The Art of a Graceful Farewell: Dr. Takasu’s Take on Life, Death, and Dignity

It’s been 11 years since his diagnosis in 2014 — he’s still energetically fighting cancer today

Katsuya Takasu’s View of Life and Death

“I want to decide when to die based on how I feel that day. If I think, ‘Today seems like a good day to die,’ then that day would be fine with me.”

Speaking without any sense of gloom, those words came from Dr. Katsuya Takasu (80), director of Takasu Clinic and well known from its TV commercials. In a full medical checkup he underwent in 2014, ureteral cancer was discovered, and afterward the cancer spread to multiple areas including the bladder. Even now, while fighting cancer that has spread throughout his body, he remains committed to being on the front lines—seeing patients and performing surgeries for VIPs once a week at Ginza Takasu Clinic in Tokyo.

Living side by side with death, he spoke openly about his view on life and death.

“I don’t plan to use it anytime soon, but I’ve been a member of the Swiss assisted-dying organization DIGNITAS for quite some time, and I renew my membership every year. If the time comes when I want to go through with it, being a member means I can immediately choose euthanasia, and that gives me peace of mind.”

“I’ve already told my partner Rieko Saibara (60) that I absolutely don’t want to be cared for. I told her, ‘Don’t you dare come to take care of me. If you do, I won’t forgive you!’ I want to stay cool. I want to keep my dignity.”

At the end of last year, he spent 160 million yen on a new device (for hyperthermia treatment), but the results have not been favorable. Then in July this year, he was forced to be hospitalized urgently due to blood in his urine.

“The latest treatment didn’t work, and at the moment, there’s nothing else to try. But I’m not worried. It’s always been that way. When I find a new treatment method, I first test it on my own body. If it works, that’s great; if not, at least it contributes to medical progress. That’s what I’ve always done, and that won’t change.”

Even though his body is steadily being eaten away by illness, his expression is bright. Far from appearing to be someone in a fight against disease, Dr. Takasu remains remarkably energetic.

“Sure, staying home in bed would definitely be easier. But I make sure to keep moving around. Yesterday I won a golf tournament, and this morning I played again and came in fourth. The day after tomorrow I’ll be at the Ginza Takasu Clinic, and the day after that, I’ll be performing surgery for a VIP patient.”

“Why? Because if people don’t see me around, they’ll immediately start saying, ‘Hey, I heard Dr. Takasu’s dead.’ So even if it’s a bit much, I go out to different golf courses to show, ‘Takasu’s still alive!’” (laughs)

The land fraudsters have arrived!

On some days he’s at the golf course, on others at his clinic, and on yet another, cheering for yokozuna Hōshōryū (26) at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Sumida Ward—his determination not to be defeated by illness is truly awe-inspiring. Dr. Katsuya Takasu, who continues to fight cancer, will publish his first book in about six years, Takasu no Yuigon (“Takasu’s Testament”), through Kodansha on October 8. The book features anecdotes from his wide network of acquaintances across different fields, along with numerous bold and unconventional stories.

“I’ve never said that being a doctor is my main job—I just say that I can also be a doctor. I’m a celebrity, a monk, a Freemason… When I was a kid, I wanted to be a manga artist like Osamu Tezuka. But in 1974, I opened Takasu Hospital, which handled insurance-covered treatments, and in 1976, I founded Takasu Clinic for private cosmetic procedures. The success of surgeries like my developed phimosis treatment and quick-style double-eyelid procedure made me famous as ‘Katsuya Takasu of aesthetic surgery.’”

Takasu Clinic quickly became immensely popular, expanding to 13 locations nationwide at its peak, and Takasu himself became a legendary name in the beauty medical industry. Yet his path wasn’t without crises—he faced betrayal from colleagues and other ordeals. He recalls one particularly shocking incident:

“When you succeed in cosmetic surgery, people assume you’re rich, and shady types start to gather around you. I’ve heard that con artists have something like a blacklist of potential targets—but apparently, I’m on the platinum list. It’s kind of funny.

In 2011, someone approached me saying, ‘There’s a struggling hospital for sale—would you like to buy it?’ The offer included the hospital, its affiliated nursing school, and the land and buildings, all together for a 4 billion yen deposit. It sounded like a good deal. The seller claimed they wanted someone who would continue running the hospital rather than shut it down—it sounded legitimate.”

He says he even checked with his lawyer and judicial scrivener and visited the site with manga artist Reiko Saibara, his longtime partner. But ultimately, the deal was called off after Saibara strongly objected.

“Not long after, a news story broke about a woman from a pharmaceutical founder’s family who had been defrauded of 3 billion yen in a fake land sale involving JT property. The timing and the amount were so similar that Saibara and I said, ‘That sounds just like our case.’ Then the police contacted me. When officers came to question me, asking, ‘How much were you swindled out of?’—that’s when I finally realized the 4 billion yen hospital deal was a scam. Until then, I had believed it completely.”

Both the scale of the money and the scale of the deception were extraordinary. Dr. Takasu’s life—marked by 10 billion yen debts, betrayals, and bold successes—may not be that of a great man, but certainly of an exceptional one.

[100 billion yen debt, betrayal, business failures—his life is full of dramatic turns. What are Dr. Takasu’s final words as he continues his battle with cancer? Takasu no Yuigon is now available for preorder at bookstores and online.]

From the October 17, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”