A former top star of the Takarazuka Revue’s Moon Troupe, a leading musical actress for decades, and a familiar face on Japanese television and film, Mao Daichi has built one of the longest and most distinctive careers in Japanese entertainment.
She can look equally at home in a glamorous evening gown, a sharply tailored suit reminiscent of her Takarazuka days, or a bold comedy role on television.
Offstage, however, there is another side to her: she draws faces on fried eggs for breakfast, lives surrounded by cats, enjoys playful banter with her husband in Kansai dialect, and still approaches beauty with curiosity rather than rigid rules.
Born on February 5, 1956 in Hyogo Prefecture, Daichi joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1973 as a member of its 59th class.
After her first stage appearance, she was assigned to the Moon Troupe.
Even as a younger performer, she stood out for her modern, charming style and began expanding beyond the stage into records and commercials.
In 1982, she became the Moon Troupe’s top star, forming a celebrated top-star partnership with Hitomi Kuroki.
Productions from this period included Passion of Barcelona, Moonlight Romance, Flying Arabian Night, Guys and Dolls and A Tale of Two Cities.
Daichi left the Takarazuka Revue in 1985 and went on to establish herself as a major stage actress.
One of her defining roles after Takarazuka was Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, which she performed more than 600 times.
Her long-running contribution to the role was later recognized with a special Kikuta Kazuo Theater Award.
On television, she became widely known to a new generation through the Saiko no Obahan Nakajima Haruko series.
In 2025, she made her first film appearance as the lead in Godmother: The Life of Ayako Koshino, playing the same woman from age 15 to 92.
For the teenage scenes, Daichi said she drew on memories of herself as a preparatory student at the Takarazuka Music School.
In 2026, at age 70, she remains active across stage, film, television and music.
Her beauty and wellness habits are unusually specific.
Avoid rubbing the skin.
Choose serums according to how the skin feels that day.
Use an eyelash serum.
Mix luxury makeup with affordable products.
Add flaxseed oil to breakfast.
Use a magnesium supplement when needed.
Exercise at home, stretch in the bath, and even work the facial muscles during everyday routines.
Daichi has summed up her philosophy simply: health comes first, and beauty comes after that.
This article looks at Mao Daichi’s beauty and wellness routine from her Takarazuka years to life at 70, including skincare, favorite cosmetics, flaxseed oil, supplements, diet, exercise, bathing, sleep, marriage and her life with cats.
Mao Daichi Profile
Date of birth: February 5, 1956
Birthplace: Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Height: 166 cm
Occupation: Actress
Takarazuka Revue: 59th class
First stage appearance: 1973
Moon Troupe top star: 1982
Takarazuka retirement: 1985
Selected works: My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday, Gone with the Wind, Anything Goes, Saiko no Obahan Nakajima Haruko, Shoujiki Fudousan, Godmother: The Life of Ayako Koshino
Marriage: Married actor Ken Matsudaira in 1990 and divorced in 2003. Married interior designer Yasumichi Morita in 2007.
2026: Age 70 and active across stage, film, television and music
Mao Daichi’s Takarazuka Years: Moon Troupe Top Star, Hitomi Kuroki and a New Kind of Otokoyaku
Daichi’s Takarazuka years are essential to understanding the rest of her career.
She made her first stage appearance in 1973 and was later assigned to the Moon Troupe.
From an early stage, she was noticed for a style that felt modern, urban and slightly different from the traditional image of an otokoyaku male-role performer.
She also expanded beyond the theater world through records and commercials, becoming one of the stars who helped broaden Takarazuka’s public reach.
💡 She was active in records and commercials while still a younger Takarazuka performer
Daichi did more than stage work during her early years. She also appeared in outside media, helping introduce her modern star image to a wider audience.
In 1982, she became the Moon Troupe’s top star.
That same year, Hitomi Kuroki became her top-star partner.
The Daichi–Kuroki pairing remains one of the most remembered top-star combinations in Takarazuka history.
Together they appeared in a series of popular productions including Passion of Barcelona, Moonlight Romance, Flying Arabian Night, The Revue II and Guys and Dolls.
Daichi later reflected that she wanted to expand the possibilities of the otokoyaku role.
She valued Takarazuka tradition, but she also wanted to bring her own individuality and originality to the stage.
That instinct—to respect the form while making it her own—continued throughout her later career.
💡 She wanted to broaden the image of the otokoyaku
Daichi was interested in creating a male-role style that reflected her own personality. That flexibility later became one of the defining qualities of her post-Takarazuka career.
In 1984, she starred at the Takarazuka Bow Hall in I am What I am.
The revue-style performance showed both feminine and masculine sides of Daichi’s stage presence.
She appeared in glamorous dresses, transformed into otokoyaku styling, and performed a wide variety of musical numbers.
The title itself—“I am what I am”—feels remarkably consistent with the way she has approached individuality throughout her career.
💡 I am What I am
The 1984 revue showed Daichi in both glamorous feminine styling and classic otokoyaku mode. Even the title feels closely connected to her long-running belief in expressing herself rather than fitting neatly into one image.
Daichi retired from Takarazuka in 1985 at the height of her popularity.
Her final productions were A Tale of Two Cities and Heat Wave.
Hitomi Kuroki retired at the same time.
At Daichi’s farewell show, audiences saw white tailcoats, black tuxedos and duets with Kuroki—an elegant summary of her years as an otokoyaku star.
After her farewell speech, she sang “LET ME TRY AGAIN,” then was carried by Moon Troupe members in a celebratory procession along Takarazuka’s famous Flower Road.
💡 Her Takarazuka farewell ended with a celebratory procession
After performing “LET ME TRY AGAIN,” Daichi was carried by fellow troupe members along Flower Road—a fittingly theatrical farewell for one of the era’s most glamorous top stars.
After leaving Takarazuka, she built an entirely new career as a female leading actress.
One of the clearest examples is My Fair Lady.
Daichi performed Eliza Doolittle more than 600 times.
Her long association with the role was recognized with a special Kikuta Kazuo Theater Award.
💡 More than 600 performances as Eliza
After leaving Takarazuka, Daichi became strongly associated with My Fair Lady. Playing Eliza more than 600 times helped establish her as one of Japan’s leading musical actresses.
She went on to star in productions including Roman Holiday, Gone with the Wind, Anything Goes and The Sound of Music.
Then in 2025, she took on her first film lead in Godmother: The Life of Ayako Koshino.
The role required her to portray the same woman from age 15 to 92.
When approaching the teenage scenes, Daichi said she remembered her own days as a preparatory student at the Takarazuka Music School.
💡 At 69, she played a character from age 15 to 92
For the teenage scenes in her first film lead, Daichi drew on memories of her own youth at the Takarazuka Music School rather than simply trying to “look young.”
Mao Daichi’s Skincare and Favorite Cosmetics: More Than 26 Years of Avoiding Friction
Today, Daichi is known for having very specific beauty habits.
But she has said that skincare was not always a major focus for her.
The turning point came when she was approaching 40.
That was when she began paying more attention to proper makeup removal and the way she physically touched her skin.
From that period grew one of her longest-running beauty rules: avoid rubbing the skin as much as possible.
By 2024, she said she had been following this approach for roughly 26 to 27 years.
Even when drying her face, she prefers to press gently with a towel rather than rub.
She applies the same gentle mindset to skincare.
💡 Skincare became a priority around age 40
Daichi did not begin with an elaborate beauty routine in her youth. Her awareness changed as she approached 40, especially around makeup removal and gentle handling of the skin.
She also does not automatically use the same serum every day.
Instead, she looks at how her skin feels and chooses what seems appropriate for that day.
In her own words, she “asks the skin.”
Rather than treating skincare as a fixed checklist, she adjusts according to condition.
She also gives each product time to settle before applying the next step.
The routine is deliberate, but not rigid.
If she forgets her eyelash serum, she may simply think, “That’s fine,” and move on.
That balance—care without perfectionism—is a recurring theme in her approach to beauty.
💡 She uses an eyelash serum—but does not obsess over missing a day
Daichi is consistent, but not rigid. Her routine leaves room for everyday life, which may be one reason she has maintained so many habits for decades.
She has also been unusually open about the makeup products she likes.
Her choices cross price categories.
She has used accessible Japanese brands for eyeliner and eyebrow products, while also keeping luxury favorites in her makeup bag.
One long-standing favorite is a Helena Rubinstein mascara, which she has described as a product she has repurchased so many times she has lost count.
For blush, she has used Chanel.
The pattern is clear: price alone does not decide the product.
She chooses what feels comfortable, practical and suited to her.
💡 Luxury and affordable makeup live side by side
Daichi mixes prestige brands with everyday Japanese makeup. What matters most is how well the item works for her and how much she enjoys using it.
Beauty devices are also part of her routine.
In 2024, she introduced a warming gua sha-style tool and devices used on the head and face.
She sometimes uses these before a stage performance as part of preparing herself to go on.
Her overall beauty routine combines everyday foundations—sleep, food and movement—with serums, eyelash care, masks and beauty tools when she feels they fit.
That is why her phrase “health comes first, and beauty comes after that” captures the philosophy so well.
Diet, Flaxseed Oil and Supplements: 25 Years of Food Habits and Her Famous Fried-Egg Art
Daichi’s eating habits are just as detailed as her skincare routine.
By 2024, she said she had been consciously shaping her everyday diet for around 25 years.
At home, she chooses ingredients according to the way she likes to eat and cook.
She has described not keeping regular cow’s milk, butter, common salad oil or white sugar as everyday household staples.
Her food choices have gradually evolved over time rather than changing all at once.
For a period, she also limited beef.
Later, after a conversation with an older acquaintance, she began including lean beef again, often with simple seasoning such as salt and herbs.
When eating out, she enjoys a much wider variety of foods.
At home she has a clear foundation; outside the home she leaves space for flexibility and pleasure.
💡 Her food habits have evolved over about 25 years
Rather than following one short-term trend, Daichi has gradually built an eating style based on ingredients and routines she feels comfortable continuing.
Her mornings begin simply.
She gargles, drinks water, and on fine days may stretch lightly outside while taking in the morning light.
Breakfast often includes a smoothie made with seasonal vegetables and fruit, along with a fried egg.
Depending on the day, she may add brown-rice bread, rice-flour bread or black coffee.
The fried egg, however, has become something of an art form.
Daichi decorates the egg with ketchup and other ingredients to create expressive faces—her now-famous “fried-egg art.”
The idea began when the shape of an egg cooked in a square pan reminded her of cat ears.
She added a face, and the playful breakfast habit eventually became a popular recurring theme on social media.
💡 Breakfast became art
What began as a playful cat-like shape in a frying pan turned into one of Daichi’s most recognizable everyday rituals. Her husband even helped by finding a ketchup dispenser that made the designs easier to draw.
Another long-running breakfast habit is flaxseed oil.
Daichi has said she has been using it for nearly 20 years.
By 2024, she was adding roughly one to two tablespoons to her breakfast fried egg.
Flaxseed oil contains alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid.
Fish oil is different and is commonly associated with EPA and DHA, but both belong to the broader omega-3 family.
💡 Flaxseed oil has been part of breakfast for nearly 20 years
Daichi’s use of flaxseed oil is not a recent beauty trend. It has been part of her morning food routine for close to two decades.
She has also spoken about taking magnesium as a supplement.
Her approach is similar to the way she handles skincare: start with the basics, observe what she needs, and choose accordingly.
Food is also part of the rhythm she shares with her husband, interior designer Yasumichi Morita.
Daichi has described him as an excellent cook who sometimes prepares food in advance.
When Daichi makes curry, on the other hand, she may start from whole spices and spend as long as two days preparing it.
💡 Her curry can take two days
Morita often cooks, but when Daichi takes charge of curry, she may build it from spices over two days. Her everyday food habits clearly include pleasure and creativity as well as routine.
Exercise, Bathing and Sleep: Home Machines, Bath Stretches and Facial Exercises
Daichi keeps her body active through a combination of everyday movement, home exercise equipment and small routines built into daily life.
She has said that she values having a healthy body that lets her continue wearing the clothes she enjoys.
At home, she has used equipment such as a Power Plate and a walking machine.
In the bath, she stretches.
She also performs exercises that move the facial muscles.
Even gargling can become an opportunity to move the face.
💡 Facial exercise while gargling
Instead of separating every beauty habit into a special ritual, Daichi often builds movement into things she is already doing. It is a very practical form of “while-you-do-it” self-care.
Beauty devices also fit into this preparation.
She has introduced warming facial tools and devices for the head and face.
Before a stage performance, using them can become part of the transition into work mode.
Bathing is another important part of her routine.
She washes her body gently with her hands and spends time soaking in the bath.
While soaking, she may stretch or move the shoulders.
She has also described finishing the bath by running cool water from the feet upward.
For Daichi, the bath is not just a place to wash—it is also a space for movement and reset.
Sleep is another basic she values.
In 2024, she said she usually sleeps around seven hours.
During demanding drama shoots, that may drop to around five or six hours.
Her sleeping environment is surprisingly specific.
According to Morita, Daichi prefers a completely dark bedroom and can be distracted even by a small blue indicator light.
Once, when there was no tape available, she reportedly used a bandage to cover the light.
💡 She once covered a tiny light with a bandage
The glamorous lights of the stage are one thing; sleep is another. Daichi prefers darkness so strongly that she has even covered a small device light with a bandage.
During stage runs, she may also reduce or avoid alcohol.
Outside those periods, she enjoys drinking with food.
The pattern is consistent: enjoy what she likes, then shift habits when work requires a different level of focus.
Marriage to Yasumichi Morita, Her Cats and Mao Daichi’s Playful Side
Daichi married actor Ken Matsudaira in 1990, and the couple divorced in 2003.
In 2007, she married interior designer Yasumichi Morita.
By 2026, they had been married for 19 years.
The two maintain their own professional worlds while respecting one another’s work.
Morita has also encouraged Daichi to try projects that might reveal a different side of her personality.
At home, however, their relationship can be wonderfully ordinary.
Both are from the Kansai region, so they often speak in Kansai dialect.
Morita has joked that their conversations can feel like a comedy duo competing over who gets the punchline.
💡 At home, they are like a comedy duo
The elegant actress and acclaimed interior designer may look glamorous in public, but at home they trade jokes in Kansai dialect and sometimes compete for the better punchline.
Their relationship also shows up in the kitchen.
Morita is a skilled cook and sometimes prepares food in advance.
Daichi’s own two-day curry is the other side of that story.
And then there are the cats.
Daichi has long been known as a devoted cat lover.
In 2026, she spoke about living with four cats.
Morita joked that the household priority order was essentially “cat, cat, cat, cat, then me.”
One of the youngest cats has an especially charming Takarazuka connection.
The cat was born at the home of Hitomi Kuroki, Daichi’s former Moon Troupe top-star partner.
💡 One of her cats was born at Hitomi Kuroki’s home
The partnership that began in the Moon Troupe in 1982 still has a personal connection decades later. For Takarazuka fans, it is an unexpectedly sweet continuation of a famous pairing.
Family food traditions also remain meaningful to Daichi.
One of them is a family-style chirashi sushi dish called “omaze.”
During Daichi’s Takarazuka years, her mother would prepare it for important occasions such as newcomer performances and major stage milestones.
Behind the stage costumes, beauty routines and long career is a life filled with family recipes, breakfast jokes, cats and everyday laughter.
That playful quality is a big part of what makes Daichi’s public image feel so distinctive.
Mao Daichi at 70: “Age Is Just a Symbol” and Beauty Built on Health
In 2026, Mao Daichi turned 70.
More than 50 years have passed since her first Takarazuka stage appearance in 1973.
A glamorous otokoyaku top star.
A leading musical actress.
A sharp-tongued television heroine.
A film lead playing one woman from age 15 to 92.
Each stage of her career has brought a different image.
Daichi does not appear interested in limiting fashion or beauty according to what a certain age is “supposed” to look like.
In 2024, she described age as “just a symbol.”
Rather than deciding that a certain hairstyle, makeup look or fashion choice belongs to a particular age group, she places more value on curiosity and personal taste.
If something interests her, she wants to enjoy it.
That outlook fits her career as much as it fits her beauty philosophy.
💡 “Age is just a symbol”
Daichi’s approach is to let curiosity and personal taste guide beauty and fashion rather than using age as a strict rulebook.
She has also spoken about elegance as something that emerges naturally rather than something a person simply puts on.
Clothes and makeup matter, but so do language, manners, relationships and the way a person lives day to day.
That broader view is consistent with the way Daichi connects beauty to health and lifestyle.
She also values positive language.
When something goes wrong, the next step is to get up again.
Daichi has said she believes words carry power and tries to use positive language whenever possible.
More than five decades into her career, she continues to focus on the work in front of her rather than planning every stage of the future in detail.
Beauty follows a similar pattern.
Treat the skin gently.
Choose skincare according to how the skin feels.
Use masks and beauty tools when they fit.
Enjoy food.
Keep flaxseed oil as a long-term habit.
Move the body.
Sleep.
Play with the cats.
Laugh with her husband.
And keep trying new roles.
Each habit is small on its own, but Daichi has built many of them over years and even decades.
Her statement that “health comes first, and beauty comes after that” may be the clearest summary of her routine.
Take care of the life that allows the body to keep moving.
Then enjoy clothes, makeup, work and creativity on top of that foundation.
Looking at Mao Daichi’s beauty and wellness habits, what stands out most is not an attempt to recreate youth.
It is a way of living that allows her to enjoy who she is now while continuing to express herself with energy, style and curiosity.
Age may be “just a symbol,” but the habits behind her career have been built steadily for decades.
