Aoi Fujino Declares Intense Return After Overcoming Battle with Cancer

“I’m not completely cured, but I’m going to make a comeback. It’s really a waste to just spend every day resting and being scared of an uncertain future, right?”

The gravure idol who announced she had cancer and has been battling it since the end of the year before last has declared her return.

Aoi Fujino (25) — from Ishikawa Prefecture. Armed with her I-cup “Kaga Hyakuman Stone Bust,” her debut image video, released shortly after her debut, recorded top sales that year. In 2021, she was awarded the Grand Prix in the ‘Gravure of the Year,’ which determines the gravure idol who contributed the most to shops.

 

I thought I could never return

“Last summer, my condition wasn’t improving at all, and I thought, ‘Maybe I won’t be able to return to work.’ My motivation for a comeback dropped a little. But now, I’m okay. There are many people waiting for me. I’m truly grateful that people from the industry who have supported me since my debut took the time to come and visit me.

Actually, before I found out about my illness, I launched my long-awaited fan club on November 1, 2022, but shortly after that, my health declined. I couldn’t do anything for the members who had just joined, and my battle with the illness began. I really felt sorry and frustrated.

I thought, ‘Everyone will probably leave the fan club.’ But even during my battle, my fans continued to support me. The fan club members gathered support messages for me and sent me a signed card. I was really happy about that. So, I absolutely didn’t want things to end like this. Wanting to make a comeback was the biggest reason for me.” 

The illness that attacked her was a “parapharyngeal space tumor.” It is extremely rare for a tumor to form in a location where important nerves and blood vessels are concentrated, deep within the face and at the center of the head, and even if one does form, 90% of them are benign. Since late November 2022, Fujino had been suffering from headaches and numbness and paralysis in her right cheek.

However, due to the rarity of the disease, it was difficult to make a diagnosis, and it was not until January 27, 2023, that a biopsy revealed it to be a malignant tumor called “rhabdomyosarcoma” within the parapharyngeal space tumor. In the three weeks since the biopsy, the tumor had grown at an astonishing rate. Part of the tumor had grown to the size of a ping-pong ball, protruding through the wound created by the biopsy into her throat, making breathing difficult. Given its location, it was impossible to perform surgery with the tumor at that size. With no time to spare, chemotherapy began on the 31st.