Japanese voice actor Oyama Nobuyo, who was the original voice of the cat robot Doraemon in a long-running anime series, has died. She was 90 years old.
Her agency says Oyama was in and out of the hospital since the start of the year, and died of old age on September 29 at a hospital in Tokyo.
A Tokyo native, Oyama began her career as an actor in an NHK drama in 1956.
She also began working as a voice actor. She was the voice of Doraemon for 26 years, from the hit series start on a commercial broadcaster in 1979.
Her distinctive voice helped make the cat-shaped robot a popular character both at home and abroad.
She wrote in one of her books that she turned down every offer for voice acting while playing Doraemon.
Her husband disclosed in 2015 that she had developed dementia and had been receiving nursing care since suffering a stroke in 2008, three years after stepping away from her role as the beloved feline from the future.