Sayaka Kanda’s sudden death prevented her from performing with her mother, Seiko Matsuda, again

Actress Sayaka Kanda (age 35) fell from a hotel in Sapporo on December 18 and was pronounced dead at the hospital where she was taken. The police are investigating the possibility that she may have attempted suicide.

Ms. Kanda was scheduled to appear at the noon performance of the Sapporo production of the musical “My Fair Lady,” in which she plays the lead role. As Kanda could not be reached until around 11:00 a.m., Manato Asanatsu, a former top star of the Takarazuka space troupe who plays the double role of Eliza, hurriedly substituted for her. On Instagram, along with a photo of the sky looking somber in November, she wrote

I finally got to listen to the song I couldn’t listen to because I was so disappointed and regretful and sad. It was all I could do, but I couldn’t even sing it until today. I feel a new tightening of my heart, but I want to face it with sincerity this time, without relying too much on time and drugs.

I want to face it with sincerity this time. She seemed to be deep in thought. The comment section was filled with condolences from fans, but now it is restricted and the comment section is closed.

Just before her fall, Kanda-san called her father, actor Masateru Kanda, to wish him a happy pre-birthday (December 21). He was in Osaka on the 18th for “Asa da!　(Saturday, 8:00 a.m., TV Asahi) recorded in Osaka on the 18th, and he had a phone conversation with Mr. Kanda around 10:00 a.m. after the show.

This call was from Sapporo, which means that it was just before his fall. It must have been a painful last conversation for Masateru Kanda.

Meanwhile, his relationship with his mother, Seiko Matsuda, continued to be complicated. After Sayaka’s divorce from actor Mitsuru Murata in ’19, they reportedly lost contact.

Until ’18, they frequently performed duets at Seiko’s concerts to the delight of her fans. I’m not sure what to make of that.

The news of Seiko’s death came before the last day of her dinner show in Tokyo at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa on the 19th, and it was cancelled. It was a great pity that the reunion of father and son could not be realized anymore. The whole country was shocked by the untimely death of the young and promising actress.