Toma Ikuta ( born October 7, 1984 in HokkaidM) is a Japanese talent artist part of Johnny's Jr. under the supervision of Johnny & Associates.
His family consists of his father Hideki, a mother named Hiromi, a younger brother named Ryuusei, and a dog named JAM. His father wanted to name him Ikuta Tamegorou, but his mother changed it to Toma because it was easier to pronounce. He used to be called Toma, Touma, or Toma-chan by his family and friends. Younger juniors in the agency called him Toma-san and that morphed to Tomasu. This name was his “trademark” while he hosted a segment named Meitantei Tomasu in the Shounen Club program.
Career
Toma Ikuta 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, Maiku Iida (who is presently the other half of the singing duo, J Boyz). Toma auditioned and got accepted; he started to participate under Johnny's Jr in February 1996.
Soon after he was grouped with three of the five members of the current J-pop unit, 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 had also been a part of the group, with whom he is still very good friends with. Soon after, B.I.G. was reduced to just Toma and Tomohisa.
In 2002, Hideaki Takizawa, the leader of Johnny's Jr., had 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, Yamashita, 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, Shounen Club.
In September 2003, the temporary group NewS was formed, with Yamashita as the leader. While it was initially formed only to cheer for Japan's Women's Volleyball Team, this group was then made to debut formally. Having lost one of its members, the fans started to call the rest of the members as 3TOPS, still hosting the show together with Jimmy Mackey and KAT-TUN. Ikuta then hosted his own segment, Meitantei Tomasu in Shounen 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.
Toma had appeared in many dramas with different roles, that of being a rebel teenager in Kinou Wa Tomo Kyou no Teki (NHK, 2004), a young man who had lost his love in Gekidan Engimono: Otoko no Yume (FujiTV, 2005), as well as a young enthusiastic police officer in Dekabeya (TBS, 2005). In 2006, Ikuta played the role of Box, an obsessive-compulsive neat freak, in the manga-turned drama Akihabara@DEEP (TBS, 2006), together with fellow 3TOPS member Shunsuke Kazama. He had also appeared in the sequel of the popular drama, Hana Yori Dango, Hana Yori Dango: Returns, as a man out for revenge on the male protagonist, which coincidentally was played by then-M.A.I.N. and present-time Arashi member, Jun Matsumoto.
Ikuta had already participated in numerous Musical stage plays produced by Johnny's Entertainment, such as PLAYZONE, SHOCK and West Side Story (both the Shounentai 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 stage play's premise was based loosely on his life.
As of June 2006, he became part of an unofficial group within Johnny's Entertainment called No Border, which also includes Tomohisa Yamashita (NEWS), Jun Matsumoto (Arashi), Shingo Murakami (Kanjani8), Atsuhiro Satou (former Hikaru Genji), KMichi DMmoto (Kinki Kids), Tatsuya Yamaguchi (TOKIO), and Hideaki Takizawa (Tackey & Tsubasa). It was formed when the 8 members from the different Johnny's groups met up for dinner, later on deciding to name themselves NO BORDER, a name Ikuta had come up with. They are known to interact freely, bypassing the senpai-kouhai relationships normally formed between Johnny's members. There is an 8-part round-robin on their J-webs about the formation of the group. Each member has a specific colour - White, Black, Red, Pink, Purple, Gold, Blue, and Grey. However, who holds which colour is still unknown.
The 2007 FujiTV summer drama Hanazakari no Kimitachi E (popularly known as Hana Kimi or IkePara), 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 Shuuichi 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 he was on stage again as he starred in the Shakesperean play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
While working on the stage play he had also been slated to star in one of FujiTV's winter dramas for 2008, the live adaptation of Chika Umino's popular manga, Hachimitsu to Kuroba. He took on the role of Yuuta 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 observant that uncovered the events of the drama to the audience earned him another Best Supporting Actor award.
Because of Hana Kimi's popularity, FujiTV decided to air a Special 2-hour episode, announcing it 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. Ikuta reprised his role as the comic Shuuichi Nakatsu. Hana Kimi SP had a viewership rating of 18.8%.
His rise to fame had also 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 Maou (The Devil), was about a lawyer (played by Ohno) who sought to avenge the death of his younger brother several years ago. The culprit was a brash and impulsive detective (played by Ikuta), who in turn, had been atoning for the grave, juvenile crime he had committed in the past.
Furthermore, in October 2008, Toma was back on stage again. This time he played 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 FujiTV's golden time slot for dramas, an intern forensics specialist in the serial drama VOICE, together with Eita and Satomi Ishihara. His role as Ishimatsu Ryosuke dealt with his inner demons as he ran away from the stifling responsibility of inheriting his father's hospital and used Forensics Medicine as his scapegoat.
Following his streak of solo projects Ikuta was again named to star in a FujiTV drama even while VOICE was airing, this time a lead role in a timely jury drama Majo Saiban ~The Witch Trial~, for the TV station's Spring 2009 Saturday late night drama. He plays Yoshioka Tooru, a freeter who had been 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 lives of the other members of the jury are threatened. When the life of a housewife and one of the jury members (played by Ai Kato) is also threatened Tooru tries to help; this in turn is questioned by his girlfriend (played by Manami Higa). Thus begins Tooru's lone search for the truth. The drama is set to air on 25 April 2009, a month before the jury system is to be implemented in Japan.
Ikuta will make his silverscreen debut in Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), a movie adaptation of Dazai Osamu's masterpiece of the same title. Considered a semi-autobiographical novel, Toma will play the role of Oba Yozo, a troubled soul who is forced to keep up a facade of hollow jocularity in his everyday life. It is slated to hit the theatres on Spring 2010.
Ikuta also has his own mobile diary Jweb named Tomagoto (Toma’s words). Then temporary, the jweb went by the names Tomagoto, Tomagoto Hyper, and Tomagoto NEO, before officially becoming a permanent Jweb on December 15, 2007. Aside from the jweb 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. Included in the page are pictures taken from his own camera.
Musicals
Grease - 2008 [13]
The Two Gentlemen of Verona - October 2007
SHOCK – ENDLESS SHOCK 2007
Cat in the Red Boots (Shinkansen*NEXUS volume 2) (2006)
AZUMI RETURNS (Azumi 2) (2006)
AZUMI on STAGE (2005)
West Side Story 2005 (Arashi version)
West Side Story 2004 (Shonentai version)
Mama Loves Mambo III
Edogah-san Yukuefumei
Vacation (Shonentai Playzone 2003)
SHOCK is Real Shock
Another (Kansai Jr.2002 version)
Susanoh
SHOCK is Millennium SHOCK
KYO-TO-KYO
Stand By Me
Zitieren
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