Nobuyo Oyama, the voice actress whose alto timbre and radiant laughter shaped how millions in Japan experienced Doraemon, the blue robot in the quintessential children’s anime of the same namegame ape, died on Sept. 29 in Tokyo. She was 90.

Her death, in a hospital, was confirmed by Yozo Morita, the chief executive of her agency, Actors 7, who said that Ms. Oyama had a stroke in 2008 and had been living with dementia for some time.

For about 25 years, Ms. Oyama was the voice of Doraemon, a character that first appeared in a manga created in 1969. Doraemon is a robot from the future, sent by its owner to the present day to help his great-great-grandfather solve his childhood problems and change his family’s fortunes.

The plump, earless, catlike robot typically helped the boy, Nobita Nobi, using gadgets from the future that he kept in his magical pocket. His deepening friendship with Nobita and his family was part of what made “Doraemon” one of the longest-running shows in Japan and beyond.

ImageCredit...Toho Studios

As a child, Ms. Oyama was bullied for her voice, she told Kakugo TV, an online interview series. She was often told by classmates that she had a “boy’s voice,” she said. They laughed whenever she spoke, which discouraged her from speaking in public.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.game ape

• The
• game ape
• Japanese
• Nobuyo
• Oyama