Noriko Ohara, Who Gave Voice to Nobita in ‘Doraemon,’ Dies at 88

Noriko Ohara, the Japanese voice actress who for decades played the role of Nobita in the beloved children’s show “Doraemon,” giving life to a main protagonist in one of the country’s longest-running television shows, has died. She was 88.

Her agency, 81 Produce, said in a statement on Tuesday that she died on July 12 after unsuccessful treatment for an unspecified illness. The statement did not list the place of death or mention surviving family members.

“Doraemon,” the animated series in which the titular robot cat befriends Nobita, a 10-year-old boy struggling at school, is considered a staple among people in Japan. Ms. Ohara’s voice became widely recognizable to many in Japan as she played Nobita from the 1970s to the early 2000s.

She also starred in other popular anime, like “Yatterman,” “Future Boy Conan” and “Heidi, Girl of the Alps,” as well as Japanese-dubbed versions of Western films. Her work won her multiple awards in Japan, including in the Anime Grand Prix and the Seiyu Awards, given to anime voice actors.

She began voicing Nobita, which she described as an intense task, in 1979. The show was broadcast Mondays through Saturdays, and she was frequently required to record seven or eight episodes at a time, she said in a 2017 interview with Cinema Today, a Japanese news site.

“Working on ‘Doraemon’ was like being an athlete,” she said. “I had to build up my stamina.”

She played Nobita until 2005.