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Takashi Tachibana, Journalist & Voice of Whisper of the Heart's Father, Passes Away at 80
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Journalist and non-fiction author Takashi Tachibana passed away earlier this year on April 30 due to acute coronary syndrome. He was 80 years old. His family made the announcement on his official website on Wednesday morning.
Within anime, Tachibana is best known for voicing Seiya Tsukishima, the father of protagonist Shizuku in Yoshifumi Kondō and Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart anime film. As a result of his long-time collaboration and research with Studio Ghibli, he served as the "navigator" and co-writer of Bungeishunju's Ghibli no Kyōkasho 1 Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä (Ghibli Textbook I: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind), a literary examination of the early Hayao Miyazaki film.
Tachibana was born in the city of Nagasaki in 1940. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he became a writer at publisher Bungeishunju's eponymous monthly magazine. During that time, Tachibana was most well-known for publishing an article detailing alleged corruption within the cabinet of then-prime minister Kakuei Tanaka. The article eventually led to a public inquiry and Tanaka's resignation.
Throughout his career, Tachibana wrote articles and published non-fiction books on politics, history, aerospace, science, medical technology, and medical research.
Sources: NHK, The Mainichi Shimbun
