Kumiko Nishihara (西原 久美子, Nishihara Kumiko, née Watanabe (渡辺), born April 27, 1965) is a Japanese voice actress from Chigasaki, Kanagawa affiliated with Aoni Production[1] also known for her work on the stage and Iris Chateaubriand from Sakura Wars.
While a student at Wako University, Nishihara attended voice acting classes run by Kaneta Kimotsuki.
When Kimotsuki established Theater Company 21st Century Fox (劇団21世紀FOX, Gekidan Niju Isseiki Fox) in 1984, Nishihara went on to leave her undergraduate studies unfinished to become a founding member, taking numerous roles as a leading actress in several productions and appearing in the lead role of Alice from Alice in Wonderland three times.
Nishihara is known for taking on voice acting roles involving high pitched female voices and a great deal of singing, leading to appearances on the Japanese music variety show Utaban[3] aired by the Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation.
Her most recent work with Blanc Chat is Final Week, their 14th production since establishment[7] and she is scheduled to appear in a series of Liddel Project performances from November 2012 in Tokyo.