This Week’s Cover Girl: Hermit Crab in the Nostrils…Mitsu Dan “I enjoy public baths as a housewife”.

“Sexual Sister” is her profession.

–In 2010, she made her gravure debut and, as her catchphrase “a naughty sister by profession,” she became a star with her bold and daring undressing. In ’13, on the mound at the Yakult-DeNA game at Akita’s Komachi Stadium, she took off her Yakult uniform and changed into a blue swimsuit!　The “swimming suit first pitch ceremony” has become legendary.

I never imagined it would be that exciting, and I wasn’t aiming for it. I was actually doing a gravure shoot for a boys’ magazine right before the first pitch, and they gave me the swimming suit I was wearing there. The color matched the navy blue of the Yakult team color, so I discussed it with my manager and said, “Let’s go with this.

At that time, the world was not yet in a state of confusion, and there were no advance checks on costumes. When I threw on my swimming suit, I was surprised to see the gasps and groans from the stands and from the players’ seats. I still have a photo from that event on my Wikipedia page.”

–This is her first FRIDAY cover in five years, and she has included other shots from her photo books “Mona Lisa – Shizuku” and “Mona Lisa – Krystal” that were released simultaneously in 2007. -The theme of each book is summer and winter, respectively. Please tell us about the secret stories behind the photo shoots for the summer and winter themes.

I took a boat from Ishigaki Island to Kuroshima Island to shoot “Shizuku” in the middle of summer. The photographer, Koki Nishida, asked me if I could get a hermit crab in my nostrils, so I tried to imitate him and got a picture with hermit crabs in both nostrils. Also, I fell down near the shooting location, but to my surprise, I was unharmed. But the next day, a member of the movie crew fell in the same spot and broke his leg. But the next day, a member of the movie crew fell and broke his leg in the same spot, and I was very grateful to him.

Crystal” was shot in Urabandai, Fukushima Prefecture, with beautiful scenery everywhere we turned. I tried to become one with nature. When we filmed at Lake Hibara, a frozen lake, there was a man fishing for wakasagi (smelt) next to us, and we were served wakasagi tempura after the shoot. In the snowy mountains of Urabandaï (裏磐梯), we had the driver of the location bus pull our sled, but he had so much momentum that he hit the snow surface from the back of his head and went several spins backward. The driver pulled the empty sled and drove off, and for a moment I was surprised, thinking he had left me behind (laughs). ‘Are you all right! He came to pick me up in a panic and gave me a lift.

–So you are good friends with the driver.

I always try to express my gratitude to those around me. When I had just debuted, I was talking with the driver of a location bus while we were waiting, and he told me he was a fan of mine. After the shoot, I asked him if he would like to have my autograph and his name on a pair of unused undershorts, and I gave them to him. She was very happy.”

A one-meter-long Namisnake in Kinkajou.”

–Last year, you were hospitalized twice due to a physical and mental imbalance. I think many fans were worried about him because of the long period of rest.

It was a year like a compilation of misfortunes. My office went bankrupt, I contracted corona, and I had pneumonia. I even broke a rib when I stepped off a stepladder cleaning the kinkajou (an omnivorous member of the raccoon family) cage.

It was a situation that kept me quiet for most of the year, but as I lived surrounded by my pets, nature healed me. With the pets, I couldn’t do anything reckless, and I had responsibilities. As I worked hard to take care of them, I began to feel peaceful.

–So you live surrounded by many pets.

In addition to the kinkajou, there is a one-meter-long snake, a cockatiel and budgie in the bird cage, and a catfish and lungfish in the aquarium. In the bird cage there is a cockatoo and a budgie, and in the aquarium there are catfish, lungfish, and goldfish. The kinkajou eat bananas and apples, and the cat snakes eat frozen mice. When they wake up in the morning, it takes at least an hour to clean and feed them. This is done once more in the evening. I feel a small sense of joy when the birds are chirping and the kinkajou come up to me with their sweetness, and I feel peaceful just by being by their side. They are irreplaceable.

–I hear that you like saunas.

I always go to a public bath near my home, and when I was thinking about how to repay a gift of karinto from someone in her 80s, she said, “A young girl like you should just say, ‘Thank you. You don’t have to think about giving anything in return. Everyone has been so kind to me. I feel comfortable that I am treated as a housewife in Setagaya who loves public baths, without being treated like a celebrity.

–In October, her first calendar in three years was released. Can we expect a complete revival?

I don’t intend to lower the signboard of “professional naughty sister,” but I have grown up, have a family, and have experienced illness, to my shame. I would like to do a job where I can make use of my past experience, with the help of the staff, to the extent that it is not too much trouble.

Dan Mitsu, age 43
Despite making her debut late in life at the age of 29, she quickly rose to the top of the gravure scene. She has been active as an actress, TV personality, and writer. She stopped being nude after the release of her photo book “Mona Lisa: Shizuku & Krystal,” which was released simultaneously in March 2007. Last year, after a long break, she returned to work in December

My best “Relaxation item” recently
Incense.

I burn incense in my house. I used to love the fragrance of byakudan and cypress, but recently I have been using kumquats and jasmine. For something unusual, the scent of apples is also nice. I am glad to be alive when I have a favorite, even if it is a small one. I clean the room where the incense is burned and throw away things I have decided I don’t need. As I get older, I become more aware of the self-cleansing aspect of cleaning.

From the November 22/29, 2024 issue of FRIDAY