Actress Sumi Kayō (real name: Takashima Setsuko) passed away on August 3rd at 4:43 a.m. due to old age. She was 94 years old. Her agency, Toho Entertainment, announced the news on August 6th.
A private funeral was held on the 6th with only family members present. There are no plans to hold a memorial service or other gathering.
Sumi is a former top star of the Takarazuka Revue. Her husband was the film star Tadao Takashima, who passed away in 2019, and her sons are actors Masahiro Takashima and Masanobu Takashima.
The comments from Masahiro and Masanobu are as follows:
◇Masahiro Takashima (Actor)
My mother, Setsuko Takashima, has passed away. I wasn't able to be there for her final moments, but for the past few years she had been repeatedly hospitalized and discharged due to aspiration pneumonia. When I went to visit her a few days ago, she was in distress, barely able to swallow, and then, when the phlegm would clear for some reason, she would fall asleep peacefully. Of course, I am sad, but now I am filled with relief knowing that she is at peace and resting peacefully. While she was hospitalized, she would sometimes speak with such a loud voice that it surprised the hospital staff, and it became a topic of conversation that she must have trained her voice to a different degree. To the very end, my mother was the great actress, Sumi Kayō.
◇Masahiro Takashima (Actor)
My mother, Sumika Kayō (real name Setsuko Takashima), passed away peacefully at 4:43 a.m. on August 3rd. Surrounded by her children and grandchildren, and listening to the voice of Julio, whom she and my father both loved, my mother passed away peacefully in her sleep, maintaining her beautiful and dignified expression until the very end. She was a bright and kind mother who never lost her sense of humor. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported her over the years.
*The "Taka" in Takashima is written with the ladder-shaped character.
