Hidenari Ugaki

Hidenari Ugaki and the Voice That Became the Mad Dog

Few roles in Japanese gaming carry the kind of mythic weight that Goro Majima does in the Like a Dragon franchise – and for nearly two decades, that weight has rested squarely on the shoulders of Hidenari Ugaki. Born on July 25, 1963 in Tokyo, Ugaki followed a path less common among seiyuu: he graduated from Toho Gakuen College of Music and Drama in 1984 and immediately entered the Bungakuza Theatre Institute, where he trained alongside future fellow cast member Takaya Kuroda. Years of stage work and television drama roles preceded his shift to voice acting, giving him a grounded, physical sense of performance that carries through in every credit.

His professional voice acting debut came in the late 1980s with minor, uncredited ensemble roles. By 1991 he had secured his first named anime part, and his trajectory gained speed in 1994 when he landed Argo Gulskii – the boisterous Neo Russian space pirate – in Mobile Fighter G Gundam, establishing him as a natural fit for rugged, larger-than-life characters. He has remained with talent agency 81 Produce throughout his career.

The Like a Dragon Series and the “Majima Dialect”

When Sega’s Yakuza launched in 2005, Ugaki took on Goro Majima – a one-eyed, knife-wielding yakuza with a feral energy that defied conventional casting logic. The role presented an immediate challenge: Majima speaks in Kansai dialect, and Ugaki, a born-and-raised Tokyoite, had no natural command of it. Rather than forcing a convincing regional accent, director and scriptwriter Masayoshi Yokoyama encouraged him to develop something altogether different – a stylized speech pattern that fans and the production team came to call the “Majima dialect.” The result became inseparable from the character’s identity.

Ugaki reprised the role across the entire franchise run – through Yakuza 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, and into the modern era with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth in 2024 and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii in 2025, where Majima stepped into the lead role for the first time. Each entry required him to calibrate the same core energy across completely different narrative contexts, from tragic backstory prequel to full pirate adventure.

Anime, Dubbing, and a Career Built on Range

Outside the Like a Dragon universe, Ugaki’s resume spreads in several directions at once. In anime, notable credits include Jinin Akebino in Naruto Shippuden, Yama in One Piece, and Kaminari-san in the long-running 2005 Doraemon series – a recurring comedic role that demonstrated his comfort in everyday, low-key registers far removed from his action-heavy typecasting. In the Super Sentai franchise he voiced Voffa in Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger (2003), his first regular role in that franchise. He also appeared in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022) as the School Principal and Arasaka Academy Chairman, and voiced Anna’s Father in My Hero Academia: You’re Next (2024).

On the dubbing side, Ugaki is one of the most active foreign media dubbing actors working in Japan. He served as the official Japanese voice of South Korean actor Sung-jin Kang across multiple productions, and his dubbing credits span everything from ER and CSI to Kong: Skull Island and The Butler. He also voiced Donatello in TV Tokyo’s adaptation of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series – a role he revisited as Shredder in the 2003 TMNT adaptation – and Ganryu across multiple entries in the Tekken video game franchise, including Tekken: Bloodline on Netflix in 2022.

Gaming Credits Beyond Yakuza

Ugaki’s video game work extends well past a single franchise. He voiced Wen Kinoc in Final Fantasy X, Birdie in Street Fighter V, Dagda in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, and Daisuke Endo in Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road. In 2026 he joined the cast of Suikoden STAR LEAP as Varkas. Each of these roles draws on the same quality that defines his best work – a commanding authority that makes even supporting characters feel anchored and real.