Actor Soga Ogura appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on December 17th. He talked about how he changed his stage name from "Ichiro" to his haiku name "Soa" after overcoming six cancers.
Three years ago, Ogura was diagnosed with six cancers and was diagnosed with stage 4. When he found out he had cancer, he recalled, "I broke my ankle and went to the orthopedic clinic, and then I noticed my back was hurting. I put on a patch but it didn't get better, so I had it checked just to be sure, and they found cancer in both of my lungs. They told me I had one or two years left, and I thought, 'Oh, I see.'"
She explained her situation to her four children and went to a specialist hospital. There, six cancers were found in her brain, lymph nodes, breastbone, and ribs. She was shocked and thought, "This is really no good," but the doctor at the cancer center reassured her, saying, "There is medicine, so you'll be fine."
As a result of the treatment, "the cancer in my bones and brain disappeared with radiation, and the cancer in both lungs disappeared with anti-cancer drugs. It's like a lie," and there were no side effects. Doctors have warned of the possibility of recurrence, so just to be safe, he is undergoing anti-cancer drug treatment every month.
During his battle with illness, Ogura thought about haiku while receiving intravenous drips. He says that without haiku he would have been lost. "I guess I was lucky, the cancer disappeared. I felt reborn, so I decided to use the name of a haiku as my stage name," he said, explaining the reason for his name change.
