Ayumu Nakajima

Ayumu Nakajima (中島歩, Nakajima Ayumu; born October 7, 1988 in Tokyo) is a Japanese actor.

Ayumu Nakajima
中島歩
Nakajima at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival in 2017
Born	(1988-10-07) October 7, 1988 (age 36) Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Alma mater	Nihon University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2013–present
Agent	Ten Carat
Notable work	Saturday Fiction as Kajiwara Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy as Kazuaki Anita as Goto Yuki

Early life

Ayumu Nakajima was born on October 7, 1988, in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, but he grew up in Tokyo. Nakajima great-great-grandfather was Kunikida Doppo.^[1] Nakajima went to Koishikawa High School and later got a degree in literature from Nihon University. Back in high school, he played football, and during his university days, he was part of a rakugo study group.^[2]

Career

A Nakajima started modeling since he was still in college, but his real dream was to become an actor. During his modeling days, he was represented by Gig Management. He quit modeling in January 2012 and started auditioning for roles while working part-time jobs. He made his acting debut on stage in April 2013. In 2015, he played Jun'ichi Amamiya in a stage adaptation of The Black Lizard alongside Akihiro Miwa.^[3]

In 2014, Ayumu Nakajima landed his first regular TV role in the series Hanako to Anne, where he played Ryūichi Miyamoto. He snagged the Best New Actor award at the 7th Tama Film Awards.^[4]

In 2019, he made his first appearance in an international film with Saturday Fiction, which was selected for the competition section of the 76th Venice International Film Festival.^[5] Fast forward to 2021, the film he starred in, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, won the Silver Bear at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival.^[6][7]

From November 2021, he appeared in the Hong Kong film Anita, a biographical film about Anita Mui, which was released mainly across Asia (though it did not hit theaters in Japan, the Director's Cut version started streaming on Disney+ in Japan from April 2022).^[8] In 2022, he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 35th Takasaki Film Festival for his roles in Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2013	Zentai
	Mame Daifuku Monogatari
2015	Good Stripes	Masao Minamisawa	Lead role	[9]
2017	Koi no Kitan-shu
	It Girls: Anytime Smokin' Cigarette			[10]
2018	Dynamite Grafitti	Nakazaki
	The Negotiator	Masayuki Kuramochi
2019	Just Only Love	Kanbayashi
	Saturday Fiction	Ohara		[11]
2020	Korogaru Bidama	Hishikawa
	Gone Wednesday	Araki		[12]
2021	Asakusa Kid	Inoue		[13]
	Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy	Kazuaki	Lead role	[14]
	Anita	Goto Yuki		[15]
	Ito	Kudo Yuichiro
2022	Love Nonetheless	Ryosuke Wakata		[16]
	A Far Shore	Club owner
	The Nighthawk's First Love	Tobisaka Shota		[17]
	How to Find Happiness	Toshihide's brother
	Take a Stroll	Inada Hidekazu		[18]
2023	Twilight Cinema Blues	Watanabe Kensuke		[19]
2024	Silent Love	Kodō		[20]
2024	Happyend	Okada		[21]
2025	Teki Cometh			[22]
	Renoir	Toru Omaezaki		[23]
	Yoyogi Johnny			[24]
	Jinsei	Kuzu (voice)		[25]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014	Hanako and Anne	Ryuichi Miyamoto	Asadora	[26]
2024	Extremely Inappropriate!	Yasumori		[27]
2025	Gannibal Season 2	Osamu Gotō		[28]
	Anpan	Jiro Wakamatsu	Asadora	[26]
2026	Toyotomi Brothers!	Azai Nagamasa	Taiga drama	[29]