There was more than one famous Masako at this year’s Spring Garden Party.

Every year in spring, the imperial family of Japan hosts a Spring Garden Party on the grounds of the Akasaka Estate, an elegantly maintained green space in Tokyo’s Minato Ward. Our invitation must have gotten lost in the mail, so unfortunately we weren’t among the guests in attendance to hobnob with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on April 17.

However, in addition to the wife of Japan’s reigning monarch, there was another famous Masako in attendance, Masako Nozawa, the veteran anime voice actress who’s served as the voice of Dragon Ball’s Son Goku for 40 years and counting. With 1,400 guests at the function, it’s unlikely that all of them had time to directly chat with the emperor and empress, but the royals did make time to talk with the anime luminary, as shown in the video below.

The royals clearly recognize Nozawa, with Empress Masako inquiring about her career, asking “Have you always done shonen roles?”, referencing Nozawa’s body of work in action anime aimed at boys. “Yes, I’ve never played the role of a beautiful woman, not even once” says Nozawa with a good-natured laugh. Rather than lean into Nozawa’s self-deprecating humor, thought, Empress Masako follows up with “Did shonen roles just click with you right from the start?” to which Nozawa replies “yes, they did.”

The biggest surprise, though, comes when Emperor Naruhito joins in and reveals himself to be a long-time fan of the anime adaptation of Gegege no Kitaro, the hit series in which Nozawa herself played the lead role. “When I was a kid, I watched Gegege no Kitaro on TV, and wondered what kind of person was doing the voice of the character,” he reminisces. “Oh, I’m so happy to hear that you watched it,” Nozawa says, and Emperor Naruhito also reveals that he knows that Nozawa went on to provide the voice for Kitaro’s father, Medama Oyaji, in the anime’s 2018 iteration, showing that he’s got at least some familiarity with relatively contemporary anime too.

Online reactions to the conversation between the two famous Masakos and singularly famous Naruhito have included:

“Kakarot, the Emperor, and the Empress all have such refined ways of speaking.”
“Even I feel honored watching this.”
“Masako Nozawa is so accomplished in her field, but she always conducts herself in a humble and gentle way…She’s exactly the kind of person I want to be.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone in Japan who didn’t grow up listening to her voice.”
“Seeing her talk with people, you’d think she’s still in her 50s. Having that much drive must keep you energetic.”
“It’s amazing to hear ‘Kitaro’ and ‘Medama Oyaji’ come out of the Emperor’s mouth.”

During their chat, the imperial couple asked Nozawa a number of other questions about how she’s honed her craft. She explains how a key element in a good performance is instilling a natural quality in it, matching the energy and intonation that one would have in a face-to-face exchange even while speaking into a microphone in a recording booth. To that end, she says that, even though she’s now 89 years old herself, she still often portrays young boys, and so she tries to be observant around kids in the real world, taking note of and internalizing the ways they speak.

As their conversation draws to a close, the three exchange polite goodbyes, and Nozawa says “I’ll keep doing my best,” perhaps now with even more motivation to make her vocal performances shine considering who might be watching and listening.

Source: Aera Digital via Yahoo! Japan News, YouTube/TBS NEWS DIG Powered by JNN
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