Mitsuru Hirata is a Japanese actor whose primary career has been in live-action film and television, with his voice acting work being a very minor part of his overall filmography. He was born on November 2, 1953, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Hirata attended Waseda University but left before graduating to pursue a career in theater. He gained significant recognition for his role in the 1982 film Fall Guy, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, for which he received the Best Actor award at the 7th Hochi Film Award and the Best Supporting Actor award at the 4th Yokohama Film Festival. His extensive live-action career includes roles in major films such as Akira Kurosawa's final film, Madadayo, in 1993, and the 2020 disaster drama Fukushima 50.

In contrast to his prolific live-action work, Hirata's involvement in anime voice acting appears to be extremely limited. His only credited voice role in animation is as the character Yasuo in the 1987 animated film Twilight of the Cockroaches. This unique film combines live-action footage with animation to depict the lives of a colony of cockroaches living in the apartment of a young woman. In this production, Hirata provided the voice for the character Yasuo, one of the human tenants. This single credit represents his sole known contribution to the field of anime voice acting. Consequently, there are no notable recurring collaborations with specific anime directors or frequent co-stars within the voice acting industry to report. His career is overwhelmingly defined by his work as a live-action film and television actor.