Veteran actor Toru Minegishi passed away late on Saturday night at a Tokyo hospital. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer just in April of this year and had been undergoing treatment since then, but his condition took a sudden turn on Saturday. He was 65.

Minegishi had been a regular participant in a triathlon on Miyakojima for the last 8 years. He had planned to participate again this past April, but during training he began experiencing back pains and had to be hospitalized. It was then discovered that he had terminal lung cancer and that it had spread to his hip.

He canceled a role in a stage play this past June in order to focus on receiving treatment, starting with hip surgery and followed by radiation therapy. His condition improved and he returned to work, but in the end he was unable to overcome his illness.

Born in July 1943 as Tomoo Minegishi, he made his debut with Toho in 1962, though it wasn't until more than a decade later that he settled on his stage name as Toru Minegishi. He married actress Tomoko Ai in 1977 but they later divorced. In 1986, he received much media attention following the suicide of idol Yukiko Okada, who had been reported as being romantically involved with Minegishi.

As an actor, Minegishi had appeared in dozens of films, including Yojiro Takita's recently opened "Okuribito," which won the grand prize at the Montreal World Film Festival and was offered as Japan's candidate for an Academy Award nomination. His final work is a single scene in Nobuhiko Obayashi's adaptation of "Sono Hi no Mae ni," which will have a posthumous premiere on November 1. Minegishi also appeared frequently in television dramas over the years.