Solo Idol Karin Maruyama Loses Lifelong Battle With Cancer

| Idol | Posted by Kai Okudara on May.23.2015

Sponsored Links

In a year which has been marked by many major graduation and disbandment announcements, the saddest departure yet took place on May 22, 2015. Solo idol Karin Maruyama passed away at the age of 21 after battling cancer for most of her life.

Karin had caught the attention of the media because of her courageous fight with cancer as she was active as an idol. Here is a previous story written about the road to releasing her first single “Eternal Summer”.

Karin’s mother announced the news on May 22 11:57 (JST) via Twitter.

御報告アイドルとして皆様に愛されて、最後まで生きる希望を失わず、癌と闘って参りましたが、丸山夏鈴は本日１３時１０分に静かに息をひきとりました。夏鈴のひとりごと動画も昨日で最終回となります。本日まで丸山夏鈴を御支援していただき有難うございました。

— チェリかめ (@cherryyukarin) May 22, 2015

“The idol loved by everyone, who never gave up hope until the very end, Karin Maruyama, lost her fight with cancer as she quietly took her final breath at 1:10pm today. Yesterday’s monologue video was the last one. Thank you very much for supporting Karin until today.”

御報告
アイドルとして皆様に愛されて、最後まで生きる希望を失わず、癌と闘って参りましたが、丸山夏鈴は本日１３時１０分に静かに息をひきとりました。
夏鈴のひとりごと動画も昨日で最終回となります。
本日まで丸山夏鈴を御支援していただき有難うございました。

Despite having 7 surgeries to remove brain tumors which had plagued her since elementary school, Karin had kept moving forward with her dream of becoming an idol. She even applied for several idol auditions from her hospital bed while she was recovering from one of the operations. CHEEBOW had written “Eternal Summer” for Karin in the autumn of 2013 but due to her condition, it was not until February 28, 2015 that she was able to release it as her first single.

Contributor Wanted!!

In addition to holding release events in support of “Eternal Summer” in her hometown of Koriyama, Fukushima, Karin even traveled to Tokyo and had an event at Shibuya Tower Records on March 4, 2015. Due to her weakened condition, it was an acoustic performance with her being accompanied by guitarist Shun Kanzaki. It’s a lovely performance made more impressive since, as Karin explains in the video, her right lung was no longer functioning. The entire event space was packed with people who had come to see her that night! Despite visibly struggling physically and tiring easily, Karin’s personality was not affected as she cheerfully signed posters and magazines and posed with fans for pictures for more than 2 hours after the performance.

Contributor Wanted!!

Starting on April 5th, 2015 Karin had started posting short videos on YouTube daily to communicate with her fans. Even though Karin had mentioned that she had wanted to release a second single that she had written the lyrics for, watching her daily videos, the possibility of a miracle that would let such a dream come true seemed to be slipping away.

Within the short time that Karin Maruyama was in this world, she ended up touching a lot of people. Here are just a few reactions to Karin’s passing from other idols via Twitter.

Dempagumi.inc’s Eimi Naruse (Eitaso), who is also from Fukushima, called Karin an idol that Fukushima should be proud of.

丸山夏鈴ちゃん！誇り高き福島県郡山市のアイドルヽ(*´∀`*)ノ！☆

— えいたそ☆成瀬瑛美 (@eitaso) May 22, 2015

Idol singer-songwriter Mikichu reminded Karin that she wouldn’t forget that they had promised to do another performance together, whether it would be in the “next world” or the “next next world”.

丸山夏鈴ちゃん、また一緒にライブしよって約束してたんだ、復帰したらわたしの企画に呼ぼうと思ってたの。来世でも来来世でもいいからずっと待ってるからまた歌う夏鈴ちゃんにあいたいよ、闘病生活本当におつかれさまでした。ご冥福をお祈りいたします pic.twitter.com/rKSLF8Dxz5

— みきちゅ♡0531活動6周年@吉祥寺 (@mikichu_magic) May 22, 2015

Kaori Shikaki from Tsubasa Fly echoes the sentiments of Eitaso, adding that Karin would live on forever in people’s hearts and that she was praying for her happiness in the “next world”.

丸山夏鈴ちゃん、もっといっぱいお話したかった。最近放送されたテレビの特集も観てたし、すごく気にしてました。誇り高き福島のアイドル。永遠にみんなの心の中で生き続けるよ。今はゆっくり休んでください。ご冥福をお祈りいたします。 pic.twitter.com/TFZZ2LavI0

— 鹿木香里@つばさFly (@KAORI_TSUBAFULA) May 22, 2015

Kokoro Shinozaki from petit pas expressed her regrets for not being brave enough for going to talk with Karin when she had the chance.

ライブから帰ってきたら丸山夏鈴さんのとても悲しいニュースを目にしてしまったすごくキラキラ輝いている方で眩しくって、私はいつかいつか勇気が出たらお話ししたいって思っていたけれど、思っていただけじゃあ全く駄目だった。とてもとても悲しい

— 篠崎こころ (@kokoro777pp) May 22, 2015

Shoko Nakagawa, who apparently had only recently become connected with Karin, also had high praise for her and regretted that they had not had the chance to meet.

@karin_maruyama 夢への強い想いを紡ぐ綺麗な瞳と笑顔と言葉に惹かれて、ダイレクトメッセージで繋がることができたばかりでしたお会いしたかったですまっすぐに、生きた頑張りぬいた発信し続けた、夏鈴さんの歌と証がずっとずっとたくさんの人に届いてゆきますように。

— 中川翔子@エルフ時々プクリポ (@shoko55mmts) May 22, 2015

Thank you for everything Karin and “otsukare-sama” for fighting as hard as you did to stay with us as long as you did! You will be missed dearly but you will live on forever in the hearts of those that love you!