Hikari

Actor, Producer, Writer, Director

Birthplace: Osaka, Japan

Hikari (birthname: Miyazaki Mitsuyo) made four short films, including Tsuyako (2011), A Better Tomorrow (premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013), Can & Sulochan (2014) and Where We Begin (2015), launching at the Tribeca Film Festival, before making her feature debut as director/writer/producer of the acclaimed Japanese drama, 37 Seconds (2019), co-starring Mei Kayama, Misuzu Kanno, Shunsuke Daito and Makiko Watanabe, and winning two prizes (including Audience Award in the Panorama section) at the Berlin Film Festival, and released by Netflix.

Hikari was director/co-writer (with Stephen Blahut)/producer (with Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, and Shin Yamaguchi) of the comedy-drama, Rental Family (2025), starring Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto, and released by Searchlight Pictures after launching to strong reviews at the Toronto Film Festival.

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Personal Life
Movies
Facts

Personal life

Hikari was born as Miyazaki Mitsuyo and raised in Osaka, Japan, by her parents. Hikari attended lower-grade schools in Osaka and then moved to the United States at age 17 as an exchange student. and then graduated with a degree in Theatre Arts, Dance, and Fine Arts from Southern Utah University in 1999. Hikari moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in films and commercials as an actor and background dancer in music videos. At the age of 30, she attended the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California and graduated with an MFA degree in 2011. Hikari’s height is 5’ 3”.

Known For

Rental Family

Director (2025)

Hikari Movies

Director

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2025 |
Rental Family
Rental Family
2025
Comedy, Drama
An American actor in Tokyo struggling to find purpose lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese "rental family" agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. He rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the beauty of human connection.

Facts About Hikari

TV Glory: Hikari made a reputation for herself as a strong director of episodic premium television for two acclaimed series, Max’s Tokyo Vice (2022) and Netflix’s limited series, Beef (2023), on which she was also an executive producer.

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