Introduction to the Japanese Voice Over Market with Yukiko Fujimura

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Hi there and welcome to Vox Talk, your weekly review from the world of voice over. I'm your host, Stephanie Ciccarelli from Voices. What's it like to work as a voice artist in Japan, you might ask? Get ready to find out. Joining me today from her studio in Sendai is award winning voice actress Yukiko Fujimura. In addition to being a voice talent, Yukiko coaches voice actors and is the founder of Voiceover Japan and the Voiceover Japan Awards. Welcome to the show, Yukiko.

Yukiko Fujimura:

Hi, thank you for having me today.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Yeah. So Yukiko, just amazing work you're up to. Congratulations again on the awards that you've just won in Singapore and also in the United States. You've just been on a world tour, it seems, and we're just really fortunate to have you here in the studio with us today.

Yukiko Fujimura:

Thank you very much.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Oh, yeah, and you know a whole lot more about the Japanese voice over market than we do, admittedly. So, can you tell us a bit about that Japanese voiceover market and how does Vo work get done in Japan?

Yukiko Fujimura:

Sure. In the Japanese voice over industry, voice over for TV programs and commercials are mainly recorded in studios and in this case there's often an audition or call from the directors. And if the program is big enough, like nationwide program, a major agency will approach for some auditions. And it is rare for an individual to have the opportunity to enter the audition and when they have the chance to voice for the program, they work in a recording studio and engineer does the recording and editing. On the other hand, corporate videos, for example, can be recorded in a studio or at home, depending on the budget. And especially in the case of home recording, freelance voice talents are often approached directly by the production company or selected by submitting voice demos. And in this case, they record at home and they deliver it to the agent.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Wow. So that sounds in some ways like what it's like in North America.

Yukiko Fujimura:

Yeah

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Mind you, I think a lot more of your recordings are done in studio, which is so nice for voice talent who don't want to do the engineering and everything on their end. So Yukiko, what is a day in the life like for a Japanese voice over artist?

Yukiko Fujimura:

Well, in my case, I often work with overseas VO agents and sometimes go to a recording studio in my city and I start the day by checking my email first as auditions and job offers from overseas often come in the middle of the night due to the time difference. So the first thing I do is to answer them right away. Then, after making breakfast and lunch for my daughter, I do some vocal warm up and apply for auditions and do some recording. And sometimes I go to the studios, but most of the time I record at home and I also use my free time to post something on social media or do some marketing, and basically I spend time with my family in the evening.

Yukiko Fujimura:

That's a great day. I think everyone listening is like, yeah, I like that. I think I'd like to have that kind of a day for myself. So thank you for sharing that. And in Japan, voice actors are called seiyuu. I hope I'm saying that correctly. Now, how important are the seiyuu to the Japanese people in your culture? And are these voice actors celebrities?

Yukiko Fujimura:

The term seiyuu is used only for characters in animation or video games. So those who do voiceovers for commercial, corporate videos or TV program or IVL are called Narētā. In Japanese, it sounds like narrator and it's a bit confusing, but we call voice talent as Narētā
and the character work, the Seiyuu. And Seiyuu is very popular in Japan, and it is one of the professions that many children want to become. And according to one article, there are about 300,000 aspiring voice actors in Japan who want to become a professional Seiyuu. But it is said that only about 300 are actually able to make a living as a Seiyuu. So it is said that this is a very narrow gate. However, from the perspective of a voice talent, there are many more people who make living using their voice. And animation is one of the most representative of Japanese culture and the popularity of anime is strong. So Seiyuu is one of the popular professions, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the famous voice actors or Seiyuu are celebrities.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Wow. Yeah, because that's like, one of the first foreign terms for voice actor I think I ever came across was Seiyuu. And of course, in France, you have Voix Off. And I know I just might have said that wrong. We will have Rich Fortin correct me on that when he comes back. But it's just amazing, just the various names that we have for what a voice actor is in Germany, like, various different names. So I challenge everybody out there just, like, find out what voice actors are called in different countries in different languages, because it's really quite fascinating. So thanks for sharing that. There's a difference between an actor, a voice actor who works in anime or an animation. So they are the Seiyuu.

Yukiko Fujimura:

Yes.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Very good. So has, you know, people going into studios for the kind of work that you described earlier, such as a big corporate type commercial work that they might want to direct themselves. Is that happening just as it did before or has that changed?

Yukiko Fujimura:

Well, COVID-19 was reduced the amount of studio work, but there was a slight increase in remote recording using Zoom. But we are now almost back to normal. And as I mentioned earlier, studio recording is the norm. But many flexible production companies tend to use voice talents with home studio. However, at the beginning of COVID-19, I expected that the remote session using Source-Connect as it is common in Europe or the US would increase also in Japan, but only a few, maybe two or three studio have introduced and the situation is almost the same as it was before. And remote station are limited to the directions using Zoom and they still don't use Source-Connect.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Wow. Well, I guess the studio will adopt whatever works for them, right. And the talent have to learn about what that studio wants to do. I remember Yukiko seeing, during the pandemic years, a couple of years ago, voice talent in Japan. And you may very well remember doing this, but when they would go into studios, there was some kind of a shield, or I don't want to say it was a mask, but something put on the microphone so that it could protect, because you're still going in, obviously you're still going into these studios. And it wasn't like, oh, just do it from home. It's so much easier. No one's in our office anyway. Right. Like a lot of North American offices were shut down completely and they were doing work remotely. So it was interesting to see that. Is that still happening now? Still covering the microphone or is that done?

Yukiko Fujimura:

Well, it's done. They don't use covering the microphone anymore, but they spray the microphone, like to antibacterial thing or anticoronavirus thing. Yeah.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Wow. So it's changed a bit.

Yukiko Fujimura:

It’s changed a little bit.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

You don't have to go in change - Yeah, that's good. I'm happy to hear it because I think a lot of us, we don't realize kind of the challenges and also the unique ways that people have found to work during this time and how you've maintained in person connection, which is really important. I know it's all about relationships and that certainly this business is about relationships. Thank you for sharing that and just moving along to our next question here. So I know that the Internet, and you've mentioned this kind of before with your remote work and that increasing a bit, the Internet serves as an excellent gateway, you could say, for international voiceover work. So what's your strategy for auditioning on North American voiceover casting sites? I know that it's different time zones. So how do you make that work with just life and your circadian rhythm and just making sure that you don't become exhausted and have no energy left for your family?

Yukiko Fujimura:

Well, in the audition itself, I try to submit as quickly as possible and present several patterns. And also many of the audition have its original English version, so if those are posted on the audition side, I watch them carefully, and if not, I try to find out what the clients want to tell the audience before I do the recording. And I also tried to write about what I can offer as a voice over talent on my website or social media such as LinkedIn, because some clients may search for my name. And I also think it is important to respond quickly and friendly in my communication when I receive message from the client or casting directors. And it is okay for me to stay up late at night because I have my daughter and I'm raising my child. So if I do the recording at night, I can more concentrate on my work, so it is no problem for me. And also I attend some Voiceover conference in the US or UK, so I get quite used to staying up all night.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Oh my goodness. Wow.

Yukiko Fujimura:

And also, one of the good things that I stay up late and attend the Voiceover conference middle of the night is that not so many Japanese attend that kind of conference. So when many Voiceover artists in US or UK meet me, ‘oh, you're waking up all the night,’ then they remember me.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Yes, that's right. If you're attending something and people will remember you, that's another great networking tip if you live in a different part of the world. I know we have a lot of people who listen outside of North America and actually quite a large listenership in Africa and also in Asia. I know there are a number of people in the Middle East who listen to Vox Talk, so it's a struggle for sure, but it's worth the investment. You just have to find the right ones to stay up for, I would say. I know there was a conference not that long ago and it was in Africa actually, and would have been a good one for me to have stayed up and watched if I was aware of it at the time. But there's a lot going on in voice over. You've certainly contributed a huge amount of that to the voice over industry in Japan. So thank you for that. Thank you for your school and all that you're doing. And your students are just lovely, they're great. And so in the spirit of all that, what's it like for your students and you working with North American clients? I know we have time zone differences that are quite vast, but you've mentioned a bit about how you've managed. But is there anything that you do that is special for taking care of your voice and just making sure that you're on top of your game so that you can sound your best recording for them?

Yukiko Fujimura:

One of the attractions of working with North American clients is that opportunity to work with global clients. And in Japan, I tend to work with domestic companies or small or medium sized local firms. But working in the global market often leads to global gigs. And in addition, I live in a regional city outside of Tokyo, so it is difficult for me to do a big project in Japan. But with overseas clients, I can take on a large project from my home studio. And when I do the recording, one of the things that I do is that I try to awake before recording. I try to not just fell asleep. Because if I sleep, my voice will change and it will not be the same as usual. So I basically stay awake and I also keep a bottle of water nearby to moist my throat.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Good ideas. Staying awake, that's what you were just saying. It's better for you to stay awake in your case and to not lose that kind of elasticity or the warm up, your vocal warm up that you had. Because I guess when you wake up from a nap or something, even if you just, “Oh, I’m going to go down for a little bit,” your voice does change. It could sound a bit more raspy or like certainly husky or whatnot. So I hear you on that. Obviously you've built up some kind of a stamina to be able to stay awake. So there's probably something to that too. Exercising, I think, helps to raise endorphins and probably is something good for being awake. But anyway, I appreciate that. That's great. Thank you for that tip. So we mentioned Voiceover Japan Awards and I was like, so oh my gosh, thank you for inviting me to be part of that. That was really, really cool.

Yukiko Fujimura:

Thank you very much.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Yeah. So, congratulations on the awards. And what can you tell us about the awards, why you started them and how did they go? I participated in several voice over Awards in the USA, UK or Asia, and being nominated or winning the awards had truly expanded my world in a big way. And directly I received more jobs inquiries and more jobs referral from fellow nominees. Furthermore, being nominated for a popular award has increased my credibility. So I have also invited to participate in panels or podcasts as today. So being nominated led many positive effect. However, when Japanese voice over talent tried to apply for an overseas award, he or she can only enter the international category, which means that only a few slots of nominations are available for Japanese each year. And I felt I would like more people to have this kind of good, great experience. So with that in mind, I launched the VOJ Awards. Since there are five categories, a total of 25 voice talent can be nominated, which means that 25 people will have the opportunity to accelerate their marketing. So it went successful and we have received some very positive comments from the nominees and award winners, such as the response of social media has improved and the number of viewers of her website has increased dramatically. And also the judges for the awards of the world renowned people in the industry, including you Stephanie. And many people were so thankful for the judges comment for the nominees and winners and they said that the most valuable thing about VOJ Awards is the comments from the judges. So to launch an award, there were so many things that I have to do. I was so busy and I slept only two or 3 hours almost for a couple of weeks. I was so exhausted. But I'm very happy that we succeeded, thanks to the many people's cooperation, and they are so satisfied. So I think it was so great that I launched the VOJ Awards.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Yeah. And I can't wait to see them come back next year. I imagine this will be every year, will it, Yukiko? Every year.

Yukiko Fujimura:

Every year or once in two years. Wonderful. So there's a lot of talent. There's just so many great voices in Japan. For anyone who hasn't heard of the awards, they're really great. And I was judging the English category because I honestly didn't know. Like, I wanted to be able to hear the words and to understand what I was was listening to. And I thought that that was really great fit. So thank you for letting me judge the English category. But yeah, just fantastic. Anyone who's listening in Japan, if you're not already connected to Yukiko and what she's doing, you had better go check it out. Whether you're someone just starting out, you're curious, or you are someone who's really talented and already doing well in voice over, I think Yukiko is someone you should know if you don't know her already. So, before we go, is there anything you'd like North Americans to know about working with Japanese voice talent like yourself?

Yukiko Fujimura:

Well, sometimes the scripts are not correct or sounds a bit weird, or the Japanese scripts are too long compared to the original English script. So before sending the script to the Japanese voice over talent, if possible, it would be great if they have someone from the Japanese office or native Japanese speaker to check the script. And also, some Japanese are not good at talking in English, but they can read text. So, for example, if you do the remote session, I think it would make the recording smoother if you give the talents a written direction beforehand so the remote session will go smoothly.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Yeah. I imagine you've probably had to let clients know that something wasn't phrased correctly or it was too long. That's kind of the danger of having these tools like Google Translate or whatever it is, right? A real translator, and I know we've kind of delved into this in this podcast many times, AI is like, everywhere. But anyway, I imagine that's part of what's going on here is that you're getting North American clients who are saying, ‘we don't have a budget for translation, so what we're going to do is just use this tool.’ And the tool, of course, is substandard. And it doesn't have understanding of context. It doesn't realize that you need to make a script shorter. You know how some languages, they take more words to say the same thing than another language would. It could be shorter, longer, whatever. And if you're not aware of that, then I don't know, people need to take more care with their scripts, I think, especially when they're working with talent who are speaking a language that isn't the client's first language, and they have no idea if it's the right length or whatnot. So in your work, Yukiko, do you find that you, because you run into these challenges, I guess, with some frequency, have to volunteer services to actually be a translator from English to Japanese? Or do you just say, can you take this back and edit this so that it is better for me to read?

Yukiko Fujimura:

Depends on the length or the specialty of the script. But most of the time I suggest this client ‘is it okay to change the script in this way because it sounds more natural to Japanese audience?’ But some Japanese voice talents are very shy and they said it is rude to say the script to change the script. So they just tried to put the script into the time, like very fast, and it doesn't sound good to the Japanese audience. So I always tell my students what is the best way for the client and what is the best way for the audience. It is not just pushing all the script into the limited time, but if they are not good at English, it is hard for them to suggest better or more easy to understand the script. So I usually suggest but if the client checked the script before they send it to the voice talent, it would be great.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Oh, yeah. Yes. And I think that's a great point that you make. This really is about the audience. I mean, for goodness sake, you're going to record something, you want it to have impact, you want it to mean something to the people you're speaking to. So if I were on the client end and I heard from someone who was a native speaker of the language I was asking them to record in, of which I did not speak, and they told me, ‘hey, this could be so much better said or received by the audience if we make these small changes. Do you mind if I do that?’ I'd be open to it. Because what do I know, right? It's so bizarre to think that I would know better than you when you're speaking the language that you grew up with, right? So I think maybe some courage is needed, right? Or just kind of an education for us voice talent people that it is okay to correct a client script if the audience will not be served by what is there.

Yukiko Fujimura:

Exactly. I simply agree.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

We'll start this movement, you and I, we'll just take it on the road. We'll do it. Okay, perfect. Well, you know what? I've had so much fun with you here, and I know everyone else listening would love to get to know you as well, Yukiko. Always a pleasure to speak with you, of course. Where can others find you online and learn more about what you're doing?

Yukiko Fujimura:

My website is bilingualvoicejapan.com. And please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and you can also find me on Twitter at japanese voice one and website for my course. Voiceover Japan is Voiceover Japan mykajafi.com and in the future, I'd like to expand the VOJ awards category to include English speaking voice talent. And I hope to connect English voiceover talent in the world with Japanese production companies that want to work with Japanese speaking voice talent.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Wow.

Yukiko Fujimura:

I would try to do my best to launch a new category for the English speaking voice talent in the future.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Oh, that's so awesome. So, like, someone over here who has learned to speak Japanese and wants to put it to use in the market. Interesting. I like it. I like that. This is really great. So, yeah, amazing. Thank you so much for being here,

Yukiko Fujimura:

Thank you so much!

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

Arigato!

Yukiko Fujimura:

Arigato, good bye, thank you very much!

Stephanie Ciccarelli:

And that's the way we saw the world through the lens of voice over this week. Thank you for joining us today and for being part of our community. A special thank you to Yukiko Fujimura, our special guest, for sharing about the Japanese voice over industry and what it's like to be a voice actor in Japan. So if you enjoyed this episode, I implore you, share it with your friends for Voices, I'm your host, Stephanie Ciccarelli. Vox talk is produced by Geoff Bremner. You've been listening to Vox Talk. Thank you for tuning in and we'll see you next week.