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Today, we’re diving into the cast of Netflix’s Japanese survival thriller Alice in Borderland.

Based on Haro Aso’s manga, the series follows Arisu and other players who are suddenly thrown into the mysterious “Borderland,” where surviving means winning a series of deadly games.

Here’s your guide to the Alice in Borderland cast, including their ages, heights, Instagram accounts, notable movies and TV shows, and some surprising facts about the actors behind the characters.

Profiles and ages updated as of September, 2026.

Alice in Borderland Cast: Profiles & Surprising Facts

Arisu — Kento Yamazaki

A gamer who uses his sharp instincts to survive the Borderland.

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Surprising Facts About Kento Yamazaki

• Yamazaki entered the entertainment industry after being scouted on Takeshita Street in Harajuku when he was in his third year of middle school.
• He was passionate about soccer from elementary through middle school and once dreamed of becoming a professional player. That athletic ability has since become useful in his many physically demanding action roles.
• Yamazaki has starred in so many live-action adaptations of popular manga—from shojo romance to major shonen franchises—that he was once nicknamed the “Prince of Live-Action Adaptations.”
• For Golden Kamuy, Yamazaki underwent intensive strength training and gained around 10 kilograms to transform himself into the muscular Saichi Sugimoto.
• He had already worked with Tao Tsuchiya in The Black Devil and the White Prince, Mare and Orange before Alice in Borderland, making the Netflix series their fourth project together.
• Those eerie scenes of Arisu wandering through an empty Shibuya weren’t actually filmed in a deserted central Tokyo. A massive replica of the Shibuya Scramble Crossing was built in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture for the production.
• In Season 3, Yamazaki portrays an Arisu experiencing even greater emotional instability than before. He has described Alice in Borderland as a project that will remain deeply connected to his own life.

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Usagi — Tao Tsuchiya

A skilled climber who becomes Arisu’s strongest ally.

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Surprising Facts About Tao Tsuchiya

• Her unusual given name, Tao, reportedly came from characters that appeared in a dream her mother had while pregnant with her.
• Tsuchiya began studying traditional Japanese dance at age three and later trained in classical ballet, hip-hop and other forms of dance.
• She entered the entertainment industry after receiving a Special Jury Prize at the 2005 Super Heroine Audition.
• At Japan Women’s College of Physical Education, Tsuchiya majored in dance. Despite repeating academic years because of her demanding acting schedule, she eventually graduated after spending around eight years completing her degree.
• In 2016, she showed off her full-body physical expressiveness in the Japanese music video for global singer Sia’s “Alive,” performing an intense contemporary dance routine.
• Tsuchiya announced her marriage to GENERATIONS member Ryota Katayose in 2023, and the couple welcomed their first child later that year.
• Filming for Season 3 began only around four months after she gave birth. After a period when she had been unable to train normally, Tsuchiya returned to demanding full-scale action for the series.

Chishiya — Nijiro Murakami

A cool-headed strategist who survives with intelligence.

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Surprising Facts About Nijiro Murakami

• Murakami grew up surrounded by art and entertainment. His father is actor Jun Murakami, while his mother is singer UA.
• He spent part of his childhood in Okinawa before moving to Montreal, Canada, as a middle-school student.
• While studying abroad, he was approached by director Naomi Kawase and eventually made his acting debut as the lead in Still the Water.
• His very first movie was selected for the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival, meaning Murakami was already walking the Cannes red carpet at just 17 years old.
• In the film The Gun, Murakami acted opposite his real-life father Jun Murakami, attracting attention for portraying an intense relationship despite their actual father-son connection.
• His skills include swimming, kendo, horseback riding and guitar, and his years in Canada also left him able to handle everyday conversation in English.
• When playing Chishiya, Murakami deliberately avoids over-explaining the character’s emotions. Instead, he lets tiny shifts in his eyes, mouth and expression reveal what Chishiya may actually be thinking.

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Kuina — Aya Asahina

A skilled fighter with a warm and loyal personality.

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Surprising Facts About Aya Asahina

• Before entering show business, Asahina worked as an assistant at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic on her home island of Awaji.
• She was a member of the track-and-field club during her school years. With her long limbs and striking proportions, she later became known in Japan as the “miraculous nine-head beauty.”
• Asahina was actually scouted while still a teenager, but her parents opposed the idea and she initially gave up. She eventually decided she couldn’t abandon her dream and moved to Tokyo.
• In 2014, she won the Grand Prix at the DHC Cinderella Awards, bringing her major attention as a fashion model.
• She married Kenjiro Yamashita of J SOUL BROTHERS III in 2021 and is now a mother of two children.
• Alice in Borderland was Asahina’s first major action production. She has admitted there were moments when her body simply wouldn’t move the way she wanted, leaving her frustrated after filming.
• For Kuina’s fight scene with Ann, the team carefully adjusted their spacing to account for Asahina’s unusually long reach. She, Ayaka Miyoshi and the action director worked together to construct the choreography in detail.

Ann — Ayaka Miyoshi

A former forensic scientist searching for the Borderland’s truth.

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Surprising Facts About Ayaka Miyoshi

• Miyoshi was scouted in first grade and began working seriously as a model by the time she was in third grade.
• During her growth years, she was reportedly so conscious of maintaining her legs for modeling that she even avoided sitting in seiza when possible.
• She was also one of the early members of the Japanese idol group Sakura Gakuin, where she took on singing and dancing in addition to modeling.
• Beginning in 2010, Miyoshi spent around seven years as an exclusive model for Seventeen Japan, becoming particularly popular with teenage readers.
• In 2021, she made her directorial debut with the short film inside you, expanding from performing in front of the camera to creating work behind it.
• Thanks partly to Alice in Borderland, Miyoshi’s international profile has grown significantly, particularly in South Korea and other overseas markets. She has also been putting more effort into studying languages.
• During Ann and Kuina’s fight scene, Miyoshi had to adapt to Aya Asahina’s long limbs and fighting range. The actresses and action team worked together closely to build the sequence around their different physical strengths.

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Aguni — Sho Aoyagi

A powerful fighter haunted by a complicated past.

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Surprising Facts About Sho Aoyagi

• Aoyagi began playing soccer in elementary school and played as a goalkeeper. For a time, he seriously dreamed of becoming a professional player.
• In 2006, he entered the VOCAL BATTLE AUDITION hoping to become a singer but was eliminated during the second round.
• That rejection unexpectedly changed his career. Staff members suggested that he try acting instead, leading him to become an actor and eventually join Gekidan EXILE.
• His performance in Today, I Will Start Loving You earned him the Best New Actor prize at the Japanese Movie Critics Awards.
• Despite building his career primarily as an actor, Aoyagi eventually returned to music and made his full-scale solo singing debut with “Maria” in 2016.
• To portray Aguni, Aoyagi transformed his physique to better match the character’s massive build in the original manga, while also dramatically changing his hairstyle.
• At a premiere event, he jokingly told the audience that “the muscles and shaved head are VFX,” earning a big laugh.

Niragi — Dori Sakurada

A violent and unpredictable member of the Beach.

この投稿をInstagramで見る

桜田 通 Dori Sakurada(@dorisakurada)がシェアした投稿

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Surprising Facts About Dori Sakurada

• His unusual given name Dori reportedly comes from Sakurada-dori, a major road running through Tokyo. His father chose the name based on the street.
• Sakurada was scouted in fifth grade and made his first screen appearance in the 2005 drama Ruri no Shima.
• At just 15, he was cast as protagonist Ryoma Echizen in The Prince of Tennis Musical.
• Alongside acting, Sakurada has continued pursuing music and made his major-label debut with the single “MIRAI” in 2023.
• He has a strong interest in fashion and regularly appears at events and runway shows for international luxury brands.
• His role as Niragi brought Sakurada a dramatic increase in fans outside Japan, and his official website has highlighted his growing global activities.
• For Season 2, extensive special-effects makeup was used to recreate Niragi’s badly burned and injured appearance across his face and body.

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Mira — Riisa Naka

A mysterious woman hiding danger behind an elegant smile.

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仲里依紗 RIISA NAKA(@riisa1018naka)がシェアした投稿

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Surprising Facts About Riisa Naka

• Naka is one-quarter Swedish through her grandfather, and her unusual name “Riisa” was reportedly inspired by the Mona Lisa.
• Her younger sister secretly submitted Naka’s photo to a magazine audition without telling her. Naka won a special prize, which became her unexpected entrance into show business.
• She voiced the heroine of the animated film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, then starred in a live-action film connected to the same story four years later.
• In 2013, Naka married actor Akiyoshi Nakao. Their relationship developed after they worked together on the drama Tsurukame Josanin.
• The couple has become popular for being unusually open about everyday married life. Naka sometimes refers to her husband as “Mr. Fox” or “Tokage-kun’s dad.”
• She launched her YouTube channel in 2020, where her colorful shopping sprees, family moments and chaotic everyday personality revealed a side of her very different from her polished acting roles.
• Some of Mira’s long dialogue scenes were filmed using an unusual technique in which Naka listened to her co-stars’ voices through an earpiece even though they were positioned far away from her, helping create the strange emotional distance of the sequence.

Banda — Hayato Isomura

A calm but unsettling man skilled at reading people.

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Surprising Facts About Hayato Isomura

• Isomura became interested in acting after making his own independent movie in middle school and starring in it himself.
• His parents opposed his plans to enter show business, so he initially went to university. Unable to give up on acting, however, he dropped out after around two and a half years.
• While performing in small theater productions, Isomura worked part-time in restaurants. Because he frequently worked in the kitchen, he became a skilled cook.
• He gained wider attention playing Alain / Kamen Rider Necrom in Kamen Rider Ghost.
• Isomura is famously obsessed with saunas. In addition to appearing in the drama Sado, he has even become involved in creating and planning sauna-related television content.
• For his performances in A Family and What Did You Eat Yesterday? The Movie, Isomura received the Newcomer of the Year Award at the Japan Academy Film Prize.
• Banda first appeared in Season 2, but in Season 3 he becomes an important figure who sets the story in motion again. His consistently soft, quiet delivery only makes the character feel more unsettling.

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Ryuji — Kento Kaku

A mysterious researcher studying the afterlife.

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賀来賢人(@kento_kaku)がシェアした投稿

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Surprising Facts About Kento Kaku

• Kaku’s aunt is actress Chikako Kaku, although he reportedly didn’t actively advertise the family connection when he first entered show business.
• His unusual path into entertainment began when a talent-agency staff member saw him in a family photograph and became interested in contacting him.
• In 2016, Kaku married actress Nana Eikura. The two grew closer after working together on the drama N no Tame ni.
• He is now a father of two, but he and Eikura have chosen not to reveal their children’s faces or names publicly, keeping their family life relatively private.
• In 2022, Kaku left the agency he had belonged to for roughly 16 years, saying he wanted to challenge himself without regretting the things he truly wanted to pursue.
• For the Netflix series House of Ninjas, Kaku didn’t just star in the project—he also helped develop the original concept and served as a producer.
• Ryuji is an original character who does not appear in the manga. Director Shinsuke Sato has praised Kaku’s interpretation of the character, saying his understanding closely matched the idea Sato had envisioned.

Final Thoughts on the Alice in Borderland Cast

And there you have it!

From global breakout stars like Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya to fan favorites such as Nijiro Murakami, Aya Asahina and Dori Sakurada, Alice in Borderland brings together one of the most recognizable Japanese casts on Netflix.

Knowing a little about the actors behind Arisu, Usagi, Chishiya and the rest of the characters makes revisiting all three seasons even more fun.

Thanks for reading!

If another face in the series caught your attention, check out their movies and TV shows — you may be surprised by just how many Japanese dramas, manga adaptations and international hits this cast has appeared in.