TWITrek Character Insight No. 86: Kashimuro Nozawa

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe.  An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we profile Ensign Kashimuro Nozawa, a recurring character from Voyager.
 
 

Nozawa is an operations division crewmember on Voyager, typically seen assisting with the security and engineering department personnel during the stranding in the Delta Quadrant. Nozawa was one of the original extra cast members who appeared in the Caretaker pilot episode, and that led to sixteen other appearances spaced through five seasons.

For many of these appearances, Nozawa is just another guy in the ranks, a face in the crowd, if you will. This means he is often seen talking with other crew members in the mess hall, on away missions, and on shore leave. Sometimes these anecdotes were funny scenes, like when B'Elenna walked in on him while he was undressed in his quarters during an encounter with an inversion field.

It wasn't all fun and games though, as the ensign takes a beating in some episodes. This includes being stunned by a rogue doctor while working the transporters, being called stinky by some Voth scientists, and suffering burns when a console exploded on the bridge where he was working

Until season 7, Nozawa was not given a full name. But during a two-part episode where Nozawa is brainwashed and captive with much of the crew on a Quarren planet, his name shows up on a computer display of the Quarrens.  This ensign is one of many important recurring faces on the ship, which is required to make it feel like the small stranded crew it is.  However, there are only so many stars for a show, which means we miss the opportunity to learn much about Kashimuro.

(No quote of the week)

John Tampoya played Nozawa, although he went uncredited during his appearances.  Other than one other TV pilot, Tampoya only ever played as an extra for many episodes of The Next Generation, Voyager, and the movie Generations.


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Until next time, live long and prosper...