Singer Yukino Ichikawa (50) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on June 3rd, and reflected on the time when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in June 2024.
"I was in my 40s and about to turn 50, and I wondered if these kinds of physical symptoms were normal, so I asked my singer friends and senior colleagues about it," Ichikawa recalled. She had been experiencing symptoms such as lower back pain, but said, "I thought, 'Is this menopause? Is this a symptom I have to accept at my age?' and I ended up overlooking it."
It was singer Yuki Saori who was concerned about Ichikawa's health. "I want you to get checked out at least once," she said, and made an appointment for her at the hospital. "After the checkup, they wanted to do an MRI, and then they told me to come back to the hospital soon after. That's when they suspected an ovarian tumor. They told me to stop all my current work, be hospitalized, and have surgery," Ichikawa revealed.
She spoke with Yuki, whom she considers her "lifesaver," on the phone when she was hospitalized. "On the day of my hospitalization, I called Yuki-senpai from outside the hospital and said, 'I'm going to fight now, I'm off.' (Yuki) gave me a wonderful voice saying, 'Go ahead. I'll be waiting.' She gently, and sometimes strictly, encouraged me," she said, expressing her gratitude.
