Masachika Ichimura

Japanese actor

Mami Yaezawa

(m. 1984; div. 2003)

Ryoko Shinohara

(m. 2005; div. 2021)

Children2

Masachika Ichimura (市村正親, Ichimura Masachika, born January 28, 1949) is a Japanese 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.^[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 industry.^[4]

Personal life

He married Japanese 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 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 (2021) - Honda Kakuan^[6]
And So the Baton Is Passed (2021)^[7]
Daughter of Lupin the Movie (2021)^[8]
Bushido (2024) - Chōbei^[9]
A Conviction of Marriage (2024) - Kannami^[10]

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^[11]

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 - Fagin
Mozart! - Leopold

Plays

The Merchant of Venice - Shylock
Anjin: The Shogun and The English Samurai - Tokugawa Ieyasu
Yukio Ninagawa's Macbeth - Macbeth^[12]

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^[13]
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^[14]
Strings (2004) - Kahro
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2018) - Ebenezer Scrooge^[15]
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) - Wild Knuckles^[16]

Puppetry

Sherlock Holmes (2014) - Jonathan Small

Honors

Medal with Purple Ribbon (2007)
Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2019)^[17]

References

^ "市村正親のプロフィール". allcinema. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
^ 俳優市村正親インタビュー　英国ニュースダイジェスト
^ Anjin: The Shogun and the English Samurai, Sadler's Wells, review-Telegraph
^ Stage return "wants to affect expectation" through Masachika Ichimura, stomach cancer medical treatment Archived 2014-12-03 at archive.today
^ Thermae Romae#Cast
^ "燃えよ剣". eiga.com. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
^ "そして、バトンは渡された". eiga.com. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
^ "劇場版ルパンの娘". eiga.com. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
^ "草なぎ剛×白石和彌「碁盤斬り」に清原果耶、中川大志、斎藤工、小泉今日子、國村隼ら". Natalie. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
^ "夏目アラタの結婚". eiga.com. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
^ "中村勘九郎がNHKドラマで"伝説の歌舞伎俳優"中村仲蔵に、共演に上白石萌音ら". eiga.com. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
^ "NINAGAWA Macbeth". www.lincolncenter.org. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
^ "Full Trailer for I.G's Hand-Drawn Anime Film Giovanni's Island Posted". Anime News Network. December 18, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
^ "ナイトメアー・ビフォア・クリスマス". Star Channel. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
^ "Merry Christmas!～ロンドンに奇跡を起こした男～". Fukikaeru. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
^ "ミニオンズフィーバー－日本語吹き替え版". Fukikaeru. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
^ "旭日小綬章・市村正親さん(70) 元気すぎる70歳の「源は観客」". Sankei Shimbun. Retrieved April 26, 2024.