Dr. Kunio Kitamura was born in 1951. He graduated from Jichi Medical School and through his 30 years of research, is now the "voice of Japanese sexuality." Among his many books are "Shiawase no Sex (Happy Sex)," "Piru (The Pill)" and "Karada no Hon (The Body Book)."
It came as a great shock to learn my dear friend, TV celebrity Kuniko Yamada, was suffering from breast cancer.
Kuniko and I had come into contact because we were co-panelists on "Perfect H," a program on satellite channel LaLa TV that promised to thoroughly answer whatever questions viewers had about sex.
We spent close to three years recording the program together. Kuniko was voted Japan's favorite celebrity for eight years running and, as I learned when we filmed live in front of an Osaka audience on one occasion, loved by fans wherever she went.
Having worked together for so long, I was fortunate enough to become so close to Kuniko that I was free to get in touch with her any time, whether at home, or by e-mail or over a mobile phone.
So, I was stunned to hear she had breast cancer. Though, from the point of view of a physician, perhaps news of Kuniko's breast cancer shouldn't have been too astonishing. And the reason for that is the Westernization of the Japanese diet. Cancers typical of industrialized societies -- like breast, bowel and cervical cancer -- were once unthinkable in Japan, but have now become common.
In fact, since 1998, breast cancer has surpassed stomach cancer to become the most common carcinogen among Japanese women. Because breast cancer symptoms are often so hard to detect, the best way for women to ensure early detection is to have close contact with a breast cancer specialist who knows what to look for. Kuniko was fortunate in that she was working on a health program for TV and was interested in her breasts' health, which meant that she frequently checked them and discovered her cancer at an early stage.
In recent years, self-examination, which also carries the meaning of increasing women's awareness in their own health, has become widespread, while in the medical profession it is common sense that image diagnoses are vital for early detection.
Imaging equipment, such as the mammography or CT scanning, are effective ways to examine women and are capable of super-early detection that can pick up cancerous growths just a few millimeters long, and can overcome the limits of self-examination.
As a doctor supposed to be learned in these matters, the first thing I thought about when I heard my friend Kuniko had breast cancer was her husband, Shiro Goto.
"What the hell are you doing?" I wanted to ask him, only half-jokingly. "You should be helping your wife check her breasts all the time."
When I got home from work on the night I learned about Kuniko's condition, I immediately went straight to my wife.
"All right, put both your hands up in the air. OK! No tumors in the armpit's lymph nodes," I said as I examined her. Considering I hadn't been able to touch her much recently, my wife gave me a pretty dubious look. "What are you up to?" she said with a laugh. (By Dr. Kunio Kitamura, special to the Mainichi)
Click here for the original Japanese story
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