Hiro Mizushima

Hiro Mizushima
Native name 水嶋 ヒロ
Born Tomohiro Saitō (齋藤 智裕)
13 April 1984
Tokyo, Japan
Other names Satoshi Saitō (齋藤 智)[1]
Occupation Writer, actor
Years active 2005–Present
Agent A stAtion (present),
Ken-On
Notable work Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (2007), Zettai Kareshi (2008), Tokyo Dogs (2009)
Spouse(s) Ayaka Iida (2009–present)
Website
hiros-field.jp

Hiro Mizushima (水嶋 ヒロ Mizushima Hiro), (born Tomohiro Saitō (齋藤 智裕 Saitō Tomohiro)[1] on 13 April 1984) is a Japanese actor, producer, writer, and creative director. He appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas, including Mei-chan no Shitsuji, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e and Zettai Kareshi. Also, he was well known as the main protagonist in the tokusatsu series Kamen Rider Kabuto. Mizushima serves as the co-producer, co-screenwriter and leading actor for the latest film Black Butler which is the live-action film adaptation of the popular manga. His birth name "Tomohiro Saito" is being credited as co-producer in the film. His first novel, Kagerou was chosen as the winner of the 5th Poplar Publishing Grand Prize for Fiction and was published in 2010.

Career

Mizushima first appeared on Japanese television in 2005, where he played Hiro Misawa, a minor character in the second season of Gokusen. In the same year, he found guest starring roles in Japanese dramas such as Ame to Yume no Ato ni and a small role in the TBS drama Brother Beat.

In 2006, Mizushima became a main character in the series Kamen Rider Kabuto and acted in the lead role in the film Kamen Rider Kabuto: God Speed Love.

Beginning in 2007, Mizushima began taking on bigger roles in more high-profile productions, such as the supporting role of the girl-crazy Minami Nanba in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e and the main role of Soshi Asamoto in Zettai Kareshi in 2008. Both dramas were among the most popular dramas of Japan at the time of their airing. Mizushima also provided the voice of Bruce Banner in the Japanese dub of The Incredible Hulk. Mizushima took the role of Jiro Mori in the 2008 TV drama Room of King.

In 2009, he starred in the drama Mei-chan no Shitsuji as Rihito Shibata, a perfect butler. In the same year, he landed the role of Toranosuke Hayashida in the drama Mr. Brain in which he played a detective's assistant. Later that year, Mizushima starred alongside Shun Oguri in the drama Tokyo Dogs, playing a detective who is a hot-blooded fighting expert due to his earlier days as a delinquent. He also starred in the feature film Drop in the same year in the role of Tatsuya Iguchi, a middle school student in a delinquent gang.

In 2010, Mizushima landed the role of Ryusuke Minami in the film Beck, in which once again acted alongside Mei-chan no Shitsuji co-star Takeru Satoh.

In September 2010, Mizushima left his talent agency, Ken-On, to create an own independent agency called A stAtion.[2] Several weeks later, on 31 October 2010, it was announced that Mizushima had won the 5th Poplar Publishing Grand Prize for Fiction and a cash prize of 20 million yen for his debut work, titled Kagerou, written under the pen name Satoshi Saitō (齋藤 智 Saitō Satoshi) [3] but he decided to decline the 20 million yen prize money.[4] The book was published in December 2010. In the two and a half years of Oricon's book charts, Kagerou recorded the third highest first-week sales, behind J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (1.191 million) and Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 Book 3 (398,000).

In 2014, Mizushima starred as Sebastian Michaelis in the film Black Butler, in which he also serves as the co-screenwriter and co-producer. The film will be shown at Toronto Japanese Film Festival and Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival 2014.[5]

Personal life

Mizushima is bilingual, being fluent in English and Japanese. He spent his whole elementary school years (1990 to 1996) in Zurich, Switzerland. He was bullied and discriminated as a child at International School in Switzerland. When he came back to Japan, he attended the junior high school and the high school of Toin Gakuen, and belonged to the soccer club of the school. When he was in the twelfth grade, he worked as a regular midfielder in The 81st All Japan High School Soccer Tournament.

Mizushima graduated from Keio University and has a degree in Environmental Information.

He married Japanese pop singer Ayaka on February 22, 2009. In December 2014, the couple announced through their agency that they are expecting their first child.

Filmography

Dramas

Year Title Role Network Notes
2005 Gokusen (season 2) Hiro Misawa NTV
Ame to Yume no Ato ni TV Asahi Episode 7
Brother Beat Yoshi TBS
Pink no Idenshi Ikushima Mizuki TV Tokyo Episode 3
2006 Kamen Rider Kabuto Soji Tendo/Soji Kusakabe TV Asahi
2007 Kanojo to no Tadashii Asobikata Kyoji Fujiki TV Asahi
Watashitachi no Kyokasho Yahata Daisuke Fuji TV
Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Nanba Minami Fuji TV
Gutannubo (Gout Temps Nouveau) Drama Special Fuji TV
Churaumi Kara no Nengajo Kota Miyashita Fuji TV
2008 Zettai Kareshi Soshi Asamoto Fuji TV
Room of King Moriji/Jiro Mori Fuji TV
Hanazakari no Kimitachi e SP Minami Nanba Fuji TV
2009 Mei-chan no Shitsuji Rihito Shibata Fuji TV
Zettai Kareshi SP Soshi Asamoto Fuji TV
Mr. Brain Toranosuke Hayashida TBS
Tokyo Dogs Maruo Kudo Fuji TV

Films

Year Title Role
2006 Hatsukare Ibushi
Lovely Complex Ryoji Suzuki
Kamen Rider Kabuto: God Speed Love Soji Tendo
2007 Kanojo to no Tadashii Asobikata Takeshi Fujiki
100 Scene no Koi
GS Wonderland Shun Masamiya
2009 Drop Tatsuya Iguchi
2010 Beck Ryūsuke Minami
2014 Black Butler Sebastian Michaelis

Books

Photo books

Music videos

References

External links