Yo Oizumi

Yo Oizumi is a Japanese actor, television personality, comedian, and voice artist born on April 3, 1973. He is affiliated with the management agency Creative Office Cue and is a core member of the theater and musical group Team Nacs. Over his career, Oizumi has worked across a wide spectrum of entertainment, including live-action films, television dramas, animated feature voice roles, and musical releases.

Oizumi was born at Ebetsu City Hospital in Ebetsu, Hokkaido, and has lived in Sapporo since 1984. After completing his education at Sapporo Moiwa High School, he experienced two consecutive years of failed college entry examinations. In 1994, he enrolled at Hokkai Gakuen University to major in business. Seeking direction during this period, he joined the university's theater club. In 1996, he co-founded the performance unit Team Nacs alongside fellow students Hiroyuki Morisaki, Ken Yasuda, Shigeyuki Totsugi, and Takuma Otoo. Additionally, Oizumi performed as a member of Hiroshi Inada's Inada Troupe from 1995 until 2004.

While continuing his university studies in October 1995, Oizumi made his professional entertainment debut on the Hokkaido Television Broadcasting late-night program Mosaic Nights, portraying the character of second-generation Genki-kun. Shortly after this initial role, he officially signed with Creative Office Cue. He gained widespread regional prominence through his appearances on the Hokkaido-based variety program How Do You Like Wednesday?.

As How Do You Like Wednesday? and Team Nacs gained national attention, Oizumi expanded his career across Japan. Team Nacs staged its first nationwide tour in 2005 with its eleventh original theater production, Composer, followed by a 2007 tour of its twelfth production, Honor, in Tokyo, Osaka, and Sapporo. In 2007, Oizumi voiced the titular character Professor Hershel Layton in the video game Professor Layton and the Curious Village, later reprising the voice role in subsequent game titles and an animated film. Beyond television and cinema, Oizumi has worked as a voice actor for animated movies, released CDs as a vocalist, and pursued writing and painting.

In his personal life, Oizumi is married to Kumiko Nakajima, a television drama producer at Fuji TV, and the couple welcomed a daughter on May 30, 2011. His older brother, Jun Oizumi, served as the tenth publicly elected mayor of Hakodate. Oizumi affectionately refers to his fans using the Japanese term for kittens, despite personally disliking cats.