Kazuya Nakai

Biography

Kazuya Nakai (中井 和哉, born November 25, 1967) is an award-winning Japanese voice actor and narrator who was born in Kobe, Japan. From a young age, he was interested in anime. Growing up he had interests like volleyball and archery. He was working as a civil servant in a technical field at 25 when he decided that's not how he wanted to live his life, so he enrolled into a voice acting school he attended on his days off and on weekends while still working. Despite starting his career as a narrator, he took off as a voice actor and became a big name when he got the role of Roronoa Zoro, a character he definitely wanted to voice. He narrates programs including information and news programs and voices many iconic characters such as Roronoa Zoro from One Piece, Toshiro Hijikata from Gintama, Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara, Mugen from Samurai Champloo and Jin Sakai in the Japanese dub of the video game Ghost of Tsushima. He loves driving, practicing archery and spending time with his dog and cat.

Awards & recognition

• ★Seiyu Award — Best Supporting Actor · 2011