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Sherlock Hound, Yamato's Voice Taichirou Hirokawa Dies
posted on by Egan Loo
Taichirō Hirokawa, the voice actor who voiced Sherlock Holmes in the Sherlock Hound anime and performed as both the character Mamori Kodai and the narrator in Space Battleship Yamato, died from cancer in a Tokyo hospital on March 3. He was 68. Outside his anime roles, Hirokawa was most famous in Japan for dubbing Roger Moore into Japanese for the James Bond films.
Hirokawa was born under the name Shinjirō Hirokawa in Tokyo in 1940 and began freelancing acting after graduating from Nihon University's College of Arts. His profile across Japan rose when he played Mamoru Kodai, the brother of the main lead in the Space Battleship Yamato franchise. He also ended up narrating two Yamato projects and all of the theatrical trailers. He then played the titular canine role in 1984-1985's Sherlock Hound (Meitantei Holmes or Detective Holmes). All the while, he dubbed over Moore, Tony Curtis, Robert Redford, and Michael Hui in the Japanese releases of dozens of overseas films. Since the mid-1990s, Hirokawa focused on narrating; among his more recent works were 2002's Pokémon Heroes - Latias & Latios film and 2005's OVAL X OVER video.
Thank you to Kumi Kaoru for the news tip.
Source: Sankei Sports
