Beloved Actor Dies of Bladder Cancer: Ayumu Saito Was 60

Japanese actor Ayumu Saito, known for his many theater, TV and film roles, has died. He was 60.

The actor, producer, director, and playwright passed away last Wednesday after a battle with urothelial carcinoma, a form of bladder cancer.

His death was announced on the website of the Hokkaido Theatre Foundation, where he served as chairman.

“Saito Ayumu, chairman of the Hokkaido Theatre Foundation, who had been undergoing medical treatment for some time, passed away in the early hours of June 11th,” a translated statement reads. The funeral will not be public. “We regret to inform you that we will be declining attendance at the wake and funeral, condolence money, flowers, offerings, condolence telegrams, and other donations,” the statement continues, adding that a public tribute service will be held at a later date.

Saito mainly worked in his native Hokkaido as a director, scriptwriter, and actor, in many productions written by theatre greats like Shakespeare, Chekov and Brecht.

However, he appeared in plenty of internationally renowned movies, TV shows, and more. He starred in several films by Japanese greats, like Takashii Miike’s films Hara-Kiri (2011) and Ace Attorney (2012), or Takeshi Kitano’s critically acclaimed crime drama Beyond Outrage. He also voiced main character Wabisuke Jinnouchi in Mamoru Hosoda’s 2009 film Summer Wars, often listed as one of the best animated films of the decade.

Saito continued to work until his death, with a documentary on his battle with cancer being screened on Japanese channel TV Asahi just this past February.