Toma Ikuta

is a Japanese actor known for his roles in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Honey & Clover, Sensei!, Maō and Ouroboros. He also starred in feature films, notably Hanamizuki, Ningen Shikkaku and Brain Man.

Career Acting career Ikuta entered Johnny & Associates in 1996, when he was 11. He made his debut as an actor in 1997, after realizing that he would not go on as a singer in a group, like his friends around him.

The 2007, Fuji TV summer drama Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, controversial in its gender-bending nature, was perhaps Ikuta's biggest break in Japanese Entertainment. Following his successful portrayal in Hana Kimi, Ikuta was on stage again as he starred in the Shakespearean play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. While working on this play, Toma was also slated to star in one of Fuji TV's winter dramas for 2008, the live adaptation of Chika Umino's popular manga, Hachimitsu to Kuroba. He took on the role of Yūta Takemoto, a struggling Architecture student in an art school who had mediocre talent and who fell in love at first sight with his professor's niece, Hagumi Hanamoto (played by Riko Narumi). His role as the silent but constant observer that uncovers the events of the drama to the audience earned him another Best Supporting Actor award. Due to the popularity of Hana Kimi, Fuji TV decided to air a special two-hour episode, announcing it in early 2008.

Ikuta's rise to fame brought about another project; this time a double-lead with Arashi's leader Satoshi Ohno, in the Japanese adaptation of the Korean drama Mawang. The drama, called Maō, is about a lawyer, Ryo Naruse (played by Ohno) who seeks to avenge the death of his younger brother several years ago. On the other hand, Serizawa Naoto is the brash and impulsive detective (played by Ikuta), who is atoning for the grave, juvenile crime he had committed in the past. In October 2008, Ikuta was back on stage again, playing the role of Danny in the Japanese version of the musical "Grease". January 2009 marked Ikuta's first ever appearance in Fuji TV's peak slot for dramas, Ishimatsu Ryosuke, an intern forensics specialist in the serial drama Voice, along with Eita and Satomi Ishihara. Following his streak of solo projects, Ikuta was again named to star in a Fuji TV drama even while Voice was airing, this time a lead role in the timely jury drama Majo Saiban: The Witch Trial, for the TV station's spring 2009 late night Saturday drama. He plays Yoshioka Tōru, a freeter who was chosen as one of the members of the jury that will participate in the trial of a woman accused of killing her husband. Foul play comes into the picture as the members of the jury begin to be threatened. When the life of one of the jury members, a housewife (played by Ai Kato) is also endangered, Tooru tries to help. This raises suspicions with his girlfriend (played by Manami Higa) who becomes afraid Tooru might be cheating on her. Thus begins Tōru's lone search for the truth. The drama aired on April 25, 2009, a month before the jury system was to be implemented in Japan.

Ikuta finally made his silver screen debut with Ningen Shikkaku, a spring 2010 movie adaptation of Dazai Osamu's masterpiece of the same title. Considered a semi-autobiographical novel, Ikuta plays the role of Oba Yozo, a troubled soul who is forced to keep up a facade of hollow jocularity in his everyday life. The book cover of the novel published by Kadokawa was renewed in October, and since then featured a photo of Ikuta. After the cover was revised, the book sold over 100,000 copies. In response to those sales figures, Kadokawa decided that for a limited time period, all 10 Dazai novels would feature Ikuta on the covers; the campaign started on December 15, 2009. It was the first time that the lead actor of a film adaptation of a novel appeared on the covers of all the works written by the author.

He also appeared in Hanamizuki, co-starring Yui Aragaki, and Seaside Motel. Ikuta played the role of Honjo Sadame, a failure of an actor in the drama Unubore Deka along with Johnny senior, Tokio's Tomoya Nagase. In 2010, Ikuta appeared on the documentary TV program . Ikuta was the male lead role for the manga Bokura Ga Ita, where he played Yano, and has a relationship with Yoshitaka Yuriko (Takahashi). The shoot for the movie started in May 2011, and was released as a two-part film in spring 2012.

On July 27, 2010, Ikuta appeared in Tokio's music video for the song NaNaNa. In 2016, he appeared in the music video of the song Fukkatsu Love by Arashi, from which he had been teamed up as juniors with the three youngest members, as the group MAIN.

Ikuta had his own mobile J-web diary since 2005, named Ikuta Toma no Tomagoto (Ikuta Toma's Toma's words). The J-web went by the names Tomagoto, Tomagoto Hyper, and Tomagoto Neo, among others. Aside from the J-web, he also had his own corner on Wink Up Magazine titled Ikuta Toma no Ikita Kotoba (Toma Ikuta's Words to Live By). On this corner, he writes a one-page essay about things that interest him, as well as his daily experiences. Pictures taken from his own camera are included on the page.

On November 7, 2023, Ikuta announced he would be leaving Johnny & Associates on November 20, to work as a freelance actor.

After a "Question and Answer" session on his Instagram on May 5, 2024, Ikuta faced severe criticism, when a fan commented that she was 9 months pregnant and she was scared to give birth, to what Ikuta answered: "Do you want to beg your husband to be painless?". Many of the comments were referring to his use of the word instead of something like , or just wishing her well. Gynecologists and Obstetricians also participated in the criticism, citing that childbirth is not only painful, but also life-threatening. His apology 2 days later didn't help him either, having people consider his choice of words as old-fashioned, and questioning if the former Johnny idol as well as the artists still in the agency, which for most of its history banned SNS for their artists, are really prepared for using them.

Musical career Ikuta debuted as a singer in January 2026, with the release of his single "Super romance", theme song for his drama "Panda yori koi ga nigatena watashitachi", after 30 years in the entertainment business.

Personal life Ikuta has a younger sibling, 4 years his junior, Fuji TV's announcer Ryūsei Ikuta.

Ikuta married actress Nana Seino on June 1, 2020. They welcomed their first child on March 9, 2022.

Filmography

Television Year Title Role Notes 1997 Agri Young Junnosuke Asadora 1998 Love & Peace Yohei Horiguchi 2001 Neverland Osamu Seto 2002 Be Nice to People Yusuke Episode 5 Acting by Hachida Lead role 2004 Yesterday's Enemy Is Today's Friend Yasuhiko Hidaka Miniseries 2005 Funny Roppongi Squad Yukio Ochi To Asuka and to the Unseen Child Sawamura Kazuya Sleeping Corpse Eiji/Yamazaki 2006 Akihabara@Deep Box 2007 Boys Over Flowers 2 Junpei Oribe Hana-Kimi Shuichi Nakatsu 2014 Gunshi Kanbei Dom Justo Takayama Taiga drama 2015 Ouroboros Ikuo Ryuzaki Lead role If Talking Paid Mitsuru Kishibe Lead role 2022 My Ex-Boyfriend's Last Will Eiji Morikawa / Tomiharu Morikawa Special appearance The 13 Lords of the Shogun Minamoto no Nakaakira Taiga drama 2023 Taiga Drama ga Umareta Hi Yamaoka Lead role; television film 2024 Beyond Goodbye Yūsuke Nakamachi 2025 Unbound Hitotsubashi Harusada / Saito Jurobei Taiga drama 2026 Straight to Hell Masaya Hotta Sins of Kujo Kuroudo Kurama

Films Year Title Role Notes 2010 Hanamizuki Kohei Kiuchi Lead role Seaside Motel Masayaki Kameda Lead role No Longer Human Ōba Yōzō Lead role 2011 Genji Monogatari: Sennen no Nazo Hikaru Genji Lead role 2012 We Were There: First Love Motoharu Yano Lead role We Were There: True Love Motoharu Yano Lead role 2013 Brain Man Ichiro Suzuki Lead role 2014 The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji Reiji Kikukawa Lead role 2022 Sing, Dance, Act: Kabuki featuring Toma Ikuta Self Documentary 2023 The Dry Spell Shunsaku Iwakiri Lead role Yudo: The Way of the Bath Shirō Miura Lead role 2024 Confession Keisuke Asai Lead role 2025 Demon City Shuhei Sakata Lead role

Discography Singles Super romance (2026) (digital) My Friend Hitler and Madame de Sade (Mishima Double) - February 2011 Kamome(The Seagull)- September 2013 Vamp Bamboo Burn – 2016

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work(s) Result 200711th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand PrixBest Supporting ActorHana-Kimi 201184th Kinema Junpo AwardsBest New ActorNo Longer Human 53rd Blue Ribbon AwardsRookie of the Year 202013th Tokyo Drama AwardsBest ActorIf Talking Paid