“When I read about the drama, the first thing I looked at was Murai-san and said, “I’m watching it. I’m a fan.” I wasn’t a huge fan, but I always said that (lol).”
She smiles as she and her husband, actor Kunio Murai (81), and actress Miki Otonashi (76) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on January 2 of this year.
The two became friends after competing in the 1971 Pola TV novel “Otose” (TBS).
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After that, she married Murai-san in 1976. In 1982, she gave birth to her first daughter, Mayumi. Three years later, they welcomed their first son, Kentaro, and were blessed with one son and one daughter.
“We were both busy with work, and Mr. Murai thought, “You never know when you’re going to get bored as an actor, so this isn’t the time to have children.” But when we had a child, he was a very diligent father (lol). When I went to work, he took the lead in raising the child. He said, “I’m disappointed that I don’t have milk from my own breasts!” (lol)
Otonanai was 38 years old when the crisis of age came to their happy family. I had a lump on my chest while taking a bath.
“I had a busy schedule, so I took it easy for three months. Then, when I was hanging the laundry to dry, I started to feel pain, and when I told Murai-san, he said, “I’m going to the hospital right away!”… Then, as it turned out, I had breast cancer.”
There were two options for surgery: breast-conserving surgery and total removal.
“I wanted to preserve it, but the doctor said, “It’s not impossible, but there’s a risk of recurrence, so it’s better to have a complete mastectomy, which is safer.” While I was trying to help her, Mr. Murai said, “That’s fine, doctor. Just do it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have breasts. It doesn’t matter if the actress disappears. Even if she’s alive, it’s not good!” I begged the doctor while crying. Seeing that, I made up my mind, too, and underwent surgery to remove the entire left breast and remove the lymph nodes.
