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{{Header|Mitsu Dan 03/23}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Dan, Mitsu}}
{{Infobox person
| name               =  Mitsu Dan
| color     = mistyrose
| image              =  Dan_mitsu.jpg
| caption            = 
| native_name        = 壇 蜜
| native_name_lang   = Japanese
| pronunciation      = 
| birth_name         =  齋藤 支靜加
| birth_date         =  {{dob|1980|12|3}}
| birth_place        = 
| nationality        = Japanese
| alma_mater         = Showa Women's University
| occupation         = Actress, gravure idol, writer
| spouse             = {{marriage|Tōru Seino|2019}}
| years_active       = 2010–present
| known_for          = 
| notable_works      =  {{plainlist|
*[[Be My Slave (Film)|Be My Slave]]
*Amai Muchi}}
| parents            = 
| awards             = 37th Japan Academy Prize
| website            =  [https://dan-mitsu.jp/ Official website]
}}

'''Mitsu Dan''' (壇 蜜, Dan Mitsu, born December 3, 1980) is the professional name of Shizuka Saitō (齋藤 支靜加), 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|Be My Slave]] (2012), a performance that Giovanni Fazio of The Japan Times summarized as "a starlet is born."[5] The next year she played a lead role in the 2013 erotic thriller Amai Muchi (甘い鞭, Sweet Whip), which was directed by Takashi Ishii.[6] At the 37th Japan Academy Prize ceremony Dan was recognized as a Newcomer of the Year for her performance in Amai Muchi.[7]

Over the next few years Dan appeared in numerous television dramas, variety programs, movies, and advertising campaigns, including the kaiju parody Chikyû bôei mibôjin (地球防衛未亡人, Earth Defense Widow),[8] the 90th NHK asadora Hanako to Anne,[9] a 2015 recruiting commercial for the Japan Self-Defense Forces,[10] the 2016 Hulu Japan drama Crow's Blood,[11] and the 2017 film Sekigahara.[12] In 2018 Dan became a weekly host of the radio program Makoto Ōtake Golden Radio![13] The next year she appeared in the 99th NHK asadora Manpuku.[14]

In July 2017 Dan starred in an official tourism promotion video for Miyagi Prefecture that was created using 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami reconstruction funds and published online.[15] 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.[16] Miyagi governor Yoshihiro Murai 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.[15] Later that year the Japanese Ministry of the Environment appointed Mitsu Dan as a public ambassador to promote home energy conservation.[17]

Dan has written books in multiple genres, including the autobiographical book Mitsu no aji (蜜の味, A Taste of Honey), advice books Erosu no osahō (エロスのお作法, The Rules of Love) and Dōshiyō (どうしよう, What Should I Do?), and the food essay collection Tabetai no (たべたいの, I Want to Eat).[4][18][19] She made her fiction debut in 2016 with a story in the Bungeishunjū literary magazine Ooru Yomimono (オール読物, All Reading).[20] Since April 2017 she has written a monthly advice column for Otokemachi, an online publication of Yomiuri Shimbun.[2] In March 2018 her story "Takumiharahara" (タクミハラハラ) was published in the literary magazine Bungakukai.[21]

Personal life
Dan married manga artist Tōru Seino [ja] in November 2019.[22]

Recognition
2014: 37th Japan Academy Prize for Newcomer of the Year[23]
Works
Mitsu no aji (蜜の味, A Taste of Honey), Shōgakukan, 2013, ISBN 9784093637350
Erosu no osahō (エロスのお作法, The Rules of Love), Daiwashobō, 2013, ISBN 9784479771845
Dōshiyō (どうしよう, What Should I Do?), Magajinhausu, 2016, ISBN 9784838728329
Tabetai no (たべたいの, I Want to Eat), Shinchosha, 2017, ISBN 9784106107412