Since 13th April 1992, veteran seiyuu Akiko Yajima has voiced the feisty 5-year old, Shinnosuke Nohara. In fact, she has voiced Crayon Shin-chan’s title character for almost 26 years now. Sadly however, she is leaving the role according the the anime’s official website.

Her final appearance as Shin-chan will be airing on 29th June. The anime’s website will then announce her replacement in the following days. And whoever replaces her really has some huge shoes to fill, as Yajima’s voice acting helped make the character iconin.

As for Yahime herself, she left a message to her fans via the anime;s official website. She then admitted that leaving the role was her own decision. But why did she leave? According to her message, she said that it’s been difficult to keep Shinnosuke’s voice through the years. She then added that she had to concentrate to sound like him, and also admitted that it’s difficult to act naturally when in character.

Her leaving her iconic role got fans talking of retirement. However, the veteran seiyuu denied these rumors and said that she still has more voice acting work to do. She then thanked the fans for their support through these 26 years.

Aside from voicing Shinnosuke Nohara, she also voiced Gundam Wing’s Relena Peacecraft. Her other popular roles include Idol Densetsu Eriko’s Eriko Tamura, as well as The Big O’s R. Dorothy Wayneright.