POPULAR Japanese star actress Yuko Takeuchi, 40, was found dead at her residence in Tokyo, the result of an apparent suicide, Japanese media reported yesterday.

The actress was found hanging by the neck at her home in the capital city and was then rushed to a hospital, where she was confirmed dead, according to the reports.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department has launched an investigation and suspects that Takeuchi committed suicide.

Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1980, Takeuchi made her television debut for Fuji TV with “Cyborg” in 1996, and rose to fame for her role as a nurse in the TBS drama “Shiroi Kage” in 2001.

Her film debut came in 1998 with the thriller “Ring.” She had her first lead role in the film “Innocent World” the same year.

She has garnered a number of television and film awards in Japan, including the Japan Movie Critics Award for Best Actress and the Television Drama Academy Award for Best Actress.

Takeuchi enjoyed great popularity not only in Japan but also in China and South Korea with the hit dramas “Lunch No Joou” (2002) and “Pride” (2004), as well as the movie “Going to Meet Now” (2005).

She also starred in “Miss Sherlock” (2018), a HBO Asia and Hulu Japan adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes stories.

More recently, Takeuchi had been on a break from acting due to her pregnancy but had appeared at an event promoting a brand of instant noodles earlier this month. She said then in an Instagram post: “How’s everyone doing during summer vacation? I cut bangs for the new school year.”

The actress is a mother of two, including an infant boy. She married Kabuki star Shido Nakamura in 2005 and gave birth to their eldest son in the same year, but divorced in 2008. In 2019, she married actor Taiki Nakabayashi, and gave birth to her second baby boy in late January this year.

There has been a string of suicides in the Japanese entertainement industry in recent months. Actor Haruma Miura was found dead in his home in July, aged 30, while professional wrestler and reality series Terrace House star Hana Kimura died in May at 22. Actress Sei Ashina, 36, and actor Takashi Fujiki, 80, were both found dead this month in suspected suicides.

(SD-Agencies)