Japanese Voice Actress Admits She Was so Poor She Ate Tissues

A Japanese voice actress who struggled to make ends meet in the past has revealed that she consumed tissues, flavored with soy sauce, to save money.

Today, Aya Hirano, 30, is among the most popular voice actresses in the anime industry. She is the voice behind Haruhi Suzumiya of “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” and Konata Izumi of “Lucky Star.”

But the road to a successful career was not easy for young Hirano, who took every possible gig to cover her grocery bills before the mid-2000s.

In a 2014 interview with Kansai TV, Hirano recalled what her pre-stardom life had been like, according to Sponichi:

“There was a time when I really had no money, so I’d put soy sauce on tissues and eat them.”

Kansai TV’s limited regional reach had some of Hirano’s fans hear about her plight only recently.

Interestingly, the voice actress did not settle for cheapest tissues, dodging the free ones because they did not taste good. Instead, she opted for varieties that contained lotion, SoraNews24 reported.

Listen to Hirano’s voice as Haruhi from “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”:

Images via Twitter / Aya Hirano (Hysteric_Barbie)

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