Toma Ikuta's bio

Toma Ikuta is a Japanese talent artist part of Johnny's Jr. under the supervision of Johnny & Associates.

Career (1996-2007)

Ikuta Toma used to be in a variety show for kids called Tensai Terebi kun. Being a member of a then all-children band called Strawberry Parfait, he was popular with the audience. He was then offered an opportunity to join Johnny's Entertainment, together with a fellow bandmate in Strawberry Parfait, Mai-kun Iida (who is presently the other half of the singing duo, J Boyz). He auditioned, got accepted and began to participate under Johnny's Jr in February 1996.

Soon after he was grouped with three of the five members of the Johnny's boy band Arashi. Together, they formed a group called M.A.I.N., a name that was formed from the initial of each member's family name: Jun Matsumoto, Masaki Aiba, Toma Ikuta, and Kazunari Ninomiya.

With the debut of the three members into Arashi in 1999, Toma was grouped with a Jr. unit named B.I.G. (Bad Image Generation), along with ten other popular Juniors of that time, which included Koki Tanaka of KAT-TUN. Tomohisa Yamashita of NEWS, with whom Toma is still very good friends with, had also been part of that group. Soon after, B.I.G. was reduced to just Toma and Tomohisa.

In 2002, Hideaki Takizawa, the leader of Johnny's Jr., debuted together with Tsubasa Imai, forming the duo Tackey & Tsubasa. Ikuta was among the top Tokyo juniors at that time, and so the group 4TOPS was formed in order to replace Takizawa and Imai as the leaders of the juniors. The group consisted of 4 former B.I.G members: Ikuta Toma, Yamashita Tomohisa, Jun Hasegawa and Shunsuke Kazama. The graduation ceremony of Takizawa and Imai, which also served as the duo's debut concert, formally inducted the four as the leaders of Johnny's Jrs., whose job was to host the variety show The Shōnen Club (ザ少年倶楽部 Za Shōnen Kurabu?).

In September 2003, the temporary group NEWS was formed, with Yamashita Tomohisa as the leader. While it was initially meant to only cheer for Japan's Women Volleyball Team, this group was formally debut. Having lost one of its members, fans started calling the rest of the team as 3TOPS. 3TOPS continued hosting the show with Jimmy Mackey and KAT-TUN. Toma hosted his own segment, Meitantei Tomasu in Shōnen Club after NEWS and KAT-TUN took over the hosting of the show. Not long after, he and the two remaining members of 3TOPS started working on solo projects, such as dramas and stage plays, and gradually stopped appearing in the variety show.

Until then, Toma had appeared in many dramas with different roles, that of a rebel teenager in Kinō Wa Tomo Kyō no Teki (NHK, 2004), a young man who had lost his love in Gekidan Engimono: Otoko no Yume (Fuji TV, 2005), as well as a young enthusiastic police officer in Dekabeya (TBS, 2005). In 2006, Toma played the role of Box, an obsessive-compulsive neat freak, in the manga-turned drama Akihabara@Deep (TBS, 2006), with fellow 3TOPS member Shunsuke Kazama. He had also appeared as Oribe Junpei, a man out for revenge in the sequel of the drama Hana Yori Dango.

Toma had also participated in numerous musical stage plays produced by Johnny's Entertainment, such as Playzone, SHOCK and West Side Story (both the Shonentai and Arashi versions), as well as non-Johnny's Entertainment-produced stage plays (Azumi, Azumi Returns, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona). One of his biggest breakthrough roles on stage was his first leading role in the Shinkansen*NEXUS volume 2 stage play "Cat in the Red Boots", as TOMA-sama. The premise of the play was based loosely on his life.

Career (2007-present)

The 2007 Fuji TV summer drama Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, controversial in its gender-bending nature, was perhaps Toma's biggest break in Japanese Entertainment. Just as Maki Horikita achieved a Best Actress award for her role in the drama, his portrayal as Shuichi Nakatsu, a young man who starts to question his sexuality after falling in love with his new classmate Mizuki Ashiya (who was actually a girl in a boy's disguise) in an exclusive all-boys school, has merited him Best Supporting Actor awards in three award-giving bodies, and has also opened more opportunities for him as he started to become one of the most in-demand young actors.

Following his successful portrayal in Hana Kimi, Toma 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. Without a specific date of broadcast it became highly-anticipated. Months after, in October 2008, the boys of Osaka Gakuen came back on air with Toma reprising his role as Shuichi Nakatsu. Hana Kimi SP had a viewership rating of 18.8%.

Toma'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, Toma was back on stage again, playing the role of Danny in the Japanese version of the musical "Grease". Together with Tomoyuki Yara, member of the Johnny's Jr. group M.A., the play held performances both in Osaka and Tokyo.

January 2009 marked Toma's first ever appearance in Fuji TV's golden time slot for dramas, Ishimatsu Ryosuke, an intern forensics specialist in the serial drama Voice, along with Eita and Satomi Ishihara. His role dealt with Ryosuke's inner demons as he ran away from the stifling responsibility of inheriting his father's hospital while using Forensic Medicine as his scapegoat.

Following his streak of solo projects, Toma 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.

Toma 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, Toma 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 has since then, been featuring a photo of Toma. 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 will have Toma appear on the covers; the campaign started on December 15, 2009, and these new versions are on sale in bookstores all across Japan. It will be the first time that the lead actor of a film adaptation of a novel appear on the covers of all the works written by the author. The DVD of Ningen Shikkaku released on August 4, 2010.

Other movies of his in the works are Hanamizuki, co-starring Aragaki Yui and Seaside Motel. Meanwhile, Toma began playing the role of Honjo Sadame, a failure of an actor in the drama Unubore Deka along with Johnny senior, TOKIO's Nagase Tomoya. On July 27, 2010, Toma appeared in TOKIO's MV for the song NaNaNa.

In 2010, Ikuta appeared on the popular documentary TV program Jōnetsu Tairiku (情熱大陸 lit. The Passion Continent).

Toma has his own mobile diary J-web named Tomagoto (Toma’s words). Then temporary, the J-web went by the names Tomagoto, Tomagoto Hyper, and Tomagoto Neo, before officially becoming a permanent J-web on December 15, 2007. Aside from the J-web, he also has his own corner on Wink Up Magazine entitled “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.

Toma has been recently confirmed in the male lead role for the popular manga Bokura Ga Ita in which he will play Yano and have a relationship with Yoshitaka Yuriko (Takahashi). The shoot for the movie started in May, and it’ll be released as a two-part film in spring of 2012.

Endorsements

Toma has appeared in ads for Lotte

•Attended Meiji University
The name "Tomasu" was his "trademark" when he hosted a show named Meitantei Tomasu in the Shounen Club program.
•His family consists of a father, a mother named Hiromi, a younger brother named Ryuusei (who is a TV announcer), and a dog named JAM-chan.
•His father wanted to name him Ikuta Tamegorou, but his mother changed it to Toma because it was easier to say. close