Ichihara was born in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture in Japan. The first movie she was in was "Rikō na oyomesan". After she won an award at the 1959 Geijutsusai because of acting in "Chidori", she became the star of Haiyuza. She left the group in 1971. In 1990, she won the Japan Academy Prize for being the "best supporting actress". This is because of her acting in "Black Rain". Her husband was Satoshi Shiomi, who was a movie director. Shiomi died in 2014.