He was born in Kyoto, son of jidaigeki film star Ichikawa Utaemon, and graduated from Waseda University School of Letters, Arts and Sciences II in Tokyo.

He landed the title role in the long-running cop show Zenigata Heiji, set in the Edo period.

Toshirō Mifune had portrayed Musashi in the earlier film, also based on the Eiji Yoshikawa story, that had won an Academy Award.

His portrayal of Ogami Ittō in Kozure Okami (Lone Wolf and Cub) (2002-2004), which was a series for Asahi TV in Japan, is representative of these appearances.

[2] Kitaōji played one of the lead roles in Hideo Nakata's psychological thriller film The Incite Mill.

In recent times, Kitaōji voices the Hokkaido-inu character of "Father" in SoftBank Mobile's White Family advertising campaign.