Masachika Ichimura Biography

*anese actor

Masachika Ichimura (市村 正親, Ichimura Masachika, born January 28, 1949) is a *anese actor. He was born in Kawagoe, Saitama and studied at the Theater Art College in Tokyo after graduating high school. He is best known to anime fans as the voice of Mewtwo. Ichimura is also the ex-husband of actress and singer Ryoko Shinohara.

Career

In 1973, he made his debut as an actor with Jesus Christ Superstar and became one of top actors of Shiki Theatre Company since then. He appeared in various musical plays as West Side Story, Equus, Cats, Evita and The Phantom of the Opera. Besides he played the role of Shylock of The Merchant of Venice.

In 1990, he left the company and now signs up for Horipro. In 2013, he played the role of Tokugawa Ieyasu in "Anjin: The Shogun and The English Samurai" in London.

In 2014, he cancelled the performance in Miss Saigon because of initial stomach cancer but in November of the year, he finished the treatment and returned to the theatre industry.

Personal life

He married *anese actress Mami Yaezawa in 1984, but later divorced in 2003. In December 2005, he remarried singer and actress Ryoko Shinohara. They have two sons, born in 2008 and 2012.

On July 24, 2021, Masachika and Ryoko announced their divorce through their office. He took custody of two sons.

Filmography

Films

  • The Hotel Venus (2004) - Venus
  • Thirteen **ins (2010) - Kitō Hanbei
  • A Ghost of a Chance (2011) - Tsukutsuku Abe
  • The Floating Castle (2012) - Toyotomi Hideyoshi
  • For Love's Sake (2012) - Shōgo Saotome
  • Thermae Romae (2012) - Hadrian
  • Thermae Romae 2 (2014) - Hadrian
  • The Kodai Family (2016) - Shigemasa Kōdai Jr.
  • The Stand-In Thief (2017)
  • Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai (2021) - Honda Kakuan
  • And So the Baton Is P*ed (2021)
  • Daughter of Lupin the Movie (2021)
  • Goban-giri (2024) - Chōbei

Television dramas

  • Shishi no Jidai (1980) - Okonogi Kyōhei
  • Furuhata Ninzaburō (1999) - Nao Kuroikawa
  • HR (2002) - Masachika Jin'no
  • Mayonaka no Andersen (2002)
  • Suna no Utsuwa (2004) - Yuzuru Asō
  • Order Made (2004)
  • My Boss My Hero (2006) - Kichi Sakaki
  • Bambino! (2007) - Tekkan Shishido
  • Hatachi no Koibito (2007) - Fūta Suzuki
  • Gō (2011) - Akechi Mitsuhide
  • Young Black Jack (2011) - Dr. Jotaro Honma
  • Beppinsan (2016) - Shigeo Asada
  • Ieyasu, Edo wo Tateru (2019) - Tokugawa Ieyasu
  • Everyone's Demoted (2019) - Hideki Fujita
  • Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon (2019) - Nicholas Tange
  • Nakamura Nakazo: Shusse no Kizahashi (2021) - Ichikawa Danjūrō IV

Musicals

  • Jesus Christ Superstar - King Herod
  • West Side Story - Bernardo
  • Equus - Alan
  • A Chorus Line - Paul
  • Carousel - Jigger Craigin
  • She Loves Me - Georg Nowack
  • Cats - Rum Tum Tugger
  • The Phantom of the Opera - Erik, The Phantom of the Opera
  • Tanz der Vampire - Professor Abronsius
  • Miss Saigon - The Engineer
  • Candide - Dr. Pangloss/the narrator Voltaire
  • Two Gentlemen of Verona - Thurio
  • Fiddler on the Roof - Tevye
  • You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown - Snoopy
  • Evita - Che
  • Never on Sunday - Ilya
  • Kiss of the Spider Woman - Molina
  • Cyrano: The Musical - Cyrano de Bergerac
  • Scrooge - Scrooge
  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - Freddy Benson
  • Sweeney Todd - Sweeney Todd
  • La Cage aux Folles - Albin/Zaza
  • Love Never Dies - Erik, the Phantom of the Opera
  • Oliver - *in
  • Mozart! - Leopold

Plays

  • The Merchant of Venice - Shylock
  • Anjin: The Shogun and The English Samurai - Tokugawa Ieyasu
  • Yukio Ninagawa's Macbeth - Macbeth

Theatrical animation

  • Jack and the Beanstalk (1974) - Jack
  • A Journey Through Fairyland (1985) - Michael
  • Pokémon: The First Movie (1998) - Mewtwo
  • Giovanni's Island (2014) - Tatsuo Senō
  • Doraemon: Nobita's Space Heroes (2015) - Ikaros
  • Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution (2019) - Mewtwo
  • Birthday Wonderland (2019) - Hippocrates

Television animation

  • Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns (2000) - Mewtwo
  • Pocket Monsters (2020) - Mewtwo

Original video animation (OVA)

  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005) - Red XIII

Video games

  • Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) - Mewtwo
  • Kingdom Hearts (2002) - Jack Skellington
  • Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004) - Jack Skellington
  • Kingdom Hearts II (2005) - Jack Skellington
  • Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (2011) - Bronev Reinel
  • One Piece: Unlimited World Red (2013) - Patrick Redfield
  • Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (2013) - Bronev Reinel
  • Nioh (2017) - Tokugawa Ieyasu

Dubbing

  • The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Jack Skellington
  • Strings (2004) - Kahro
  • The Man Who Invented Christmas (2018) - Ebenezer Scrooge
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) - Wild Knuckles

Puppetry

  • Sherlock Holmes (2014) - Jonathan Small

Honors

  • Medal with Purple Ribbon (2007)
  • Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Cl*, Gold Rays with Rosette (2019)

References

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Masachika Ichimura.
    • Masachika Ichimura at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
    • Masachika Ichimura at IMDb
    • Masachika Ichimura at GamePlaza-Haruka Voice Acting Database (in *anese)
    • Masachika Ichimura at Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database (in *anese)

    Description above from the Wikipedia article Masachika Ichimura, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

    Masachika Ichimura