Born in Nagano Prefecture, Ikeda first worked at the post office before heading to Tokyo in 1920 to join the theater world.

[1] He entered the Shochiku studio in 1921 and debuted as a film director the same year with Nasanu naka.

[1] He became one of the top directors of Shochiku's Kamata studio in Tokyo, scoring a major hit with Sendō kouta in 1923.

[1] After World War II, he became the secretary general of first the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan and then Eirin.

[1][3] His wife was Sumiko Kurishima, one of Japan's first female film stars and the star of Sendō kouta.