Japanese Voiceover

By Author: Dylan Ross
Total Articles: 56
Comment this article

Choosing a voiceover talent for a project that is not in your native language can be difficult. You don't speak the target language. So how do you know if the foreign language voiceover is correct?

Many worldwide voiceover productions need native Japanese voice talents and narrators.

In Japan, voiceover talents are referred to as "narrators". Voice actors for anime (animation) characters are called "voice actors" or "character voice"- CV. In Japanese, "seiyu".

Here are some tips about how to choose a native Japanese voiceover talent, or any native speaker of your target language - for your voiceover production.

Search for an experienced, authentic native Standard Japanese dialect narrator.

These days, you can find professional freelance Japanese voiceover talents who live in Japan and can send you an audio file by internet or email. (In Japan, it's called "Net Narration". The Japanese narrators record voice-over in their own home studios in Japan. )

Hiring a professional Japanese narrator is important. A lot of the freelance Japanese voices who are managed by agents and agencies outside ...
... of Japan are amateurs - they offer voiceover simply because the voice over talent can speak Japanese!

Think about it. Is the Japanese language spoken much in your city? You may find an experienced Japanese native speaker on a big city ethnic radio or TV station and who can perform voiceover work. Otherwise, you're at the mercy of a voice casting agent.

And if your foreign language voice has lived outside his or her home country, it's quite possible the voice talent has begun to speak with the accent of the new country!

So you need to trust the voice or the voice's agent or manager.

If your Japanese voice lives in Japan, and is working right now as a voiceover artist, narrator, radio DJ, emcee, newscaster, anime voice character, or TV announcer, in Japan, you can be sure there's no "foreign accent".

Japanese voice talent and more information about Japanese voiceover is available at www.letsnarrate.jp.