is the professional name of , a Japanese

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

gravure idol A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

, and writer. She has played multiple lead roles in television and film, including Naoko in the 2013 erotic thriller '' Amai Muchi'', for which she received a Newcomer of the Year award at the 37th Japan Academy Prize ceremony.

Early life and education

Mitsu Dan was born on December 3, 1980, in

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

, Japan. After graduating from

Showa Women's University is a women's private university in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The university has undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs and five research institutes. It also contains affiliated schools that span from kindergarten to high school. Aside fr ...

, she earned a teaching certificate, worked in a funeral parlor, tried but failed to start a sweets shop, and worked as a hostess in a

Ginza Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...

club before becoming a

in 2010.

Career

Dan became known for her role in the

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

-themed erotic thriller movie '' Be My Slave'' (2012), a performance that Giovanni Fazio of ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' summarized as "a starlet is born." The next year she played a lead role in the 2013 erotic thriller , which was directed by Takashi Ishii. At the 37th Japan Academy Prize ceremony Dan was recognized as a Newcomer of the Year for her performance in '' Amai Muchi''. Over the next few years Dan appeared in numerous television dramas, variety programs, movies, and advertising campaigns, including the

kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

parody , the 90th

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

asadora , colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in the mornings by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The first such series aired in 1961 with the black-and-white , starring Take ...

Hanako to Anne is a Japanese television drama series, the 90th Asadora series broadcast on NHK. It debuted on March 31, 2014, and is broadcast Monday through Saturday mornings, with a scheduled to end of September 27, 2014. It is based on the novel ''An no Yurik ...

'', a 2015 recruiting commercial for the

Japan Self-Defense Forces The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, the ...

, the 2016 Hulu Japan drama ''

Crow's Blood ''Crow's Blood'' (stylized as ''CROW'S BLOOD'') is a Japanese six-episode horror streaming television drama series with an original story concept written by Yasushi Akimoto and executive produced by Darren Lynn Bousman. It stars Mayu Watanabe ...

'', and the 2017 film ''Sekigahara''. In 2018 Dan became a weekly host of the radio program ''Makoto Ōtake Golden Radio!'' The next year she appeared in the 99th NHK asadora ''

Manpuku , sometimes romanized as ''Mampuku'', is a Japanese television drama series and the 99th Asadora series, following ''Hanbun, Aoi''. It premiered on 1 October 2018, and concluded on 30 March 2019. The series is based on the lives of Momofuku Andō ...

''. In July 2017 Dan starred in an official tourism promotion video for

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

that was created using

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

reconstruction funds and published online. Female members of the Miyagi Prefectural Assembly, along with members of the public, claimed that the video was sexually suggestive and demanded that it be taken down. Miyagi governor

Yoshihiro Murai is a Japanese politician and current governor of Miyagi Prefecture. A native of Toyonaka, Osaka and former serviceman of Japan Self-Defense Forces, he was first elected governor in 2005 after serving in the assembly of the prefecture since 1995. ...

initially defended the video on the grounds that it successfully brought attention to the prefecture, but after receiving hundreds of complaints in a month he ordered the video withdrawn. Later that year the Japanese Ministry of the Environment appointed Mitsu Dan as a public ambassador to promote home energy conservation. Dan has written books in multiple genres, including the autobiographical book ', advice books ' and ', and the food essay collection '. She made her fiction debut in 2016 with a story in the

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well as ...

literary magazine '. Since April 2017 she has written a monthly advice column for ''Otokemachi'', an online publication of ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

''. In March 2018 her story was published in the literary magazine ''

Bungakukai is a Japanese monthly literary magazine published by Bungeishunjū as a oriented publication. History and profile The first version of ''Bungakukai'' was published from 1893 to 1898. The founders were the first generation romantic authors in t ...

''.

Personal life

Dan married manga artist in November 2019.

Recognition

* 2014: 37th Japan Academy Prize for Newcomer of the Year

Works

* ', Shōgakukan, 2013, * ', Daiwashobō, 2013, * ', Magajinhausu, 2016, * ',

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: ''Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), ...

, 2017,

Filmography

Films

* '' Be My Slave'', 2012 * '' Amai Muchi'', 2013 * ''Taishibōkei Tanita Shain Shokudō'', 2013 * ''Figure na Anata'', 2013 * ''

Hello, My Dolly Girlfriend is a 2013 Japanese erotic romance film directed by Takashi Ishii and starring Tasuku Emoto, Kokone Sasaki and Naoto Takenaka. Plot The Movie starts off with an introverted office boy named Kentaro, who becomes the scapegoat to the company's h ...

'', * ''Chikyū Bōei Mibōjin'', 2014 * ''Sanbun no Ichi'', 2014 * ''

Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

'', 2017 * ''Hoshimeguri no Machi'', 2018 * ''Eating Women'', 2018 * ''

Mashin Sentai Kiramager is a Japanese tokusatsu drama. It is the 44th entry of Toei's long-running ''Super Sentai'' metaseries and the first series to air exclusively in the Reiwa era. ''Kiramager''s main motifs are genies, gemstones and vehicles. It is the fifth veh ...

the Movie'', 2021 * ''A Dog Named Palma'', 2021 * ''Bad City'', 2023

Television

* ''Tokumei Tantei'',

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

, 2012 * ''Otenki Oneesan'',

, 2013 * ''

Hanzawa Naoki is a 2013 and 2020 Japanese television series by Japanese broadcaster TBS based on the of novels by . It follows the story of Hanzawa Naoki, a banker working for the largest bank in Japan, Tokyo Chuo Bank. He faces numerous obstacles from upper ...

'', TBS, 2013 * ''

'',

, 2014 * ''Coffee-ya no Hitobito'',

, 2014 * ''Black President'',

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

, 2014 * ''Ore no Dandyism'',

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

, 2014 * ''Arasa-chan Mushūsei'',

, 2014 * ''

'', Hulu Japan, 2016 * ''

'',

, 2019 * ''Mikazuki'',

, 2019

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dan, Mitsu 1980 births Japanese actresses Japanese gravure models Japanese female adult models Japanese television personalities 21st-century Japanese women writers Actors from Akita Prefecture Living people Showa Women's University alumni