Kenichi Suzumura

Japanese voice actor and singer (born 1974)
Thumbnail for Kenichi Suzumura

Kenichi Suzumura is a Japanese voice actor, narrator, and singer who is affiliated with and a representative of INTENTION, a voice acting company he founded in March 2012. He voiced Morley in Macross 7, Hikaru Hitachiin in Ouran High School Host Club, Masato Hijirikawa in Uta no Prince-sama, Kyoichi Kanzaki in BOYS BE, Shiki Tohno in Tsukihime, Tsubaki Asahina in Brothers Conflict, Yuya Aso in Super Gals!, Atsushi Murasakibara in Kuroko's Basketball, Momotaro Mikoshiba in Free!, Shinn Asuka in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny & Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom, Leo Stenbuck in Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, Sōgo Okita in Gin Tama, Rogue Cheney in Fairy Tail, Lavi in D.Gray-man, Obanai Iguro in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Ryutaros in Kamen Rider Den-O and Rakushun in The Twelve Kingdoms. He is part of the group Nazo no Shin Unit STA☆MEN (謎の新ユニットSTA☆MEN) with Junichi Suwabe, Daisuke Kishio, Hiroki Takahashi, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Makoto Yasumura, and Kohsuke Toriumi. His younger brother is stunt coordinator, stuntman and actor Masaki Suzumura.

Suzumura was born in Niigata Prefecture. Having grown up in a family with many job transfers, he has lived in Okayama in Okayama Prefecture and Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū in Fukuoka Prefecture, in addition to Niigata Prefecture. Later, from the age of 15 to 19, he lived in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, where he entered and graduated from Senri Seiun High School after attending Daini Junior High School from the third year of junior high school. The reason why he decided to become a voice actor was because he initially wanted to be a chef and had even ordered an application form to go to a Japanese culinary school, but a friend of Suzumura's brought him a newspaper clipping that asked if he wanted to be a voice actor, so they went to an audition together and Suzumura passed.

After studying at Yoyogi Animation Academy and the Japan Narration Actor Institute, Suzumura made his debut in 1994 as Morley in the TV anime series Macross 7. Since then, he has been active in a variety of fields including animation, games, radio and music.

In 2008, he won the Best Personality award and the Synergy Award (for Kamen Rider Den-O) at the 2nd Seiyu Awards. On October 8 of the same year, he made his major label debut with Lantis.

On August 13, 2011, he reported on his official blog that he and fellow voice actress, actress and singer Maaya Sakamoto got married on August 8, 2011. In the same year, he won the second prize at the first Music Jacket Awards 2011 (for his album CHRONICLE to the future).

In 2012, Suzumura won the Best Musical Performance as part of ST☆RISH at the 6th Seiyu Awards. In April of the same year, he left Arts Vision, to which he had belonged for many years, and on May 1 of the following month, he reported that he had launched Intention Inc. with Atsushi Kuwahara, his manager from Arts Vision.

In 2016, he won the double award for Best Actor in Supporting Role and Personality Award at the 10th Seiyu Awards. In the same year, he won a special award at the sixth Music Jacket Awards 2016 (for his album Tsuki to Taiyou no Uta).

A national survey on the popularity of voice actors conducted in March 2010 revealed Suzumura and Mamoru Miyano as the most famous voice actors. In the following year, 2011, TBS Rank Ōkoku listed Suzumura as 3rd of the five most popular voice actors.

Suzumura's favorite motto is, "Life is what you make of it."

On December 27, 2021, Suzumura and Sakamoto announced that they were expecting their first child. On April 21, 2022, the couple announced the birth of their first child.

On May 16, 2024, it was announced that Suzumura would be taking a break due to his poor health, and that his agency would announce his return at a later date. On July 31, 2024, it was announced that he planned to gradually return to his career while taking his health into consideration.

Date of Birth12th September 1974
Age50 Years
Zodiac SignVirgo
CountryJapan
Birth PlaceNiigata
NationalityJapan
CitizenshipJapan
LanguageJapanese
ReferenceIMDB
SpousesMaaya Sakamoto
Education
Yoyogi Animation Gakuin, Senri Seiun High School
Instrumentsvoice
Occupationsinger-songwriter, seiyū, singer, voiceover artiste, radio personality, actor
Career Start2008 (17 years ago)
Awards
  • Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actor
  • Seiyu Awards Personality Award
  • Kei Tomiyama Award

Movies / Shows by Kenichi Suzumura

Thumbnail for Heisei Riders vs. Shōwa Riders: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai

Heisei Riders vs. Shōwa Riders: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai

Thumbnail for Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen

Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen

Thumbnail for Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider The Movie: Cho-Den-O Trilogy

Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider The Movie: Cho-Den-O Trilogy