Akira Kataoka · Japanese Audio Guide Narrator

The Japanese voice for your museum & heritage tours.

I'm Akira Kataoka, a Tokyo-based Japanese voiceover artist. My voice guides Japanese visitors through museums and heritage sites around the world — warm, clear and paced for people on the move.

Voice Arts Awards winner — three awards, 2024 & 2026

Akira Kataoka, Japanese narrator
Akira Kataoka
Japanese voiceover artist, Tokyo
Selected workChâteau de Versailles · UK Parliament · The National Gallery · Les Invalides · Château de Malmaison · Belvedere Palace and moreGuiding Japanese visitors at museums and heritage sites around the world

Demos

Audio guide excerpts — straight narration, and dubbing of curators and on‑site experts into Japanese — plus two voice styles for different routes and audiences. Recorded in my own broadcast‑quality studio.

Château de Versailles

Audio guide excerpt — narration for the Japanese route through the palace and its history.

NarrationHeritage sitesFrance

UK Parliament

Japanese dubbing of the Palace of Westminster's own guides and staff — their commentary, re‑voiced for Japanese visitors.

DubbingHeritage sitesLondon

The National Gallery

Japanese dubbing of the Gallery's curators talking about the paintings — paced for visitors standing in front of the work.

DubbingMuseumsArt

Adult Narrator

Calm, trustworthy guide voice for galleries, palaces and historic sites.

MuseumsHeritage sitesHistory

Young Speaker

Bright, friendly delivery for family routes, kids' tours and casual apps.

Family routesKids' toursApps

What you get

Everything you need from a Japanese voice partner, from one point of contact.

i.

Native Japanese narration

Natural, visitor‑friendly Japanese for museums, heritage sites, city tours and apps.

ii.

Multiple voices, one contact

Need several characters or routes? I can cast additional trained Japanese narrators from my network.

iii.

Pronunciation & script check

Proper names, places and historical terms checked; awkward translated phrasing flagged before recording.

iv.

Delivered to your spec

File format, naming, loudness and splits exactly as your production requires.

v.

Time‑zone advantage

Based in Japan (UTC+9), I can record while your team is offline — handy for tight European and US schedules.

vi.

Clear, fair rates

Quotes based on the GVAA Rate Guide, per project.

How it works

Simple and predictable — the way a production schedule should be.

Send the script

Share the script, word count and delivery specs.

Quote & sample

Receive a quote, plus a short custom sample if you need one.

Record & edit

Clean, edited files recorded in my studio, checked for pronunciation.

Deliver

Files delivered to your format, with revisions handled quickly.

About

Akira Kataoka
Japanese voiceover artist

Independent narrator, casting director and voice coach. Founder of hitocoe, a community of Japanese narrators.

I'm Akira Kataoka, a Japanese voiceover artist based in Tokyo. Through audio guides, my voice accompanies Japanese visitors at museums and heritage sites around the world. I also narrate commercials, corporate and documentary films, and I cast and direct other Japanese voices. Alongside narration work, I run hitocoe, a community of Japanese narrators. That network is how I can offer additional Japanese voices when a project needs them.

My work has been recognised with three Voice Arts Awards (2024 and 2026).

Language
Japanese (native)
Awards
Voice Arts Awards winner — three awards, 2024 & 2026
Studio
Home studio · Lewitt LCT 441 FLEX · Shure SM7dB · Focusrite Scarlett
Delivery
WAV / MP3, 48 kHz, to your loudness spec
Location
Tokyo, Japan (UTC+9)
Profiles
Instagram · LinkedIn

Let's work together

Have a Japanese route coming up?

Tell me about the project — and paste a few lines of script if you'd like a short custom sample, free and with no obligation.