Noriko Hidaka

Noriko Itō (伊東 範子, Itō Noriko, born May 31, 1962), better known by the stage name of Noriko Hidaka (日髙 のり子, Hidaka Noriko), is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and narrator. She played Prince Uru alongside with Mina Tominaga, Toshio Furukawa, the late Daisuke Gōri, the late Yō Inoue, late Takeshi Watabe, Sakakibara Yoshiko, Tomomichi Nishimura, Akira Ishida, Ryūsuke Ōbayashi in Patlabor, Minami Asakura in Touch, Akane Tendo alongside with Kappei Yamaguchi and Megumi Hayashibara, Minami Takayama, Kikuko Inoue and Rei Sakuma in Ranma ½, Satsuki Kusakabe in My Neighbor Totoro, Near in Death Note, Jean Roque Raltique alongside with Yoshino Takamori and the late Yūko Mizutani in Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Kikyō alongside with Satsuki Yokino and Akiko Nakagawa in Inuyasha, Patricia O'Sullivan in Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St. Clare's, Erica Fontaine in Sakura Wars and Masumi Sera in Detective Conan. She is also the dub actress for Jayma Mays in the American TV series Glee, as well as in The Smurfs film series. Hidaka was born in the Kudan area of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, where she attended Fujimi Elementary School. Her parents owned a Western-style clothing store named "Tailor Itō". She began her career as an idol star, but switched to voice acting, and was employed by the talent management firm 81 Produce until 2006. Hidaka used to use the kanji variant 日髙 (note that the second kanji is different). She switched to the current usage (日高) around 1995 when she found that it was written that way already on many things and after friends recommended the kanji with the lower stroke count. Her fans have given her the affectionate name "Nonko" (ノン子). In 1982, during her time as an idol star, Hidaka appeared in the commercial for Nivea skin milk. She has also done voice-over commercials for programs and games, in which she plays a role for 3rd Super Robot Wars Alpha: To the End of the Galaxy.