Yuri Nakamura, a fourth-generation Korean resident of Japan, has died at 44 after battling colon cancer.
Alpha Agency announced on September 15th that Nakamura died peacefully on September 1st due to colon cancer. Her funeral was attended by immediate family, fellow actors and agency staff.
Nakamura was first diagnosed with cancer 13 years ago but recovered and continued her career, according to her agency. The cancer returned in January 2025, and she underwent surgery. It was later confirmed that the cancer had spread to other parts of her body.
While recovering and preparing to return to work, Nakamura experienced a recurrence of intestinal obstruction last month. She was subsequently given a limited prognosis and died shortly afterward.
Born in Osaka in 1982, Nakamura was the daughter of a third-generation Korean father and a Korean mother from Seoul. She made her debut as a singer at 16 before pursuing acting.
Nakamura gained recognition in 2007 for her starring role in Soar Into the Sky!, a film depicting the lives of Koreans living in Japan.
She also maintained close ties with Korea throughout her career. In 2014, she appeared in Genome Hazard, a Korean-Japanese co-production directed by Kim Sung Soo. More recently, she starred alongside Han Hyo Joo in the Netflix series Romantic Anonymous, released last year.
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