Masachika Ichimura

Masachika Ichimura (市村 正親, Ichimura Masachika, born January 28, 1949) is a Japanese actor and voice actor. He was born in Kawagoe, Saitama and studies at Theater Art College in Tokyo after graduating high school. He is best known to anime fans as the voice of Mewtwo. He is married to singer Ryoko Shinohara.

Masachika Ichimura
市村 正親
Masachika Ichimura at the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Tokyo International Film Festival
Born	(1949-01-28) January 28, 1949[1] Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan
Occupation	Actor, voice actor
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Mami Yaezawa ( m. 1984⁠–⁠2003) Ryoko Shinohara ( m. 2005)
Children	2

Career

In 1973, he made his debut as 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.[2][3]

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.[4]

Filmography

Films

• The Hotel Venus (2004) - Venus
• Thirteen Assassins (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[5]
• Thermae Romae 2 (2014) - Hadrian
• The Kodai Family (2016) - Shigemasa Kōdai Jr.
• The Stand-In Thief (2017)
• Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai (2020) - Honda Kakuan

Television dramas

• Shishi no jidai (1980) - Okonogi Kyōhei
• Furuhata Ninzaburō (1999) - Nao Kuroikawa
• HR (2002) - Masachika Jin'no
• Mayonaka no Andersen (2002)
• Castle of Sand (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

Musicals

• Jesus Christ Superstar - King Herod
• West Side Story - Bernardo
• Equus - Alan
• 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
• Fiddler on the Roof - Tevye
• Evita - Che
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - Freddy Benson
• Sweeney Todd - Sweeney Todd
• La Cage aux Folles - Albin/Zaza
• Love Never Dies - Erik, the Phantom of the Opera

Plays

• The Merchant of Venice - Shylock
• Anjin: The Shogun and The English Samurai - Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Yukio Ninagawa's Macbeth - Macbeth[6]

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[7]
• Doraemon: Nobita's Space Heroes (2015) - Ikaros
• Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution (2019) - Mewtwo
• Birthday Wonderland (2019) - Hippocrates

Television animation

• Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns (2000) - 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[8]
• Strings (2004) - Kahro

Puppetry

• Sherlock Holmes (2014) - Jonathan Small

Honors

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

References

1. "市村正親 のプロフィール". allcinema. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
2. 俳優 市村正親 インタビュー　英国ニュースダイジェスト
3. Anjin: The Shogun and the English Samurai, Sadler's Wells, review-Telegraph
4. Stage return "wants to affect expectation" through Masachika Ichimura, stomach cancer medical treatment Archived 2014-12-03 at Archive.today
5. Thermae Romae#Cast
6. "NINAGAWA Macbeth". www.lincolncenter.org. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
7. "Full Trailer for I.G's Hand-Drawn Anime Film Giovanni's Island Posted". Anime News Network. 2013-12-18. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
8. "ナイトメアー・ビフォア・クリスマス". Star Channel. Retrieved August 16, 2020.

External links

• Masachika Ichimura at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Masachika Ichimura on IMDb
• Masachika Ichimura at GamePlaza-Haruka Voice Acting Database (in Japanese)
• Masachika Ichimura at Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database (in Japanese)