Katsue Uchiyama (内山 かつゑ, Uchiyama Katsue; October 12, 1943 – June 19, 2024), known professionally as Katsue Miwa (三輪 勝恵, Miwa Katsue) was a Japanese voice actress and narrator from Osaka affiliated with Aoni Production. She began her career in 1960 and starred in a number of voice-over roles for various anime, video games, films, and television commercials, most famously voicing the titular character of the Perman franchise from 1967 to 2024.
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Career
Miwa was born in Osaka Prefecture on October 12, 1943. She moved at four years old and grew up in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
During her childhood, Miwa worked as a child actress at the NHK Tokyo Broadcasting Children's Theatre Company. While there, she was cast as the voice of Foo in the puppet show Boo Foo Woo on Okaasan to Issho.
Miwa graduated from Kokugakuin High School and then from the Department of Japanese Literature, Faculty of Letters, Kokugakuin University. She wanted to become a Japanese language teacher and had even done teaching practice at her former junior high school. Despite these hard efforts, she was not able to get a look in the eye and was shocked when students would tease her and tell her that her voice sounded like a manga character. They even referred to her with her first name without using any honorifics, so she gave up on becoming a teacher and would go on to become a voice actress.
Death
Miwa died from pulmonary embolism on June 19, 2024, at the age of 80. Her death was announced by Aoni a month later.
Personality
Her voice range was described as "a fairytale-like, dreamy mezzo-soprano". Her vocal range was E-D, and boys' voices (D-B). Her dialects were Kansai dialect and Osaka dialect.
Miwa has appeared in various anime, television shows, and foreign films. With her recognizably cute voice, she portrayed approachable, ordinary boys, but also voiced roles like energetic girls, adult women, and elderly women. She also made appearances in many television commercials and did narration.
Her personal qualifications and licenses included a medium-sized vehicle license and a large motorcycle license. She also had a first-grade junior high school teacher's license and a second-grade senior high school teacher's license.
Her main hobby was admiring wild plants and her special skill was creating small crafts.
Episodes
In 2022, she expressed, "I would like to play a cute character like Catherine (played by Manon Gaurin) from the Teijin (CM) again."
In the Perman franchise, Miwa famously provided the voice of the titular character Perman #1 (Mitsuo Suwa). She voiced the role from 1967 until her death in 2024. She reprised the role in short films exclusively screened at the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum and the 2005 Doraemon anime. She also performed the Perman anime theme songs "Our Perman" (1967 series) and "Come on, Perman" (1983 series).
Filmography
Puppet shows
Boo Foo Woo (1960-1967): Foo
Foreign dub roles
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2008 NTV edition): Veruca Salt (Julia Winter)
Peanuts: Lucy Van Pelt
Woody Woodpecker: Woody Woodpecker
Video games
Battle Fantasia (2007): Watson Livingston
Ghost in the Shell (1997): Fuchikoma
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (2013): Enya Geil
Pop'n Music 10 (2003): Performer of "Come on, Perman"
Super Magnetic Neo (2000): Pinki
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 (2009): Panille
