and Kazuo Kumakura was exactly that—one of those gravelly, mischievous Japanese voices that instantly makes you grin. Born in Tokyo back in 1927, he spent decades as an actor, voice actor, and stage director, the sort of triple-threat craftsman who quietly holds a whole production together instead of hogging the spotlight. There's something wonderfully wry and unhurried about his delivery; it always sounded like he was in on a joke he wasn't going to spoil for you. Earning the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1991 just confirms the obvious—the man was a respected lifer who never coasted. He passed in 2015, but that playful, slightly raspy timbre still pops into my head out of nowhere. A real one.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Kazuo Kumakura (January 30, 1927 – October 12, 2015) was a Japanese actor, voice actor, and stage director born in Azabu Ward, Tokyo Prefecture. A graduate of Tokyo Metropolitan University, he built a career spanning all three disciplines over several decades. In 1991 he was awarded the Order of the Purple Ribbon in recognition of his contributions to the arts.

Name (English)

Kazuo Kumakura

Name (Japanese)

熊倉一雄

Reading

くまくら かずお

Born

January 30, 1927 – October 12, 2015

Origin

Azabu Ward, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

Height

157 cm

Occupation

Actor / Voice Actor / Stage Director

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Rabbit

Blood type

A

Active years

1951 - 2015

University

Tokyo Metropolitan University

Awards & achievements

• 1991 — Order of the Purple Ribbon

Works summary

Appearances

275 (1953–2019)

By year

1953: 1, 1955: 1, 1956: 2, 1957: 4, 1958: 6, 1959: 2, 1960: 3, 1962: 4, 1963: 2, 1964: 1, 1965: 2, 1966: 3, 1967: 3, 1968: 3, 1969: 8, 1970: 3, 1972: 1, 1973: 2, 1974: 1, 1975: 3, 1976: 3, 1977: 5, 1978: 2, 1979: 4, 1980: 6, 1981: 1, 1982: 3, 1983: 2, 1984: 1, 1986: 3, 1987: 3, 1991: 1, 1993: 1, 1997: 1, 1999: 1, 2000: 1, 2002: 1, 2003: 4, 2004: 2, 2005: 2, 2006: 1, 2009: 1, 2010: 2, 2011: 1, 2012: 1, 2013: 2, 2015: 1, 2019: 1

Debut work

蟹工船

Filmography / notable works

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%86%8A%E5%80%89%E4%B8%80%E9%9B%84
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11567828

Tags

• From Tokyo Prefecture
• Actor
• Voice Actor
• Stage Director

Last updated

September 18, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.