Article: 10 Japanese Celebrities Who Fought Against Cancer

Cancer is a deadly disease and takes the lives of thousands every year worldwide. It can spread in anyone's body, and some can fight against it while some cannot. Many Japanese celebrities have also been a victim of this *99disease. Fans lost some of their actors to this disease, while some were able to keep their promise of making a comeback by fighting a long war against CancerCancer. So, here is a list of some of your favorite Japanese celebrities who had CancerCancer of different types and in other body parts:

1. Mao Kobayashi

Mao Kobayashi was an actress and a Newscaster who prominently appeared in weather forecasting. She was born in Niigata in July 1982 and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. She fought three long years against CancerCancer, but it kept on spreading and reached her bones and lungs. The disease took her life in June 2014 when she was 34 years old.

 

2. Ken Watanabe

He is an actor and has a huge fan base for playing tragic hero characters among the English audience. He was diagnosed with myeloid leukemia in 1989 when it was in the initial stage, so he recovered. Cancer returned to his body in 1994, but he could fight back yet again because of the fan's wishes.

 

3. Nobuhiko Obayashi

He was a director, screenwriter, editor, and also filmmaker. He was born in Hiroshima in 1938 and has given the audience a lot of popular movies. He died at the age of 82 in 2020 and was diagnosed with Lung Cancer first in 2016. Fans still miss the type of movies he used to make.

 

4. Takajin Yashiki

Takajin Yashiki was a prominent figure in the music and the television industry. Born in September 1949, he battled against esophageal CancerCancer for two years but unfortunately lost his life in 2014 at 64. His death sent a wave of sadness among his fans.

 

5. Izumi Sakai

Izumi Sakai was a singer and songwriter. She was a member of a famous pop band named Zard. Izumi battled cervical CancerCancer for a long time and got hospitalized the exact many times. She passed away while undergoing the treatment of CancerCancer, but the reason was, she fell from the stairs of the hospital while taking an evening walk.

 

6. Runa Takamura

She was a J-pop artist of Japanese and German descent and was born in Hyogo, Japan, in 1952. She was a member of the group named Golden half. She was in Hawaii when she died of Cancer in March 2004 at the age of 51 as she came to know about it in the later stages.

 

7. Chieko Honda

She was an actress and voice actress and was born in Tokyo in 1963. She lost her life to multiple forms of CancerCancer while still undergoing her treatment at a prominent hospital. She took her last breath at the age of 49.

 

8. Akihiko Mori

Akihiko Mori was a music composer and member of Mint Co. Ltd., Japan's music industry. He lost this star in January 1998 as he had stomach cancer just a few days before his 32nd birthday.

 

9. Sayuri Yamauchi

Another voice actress on our list is Sayuri Yamauchi, affiliated with Aigumi. Born in Tokyo in 1956, she died in Tokyo in 2012, and the reason for her death was later stages cancer. She was 55 at that time.

 

10. Kiyoshiro Imawano

The last artist on the list is Kiyoshiro Imawano; he was a rock musician, lyricist, composer, musical producer, and actor. He died at the age of 58 in May 2009. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in July 2006 and was on and off treatment.