Biography:

was a Japanese voice actor. He was born in Kōchi Prefecture. He usually played villains and performed the voices for many anime characters and tokusatsu villains. He is most famous for voicing Kaminari in Doraemon. He took over the ongoing roles of Shingo Kanemoto after his death. Other major roles included Inspector Takao Arizuka in the You're Under Arrest franchise, Naoyuki Kamikurata in Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution, Colonel John Kowen in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, and Director Yachio Tokugawa in Strawberry Eggs. He also wrote an instructional book about voice acting, Seiyū Naritai. Watabe was being treated for lung cancer when he died of pneumonia at the age of 74.