Hikari Mitsushima

Hikari Mitsushima is a Japanese performer known for her work as an actress, model, and musical artist. She first gained major public recognition for her early musical career before transitioning into prominent screen roles, earning wide critical acclaim for her performances in film and television.

Mitsushima was born in Kagoshima on November 30, 1985, and raised in Okinawa City within Okinawa Prefecture. She comes from a family involved in sports and entertainment; her younger brother Shinnosuke is an actor, her brother Kotaro is a professional basketball player, and her sister Minami works as a model. Her ancestral background includes an American grandfather of Italian descent.

After attending the Okinawa Actors School, Mitsushima launched her career in the entertainment industry in 1997. She initially performed as a teenage idol singer in the J-pop musical groups Folder and Folder 5. That same year, she made her feature film debut portraying the character Shiori Uchiura, also known as Little Girl, in the kaiju project Rebirth of Mothra II.

Her television acting career began in 2005 when she landed the role of Elly in the series Ultraman Max. She returned to film acting in 2006 by playing Sayu Yagami in the manga-based thriller Death Note. A major turning point in her acting career occurred in 2008 when she starred as Yōko Ozawa in Sion Sono's art film and comedy-drama Love Exposure, a performance that drew substantial critical praise and won several awards for her and the production team.

Following her breakthrough, Mitsushima secured leading roles across a variety of films and television series, including the 2010 film Sawako Decides, which was written and directed by Yuya Ishii. Throughout her acting career, she has periodically returned to music. She provided vocals for the fictional band SRM on Stephanie's 2009 single "Pride ~A Part of Me~" for the movie Pride, and performed as lead vocalist for the fictional group Doughnuts Hole on "Otona no Okite," the theme song for the television drama Quartet, in which she played Suzume Sebuki.

Mitsushima has also collaborated on high-profile music videos. In 2017, she performed as the featured vocalist on Mondo Grosso's track "In this World" and starred as the vocalist and dancer in the music video for "Labyrinth," a release that eventually gained over 42 million views on YouTube by December 2025.

In her personal life, Mitsushima married director Yuya Ishii in October 2010, though the couple later divorced in early 2016 due to differing lifestyle choices. She subsequently dated actor Kento Nagayama for a short period starting in May 2016. On March 30, 2026, she announced her marriage to model Keisuke Asano alongside the news of her first pregnancy.