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Gegege no Kitarō Theme Song Singer Kazuo Kumakura Passes Away
posted on by Egan Loo
Kazuo Kumakura, the actor and producer who is arguably best known for singing the theme song for the first Gegege no Kitarō television anime, passed away due to rectal cancer in a Tokyo hospital on October 12 at 3:24 p.m. He was 88.
His many anime voice roles include Papa Panda in Panda! Go, Panda!, Torahige in Hyokkori Hyōtan-jima, Higeoyaji in the second Astro Boy anime, and Oz the Great in The Wizard of Oz anime. Outside anime, he was the Japanese dubbed voice of the title detective Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's Poirot, Alfred Hitchcock in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents projects, Geppetto in Pinocchio, Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast, Doc in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Scooby-Doo in the American animated series of the same name. He reprised his roles from the various Disney films in the Kingdom Hearts games.
Sources: Yomiuri, 47News via Hachima Kikō
