Keiji Fujiwara
| Keiji Fujiwara | |
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| |
| Profile | |
| Gender: | Male |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | October 5, 1964 |
| Date of death: | April 12, 2020 |
| Place of birth: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Voice of: | Wataru Date (Episodes 681~683) |
| Nicknames: | Keiji Fujisawa FujiKei |
Keiji Fujiwara (藤原 啓治 Fujiwara Keiji), born October 5, 1964, in Tokyo, was a Japanese actor, voice actor, director and producer, who died of cancer on April 12, 2020, at the age of 55.
In Detective Conan, he was the voice of Wataru Date. After his death, the role of Date has since been performed by Hiroki Tochi.
Contents
Biography
Keiji Fujiwara was born on October 5, 1964, in Tokyo, but spent most of his childhood in Iwate Prefecture. In high school, he sang in a band with his friend Kotaro Furuichi, who later became the guitarist for the rock band The Collectors.
At around 18, Fujiwara moved back to Tokyo alone and joined Bungakuza acting school. Throughout the 1980s, he acted with different theater groups while doing part-time jobs to support himself. In the early 1990s, he was introduced to Ken Production, his first voice acting agency. His first regular anime role was in Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi, but his breakthrough came with the role of Hiroshi Nohara in Crayon Shin-chan.
In November 2006, he left Ken Production and started his own company, Air Agency, which managed talent and produced original content through its sub-label, Air Label. The company also organized live events. Fujiwara made his sound directorial debut in 2010 with Kakkokawaii Sengen! He also began teaching voice acting as a regular lecturer at Japan Newart College in 2008.
In August 2016, Air Agency announced that Fujiwara would take a break due to an unspecified illness. He returned to work in June 2017, continuing to voice characters and direct as much as his health allowed.
Sadly, at the age of just 55, Fujiwara passed away from cancer on April 12, 2020, at Tokyo Medical Hospital.
He was close friends with fellow voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa, who later took over some of Fujiwara’s roles after his passing.
Other roles in Detective Conan
- The Mysterious Shooting Message Case (episode 14): Man A
- Missing Corpse Murder Case (episode 15): Policeman
Other notable works
Anime
- The Seven Deadly Sins: Original Gowther
- Attack on Titan: Hannes
- Hunter × Hunter (2011): Leorio
- Death Note: Shuichi Aizawa
- Gintama: Zenzo Hattori
- One Piece: Admiral Ryokugyu
Movie
- Iron Man: Tony Stark / Iron Man (Dub)
(and many more Marvel movies)
Trivia
- Scuba Diving was his hobby.
- He was 175cm tall and weighted 68kg.
