Yuri Nakamura, star of Netflix's Romantics Anonymous, dies at 44

Yuri Nakamura, the Japanese-Korean actor who played the psychologist Irene in Netflix's "Romantics Anonymous," died on Sept. 1 of rectal cancer at the age of 44, her management company said. Alpha Agency announced the death on Sept. 14 and disclosed at the same time that Nakamura had first been treated for cancer 13 years earlier, an illness she had kept out of public view and largely out of her working life.

The cancer went into remission after that first diagnosis 13 years ago, and was detected again in January 2025, the agency said. Surgery followed and was judged a success, but doctors found afterward that the disease had metastasized. In August 2026 she developed an intestinal obstruction and was told she had very little time left.

Her funeral has already been held in private, attended by close family members and colleagues from Alpha Agency. Nakamura died surrounded by her family and the people closest to her, the agency said, and the death was made public only after the service.

A diagnosis she kept off the set

The first diagnosis, 13 years ago, was shared with almost no one Nakamura worked with. She went into remission after treatment and kept taking film and television roles while attending regular medical checkups, the agency said. She did not miss a scheduled screening, The Straits Times reported. Her work in those years ranged from festival-circuit titles to mainstream productions.

The decision to withhold the name of the illness was made with Alpha Agency's president at the time of the diagnosis, according to the statement, which Variety reported. The two concluded that telling colleagues what she had would serve only to worry them.

We should not tell people at work the name of the disease, as it would cause them unnecessary worry.

Cancer was found again in January 2025. Surgeons operated, and the operation was initially successful, but a follow-up examination showed the disease had spread to other tissue. With a complete remission no longer realistic, her treatment turned to managing the illness rather than curing it, the agency said in its Sept. 14 statement.

Her doctor encouraged her to keep working, and she did, filming through the period when a cure was no longer the goal. In August 2026 she developed another intestinal obstruction and was told she had very little time remaining. She had withdrawn in July from an NHK drama scheduled to air in January 2027, citing an intestinal obstruction; Deadline, citing Japan Daily, identified the production as "Dangerous."

Co-stars remember her presence on set

Actor Jun Kaname, who worked with Nakamura in 2025, was among the colleagues from Japanese film and television who posted tributes after the announcement, Resonate reported. He said he resented the cruelty of the illness.

I resent the cruelty of this illness. It's just galling. And her life was still ahead of her.

The agency's account of her last days described a patient who stayed composed. Alpha Agency said she kept a gentle smile through her final moments with her family and the people she loved, and that while her 30s and 40s were often marked by battles with illness, they also held many welcome encounters, happiness and fulfilling moments.

The Tokyo International Film Festival paid tribute as well, pointing to her appearances at the festival and her work in the films "By the Window" and "Ichiko," the International Business Times reported.

A career built across genres

Nakamura worked prolifically for more than two decades, and the credits crossed genres. They include the 2009 supernatural horror "Ju-On: Black Ghost," part of "The Grudge" franchise, the 2010 body horror "Kyofu" and the 2014 horror "Fatal Frame," along with the comedy-drama "Lalapipo" (2009) and the drama "I Wish" (2011), according to EntertainmentNow, which credited IMDb.

Later film work included Kore-eda Hirokazu's "After the Storm" (2016), the disaster drama "Fukushima 50" (2020) and Ishikawa Kei's science-fiction film "Arc" (2021), Variety reported. She also appeared in "Like Father, Like Son" (2013) and the psychological drama thriller "Motherhood" (2022).

On Netflix she played Miki Naruse in the 2024 drama "Beyond Goodbye." That series and "Romantics Anonymous" the following year were her final screen appearances, Variety reported, and both carried her work to audiences outside Japan through the streaming service.

Ryohei Suzuki said he first met Nakamura 20 years ago at an acting school and that the two went on to work together many times in the years that followed. He was among the performers who spoke publicly about the loss.

She was strong yet gentle, dignified and beautiful. Truly a person who was like a lily. It's heartbreaking.

Stage work ran alongside the screen roles. Nakamura appeared in the production "1945" in October 2008, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman. Her television credits included the drama series "A Wonderful Single Life" and the medical drama "Iryu: Team Medical Dragon."

Romantics Anonymous topped Netflix's Japanese chart

"Romantics Anonymous" premiered globally on Netflix in October 2025 and rose to number one on the service's Japanese series chart, according to Deadline. The eight-episode series follows Sosuke Fujiwara, played by Shun Oguri, a man who struggles with physical contact, and Hana, a talented chocolatier played by Han Hyo-joo who has an intense fear of eye contact. They meet at a small chocolate shop.

Nakamura's Irene is a renowned psychologist and author, by Netflix's description. Netflix lists Nakamura alongside Oguri and Han among the show's principal cast. The Japanese singer and actor Jin Akanishi also appears in the series.

The show is a Japanese remake of the 2010 French-Belgian film "Les emotifs Anonymes," produced with a Korean production team. She had also appeared in the 2017 film "The 8-Year Engagement" and in "Love Letter From Heaven" in 2007.

Alpha Agency posted its statement on its own website on Sept. 14. It thanked the fans who had supported her, the staff who had helped her and her fellow performers, and expressed its deepest gratitude for the kindness shown to her during her lifetime.

From a talent show duo to film awards

Nakamura was born Yuri Sei in Neyagawa, in Osaka prefecture. Her father was a third-generation Zainichi Korean, the term for ethnic Koreans in Japan, and her mother held citizenship in both South Korea and Japan, Variety reported. The International Business Times described Nakamura as a fourth-generation Korean resident of Japan who held South Korean citizenship.

Music came first. She passed the singing audition for the talent search program "Asayan" in 1996 and debuted in 1998 as half of the pop duo YuriMari, formed with her friend Mari Izawa. The duo dissolved the following year. After a hiatus of about three years, Nakamura began acting in 2003, appearing in films and television serials, The Straits Times reported.

• "Pacchigi! Love & Peace" (2007), her breakout, as the aspiring actor Kyonja
• "Love Letter From Heaven" (2007)
• "Like Father, Like Son" (2013)
• "After the Storm" (2016), directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu
• "The 8-Year Engagement" (2017)
• "Fukushima 50" (2020), a drama about the nuclear plant
• "Arc" (2021), Ishikawa Kei's science-fiction film
• "Beyond Goodbye" (2024), the Netflix drama, as Miki Naruse
• "Romantics Anonymous" (2025), the Netflix series, as the psychologist Irene

Her breakout came in 2007 with "Pacchigi! Love & Peace," Izutsu Kazuyuki's sequel to "Pacchigi!" (2005), a family drama about a Zainichi Korean family who relocate to Tokyo in 1974. Nakamura played Kyonja, an aspiring actor making her way in the city, and the performance won her the Zenkoku Eiren Award for best actress and the Newcomer Award at the 3rd Osaka Cinema Festival. She was 44 when she died, after more than two decades on screen and stage.