The Yahoo Search Awards 2025 have been announced, and their highly anticipated rankings of top voice actors, who have been fan favourites and dominated the search engines throughout 2025, have been revealed. These rankings are based on search volume data collected from January 1st, 2025, to November 1st, 2025. These awards highlight the voice artists who have seen a surge in online search throughout the year of 2025. let’s take a look at the top searched Voice artists for the year 2025 in Japan
Yahoo Search Awards 2025 top 5 Voice Artists
5. Koichi Yamadera
At number 5, we have Koichi Yamadera (山寺宏一), also known as “the man with the seven-colored voice”. He has given his voice for major anime such as Dragon Ball Super, Cowboy Bebop, Gintama, Anpanman, etc. In 2025 majority of his work involved voicing characters such as Kuprian Valentinovich Napolov (Your Forma), Ahu (To Be Hero X), Gihren Zabi (Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX) in the anime industry.
4. Sumi Shimamoto
Taking the fourth spot, we have Sumi Shimamoto (島本須美), a voice actor whose career spans over a generation of anime history known for her work in series and movies like Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro,and Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. In 2025, she reached a new wave of popularity for her role as the Narrator in The Apothecary Diaries seasons 1 and 2, a series that became one of the most hit series of this year and ranked second in the Yahoo Search Awards, which has led to a surge in fans searching for her on the internet.
3. Kenjiro Tsuda
Claiming the third spot, we have Kenjiro Tsuda (津田健次郎), one of the most recognisable voices in modern anime. He is famous for his work as Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen, Overhaul in My Hero Academia. In 2025 and more, Tsuda played the role of Akira Tokairin, the chief editor of the Kochi Shimpo newspaper in the NHK’s morning Drama “Anpan”, a series based on the real-life story of the author of “AnpanMan” and his wife, which brought the mainstream spotlight on him beyond the anime community.
2. Takeshi Kusao
Taking the second position is Takeshi Kusao (草尾毅), a veteran voice actor best known for iconic roles such as Trunks in Dragon Ball Z, Hanamichi Sakuragi in Slam Dunk, and Dororo in Sgt. Frog. In 2025, Kusao became one of the most searched voice actors in Japan after being announced as the new voice of Toru Amuro (Rei Furuya) in Detective Conan, replacing Toru Furuya. His debut in episode 1150 on January 18, 2025, was met with overwhelmingly positive reactions, with fans praising how naturally he stepped into one of the franchise’s most beloved characters.
1. Keiko Toda
Claiming the top spot Yahoo Search Awards 2025 is Keiko Toda (戸田恵子), a legendary actress, singer, narrator, and the iconic voice of Anpanman, a role she has performed for over 35 years in the beloved children’s series Soreike! Anpanman. Her resurgence in 2025 is largely due to NHK’s hit morning drama “Anpan”, where Toda not only voiced a character modelled after herself but also played a supporting on-screen role. The drama became a cultural sensation, introducing her legacy to new audiences and reminding long-time fans of her immense influence.
About Yahoo! Japan Search Awards
The Yahoo! Japan Search Awards highlight titles, creators and personalities that saw the greatest increase in search interest over the past year. Rather than being chosen by judges, the award reflects real public behaviour and trending cultural influence.
Source: Yahoo News
