硫黄島からの手紙
Ihara joined the Japan Action Enterprise, a theater troupe founded by Sonny Chiba, after leaving high school. Soon after, he began to work in numerous feature films and television dramas, including the 1996 NHK series "Futarikko". In 2006, Ihara appeared as the Baron Takeichi Nishi in Clint Eastwood's critically acclaimed Academy Award-winning film "Letters from Iwo Jima", introducing him to a wider international audience.