is the professional name of , a Japanese

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

gravure idol A model is a person with a Role (disambiguation), role either to display commercial product (business), products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an Model (art), artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in British and ...

, 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 estimated 915,691 as of 1 August 2023 and its geographi ...

, Japan. After graduating from

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

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

club before becoming a

in 2010.

Career

Dan became known for her role in the

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often Eroticism, erotic practices or Sexual roleplay, roleplaying involving Bondage (BDSM), bondage, Discipline (BDSM), discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given ...

-themed erotic thriller movie ''

Be My Slave ''Be My Slave'' is a 1983 album by the American heavy metal band Bitch, released on the Metal Blade Records label under the genre "dominatrix metal". ''Be My Slave'' was cited by Tipper Gore, during the Parents Music Resource Center campaign ag ...

'' (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 term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

parody , the 90th

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

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 Ta ...

Hanako to Anne is a Japanese television drama series, the 90th Asadora series broadcast on NHK. It debuted on March 31, 2014, and was broadcast Monday through Saturday mornings, ending on September 27, 2014. It is based on the novel ''An no Yurikago Muraoka Hana ...

'', a 2015 recruiting commercial for the

Japan Self-Defense Forces The are the military forces of Japan. Established in 1954, the JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense ...

, the 2016

Hulu Japan Hulu, known outside Japan as Hulu Japan, is a Japanese Subscription business model, subscription Streaming media, streaming service owned and operated by HJ Holdings, a subsidiary of Nippon Television, Nippon Television Network Corporation. Laun ...

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 And ...

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

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

that was created using

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

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 who has served as governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head o ...

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 a ...

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

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

''. 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 ...

''.

Personal life

In a January 2013 interview with Shukan Post, Mitsu Dan confirmed her bisexuality, stating she had affections for a woman before her first relationship with a man and expressing ongoing attraction to both men and women. 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 , 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), '' Ute ...

, 2017,

Filmography

Films

* ''

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

Hello, My Dolly Girlfriend is a 2013 Japanese erotic film, erotic romance film directed by Takashi Ishii (film director), Takashi Ishii and starring Tasuku Emoto, Kokone Sasaki and Naoto Takenaka. Plot The film starts off with an introverted office boy named Kentaro, who ...

'', * ''Chikyū Bōei Mibōjin'', 2014 * ''Sanbun no Ichi'', 2014 * '' Sekigahara'', 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 , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

, 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 Naoki Hanzawa, 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 or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

, 2014 * ''Ore no Dandyism'',

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.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 ( ...

'',

, 2016 * ''

'',

, 2019 * ''Mikazuki'',

, 2019

References

External links

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