Mitsu Dan

is the professional name of , a Japanese actress, gravure idol, 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, Japan. After graduating from Showa Women's University, 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 club before becoming a gravure idol in 2010. Career Dan became known for her role in the BDSM-themed erotic thriller movie Be My Slave (2012), a performance that Giovanni Fazio of The Japan Times 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 parody , the 90th NHK asadora Hanako to Anne, a 2015 recruiting commercial for the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the 2016 Hulu Japan drama Crow's Blood, 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.