May 2, 2019, at 00:00, the first year of Reiwa Special time announcement with the voice of "Hakushon Daimaou"

Digital Voice Palette, a joint venture established by voice actor production company 81 Produce and Dentsu Inc., collaborated with Tatsunoko Production and Nippon Broadcasting System to digitally recreate the voice of the popular character Hakushon Daimaou from the beloved Showa-era anime "Hakushon Daimaou." This voice will be used to broadcast a special time announcement following the start of the Reiwa era.

The anime began airing on television in 1969 (Showa 44) and gained such high popularity that it was repeatedly rerun. The main character, the Great Demon King, was frequently used as an image character for merchandise and TV commercials, and continues to enjoy enduring popularity today.
This time, using past recordings of the late Toru Ohira, who voiced the Great Demon King, the team successfully revived his voice as a digital voice using voice synthesis technology.

Digital Voice Palette, aiming to promote the spread and utilization of voice technology, has set as one of its goals the reproduction of voices of the deceased and the pursuit of possibilities for preserving and using digital voices. With the consent of Mr. Ohira's family and the cooperation of Tatsunoko Production and Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc., it has been decided to widely deliver this as a time signal heralding a new era.

The company stated, "We believe this presents an opportunity to demonstrate new entertainment possibilities by reviving a popular Showa-era character in the Reiwa era. Moving forward, we will advance mechanisms to promote the utilization of voice synthesis technology, ensure the quality and protection of digital voices, and drive the creation of new experiential value that transcends the linguistic and physical limitations of voice actors, thereby contributing to the development of the content industry."

■ Broadcast Overview
・Broadcaster: Nippon Broadcasting System (Radio AM 1242 / FM 93.0)
・Broadcast Date and Time: May 2 at 12:00 AM (broadcast starting May 1 at 11:59 PM)
Subsequent broadcasts on the 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th at the same time
*Hakkuton Daimaou's digital voice was created using Toshiba Digital Solutions' latest voice synthesis technology
Official Website: http://www.digitalvoice.or.jp/