Maruyama Karin Passes Away

A couple of hours ago I heard about the decease of Maruyama Karin (R.I.P), a J-idol who had been battling cancer for sometime. I started reflecting a bit on her, altogether. I remembered when I first heard about her in mid 2014, when she already knew she was surely going to die. I thought it was sad at the time, but I wasn’t interested in following her further. I didn’t like her music style and due to her illnes she didn’t have enough activity for me to catch on. It seems a bit cold when I look back on how I thought, but now I can see something I really missed back then. Her smile. Maybe because I wasn’t as familiar with cancer as I am now, but I failed to notice that her smile reflected something I see missing in most idols nowadays. Hope, effort, selflesness, kindness. She was in pain, she was scared, she had doubts and fears, she didn’t have as much time as we could, yet she did her best and smile. She lived her dream, she made it come true even in the middle of her storm and smiled until the end. Untill her last breath she was everything an idol should aspire to be. Not in talent, not in beauty or stamina, but in spirit. She suddenly became someone I admire greatly.

Now Karin is gone. Every religion has a place where she could be now, so to each their own, but we surely know she was here and we all hope she enjoyed it. I would like to remember her for all she was, even if I didn’t like what she did as an artist.

We humans are foolish enough to stop chasing our dreams because we’re scared, or we stick to the status quo, or we think we have time and it suddenly runs out. We are stupid enough to waste a lifetime doing things we hate, to please people we dislike. My mother always tells me to do this kinds of things, and everyone I know does them. We forget this is our chance, maybe our only, and that it can easily end in a split-second. Most people follow their instincts when they know they’ll probably kick the bucket, and it shouldn’t be that way. You, who is reading this, are you where you want to be? Are you who you want to be? It is never late to start, or to change, if you do it now.

I hope everyone’s dreams come true, like Maruyama Karin’s did. Let’s all smile and live the best we can, because if this girl could, none of us has an excuse!

Atte: Nikko