mizutani was raised from the age of eight in tokyo, japan. he started acting at the age of twelve, when a neighbor introduced him to a children's acting school in the area. when he discovered that going to an acting school wasn't the same as meeting the people he admired on tv, he wanted to quit, but by that time he had been selected to play a small role in a 'vampire', a television movie being filmed by fuji television. this role launched his reluctant career, and though he purposely took a number of years off work to try studying, his failing to get into university urged him to continue in the acting business.