Singer Yukino Ichikawa will appear on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi), which airs on June 3rd at 1 PM.
She says her whole family loved singing. She and her mother and brother would participate in local karaoke competitions, and they would look forward to winning prizes like fresh vegetables and home appliances. Someone in the industry saw them and scouted them, and she entered the world of enka (Japanese ballad) at the age of 17.
In 2024, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was told there was a suspected tumor, so she thought she would have surgery after her month-long stage run was over, but her doctor told her she needed to be hospitalized immediately, so she withdrew from the show, and that's when she first realized the seriousness of the situation.
It was singer Yuki Saori who persuaded Ms. Ichikawa, who disliked hospitals and was afraid of gynecological examinations, to make a hospital appointment for her. She said that Yuki Saori also called to encourage her when she was hospitalized, which was very reassuring. Her mother, who raised her single-handedly, was 79 years old at the time. Having lost her brother at a young age, Ms. Ichikawa cried, thinking she would cause her mother pain, but her mother cheered her up with a joke. Now, she receives a message from her mother.
