Local Police Investigating Specific Cause
Miho Nakayama, the lead actress of the Japanese film "Love Letter," which caused a sensation in South Korea as well, was reported to have passed away on the 6th (local time). She was 54 years old.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported that Nakayama was found dead at her home in Shibuya, Tokyo, on the morning of the same day. According to the report, police who responded to a call from an entertainment agency official confirmed her death. Local police are currently investigating the exact cause of Nakayama's death.
Nakayama was an actress and singer who rose to stardom in 1995 by playing the female lead in director Shunji Iwai's film "Love Letter." The film is also well known in South Korea.
The film is a classic melodrama about Hiroko (played by Miho Nakayama), who lost her first love Itsuki in an accident, and the events that unfold when she receives a reply letter from another Itsuki in response to a letter she sent filled with longing. When it was released in Korea in 1999, it attracted 1.4 million viewers and has been re-released several times since.
The line Nakayama passionately utters in the snow-covered Hokkaido wilderness, "Ogenkidesuka, watashi wa genkidesu" (How are you? I am well), became a popular catchphrase in South Korea for a time and was even parodied.
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