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'Talent' Miyu Uehara dead after apparently hanging herself at home

109 Comments

"Talent" Miyui Uehara, 24, died after apparently hanging herself at her apartment in Tokyo's Meguro Ward early Thursday morning, police said. An acquaintance found her by a door with a scarf and belt around her neck at about 2 a.m. and called emergency services. Uehara was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Uehara, who was the youngest of 10 siblings, came from Kagoshima Prefecture. She was "discovered" while working as a hostess in a Tokyo bar when she was 18. She made her name as a gravure model for men's magazines and later as a race queen.

Uehara last made an entry on her blog at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday in which she lamented that she had not been able to find true love.

© Compiled from news reports

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RIP

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You have to wonder what makes people think there's no reason to go on anymore. Another life wasted for what surely will turn out to be a stupid reason.

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Fadamor - based on the last line, it may well have been depression... it can cause people to do truly horrific things as they can only feel negative about themselves.

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So sad... Poor girl. Rest in peace.

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Damn, she was still so young

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Very unusual in Japan to see a family with 10 children. Being so far away from home and in a big impersonal city, she may have lacked a guiding hand or steadying influence. Often these young idols still live with their families in Tokyo, but we don't about her family. Maybe they are all still in Kagoshima. RIP

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Killing yourself because you hadn't found true love by 24?

I hope there's more, because that's depressing to hear. Possibly an undiagnosed or unnoticed mental condition, poor girl. I hope this tragedy opens some more eyes to the dangers of depression.

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She was so pretty, what a waste. Rest in Peace.

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Sad to say but there are lots of depressed people in JP, and hard to find someone to talk to. Love is easy to get but people are too picky here, and coz of that they forget the basic love that ones gives strength and will to live.

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Yeah, what a waste...

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Gravure models are unlikely to find true love because they are always going to be wondering if the person across from them is there because of HER or her photo shoots. It's a depressing business to be in if you're looking for real love. "Race queens" aren't much better. They're basically doing 3D-gravure.

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Sounds like she didn't choose the wisest path with the hostess bar/men's mags/race queen gigs but I won't pretend to know her circumstances and so cannot judge. What I CAN say is that 24 is far too young to have given up on finding true love, and it's a shame she chose that final path as well.

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sjeesh what a waste. Such a young cuty, she still couldve made something of her life.

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well traditionally womanhood is like Xmas cakes, best used before the 25th. If that was playing on her mind 24 isn't so young. RIP young lady!

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Most probably undiagnosed mental health problems fora while.Lots of us think we have true love when young and only realise what it really means when we realise the real meaning of the word.

You will have a high amount of suicides if mental health issues are a taboo subject.

RIP

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Often these girls are "encouraged" to engage in certain extracurricular activities in order to raise their standing in the gravure world. Saying she wasn't able to find true love could be code for having become thoroughly disillusioned after becoming used and exploited.

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This is sad, she looked decent. Some people are simply too labile for this world! They don't find true love within some years and off they go. If I was that unstable I had committed suicide 50 times within the last 10 years.

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Not a good idea to assume anything here, or blame modeling off the cuff. She may have had expectations that were through the roof. And high expectations of shallow things like money, power and looks will certainly land you with men who do not have love on their minds at all.

Also, I wonder what was in her contracts. I know some talento are pretty much barred from having boyfriends in their contracts and that is a recipie for depression that should carry criminal charges. But even off the record managers and clients may have made darn sure she had no contact with normal people. And that is not endemic to modeling. Its endemic to Japan.

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"had not been able to find true love. " at age 24!!!!!! live a shallow life, die for shallow reasons. sorry she died. but she took her OWN life. selfish and dumb! sorry if you think I am being rude. I feel for her friends and family, but not for her.

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Life in the fast lane, surely goina lose yr mind.

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Made me cry. Poor thing.

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Poor girl, that's terribly sad, to give up at such a young age.

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yup society ruined her life, it's not just the TRUE LOVE, maybe she is looking for more deeper LOVE, one thing I don't understand about this country is Girls are not allowed to drink or smoke until 20 Years old, but they are allowed to be working in Hostess clubs , Bars and even Adult entertainment , to quench the needs of this Japanese Alpha Males! 18 years old is still too young to work in a hostess bar, that's the downside for women working on hostess clubs, they were dazzled by the material promises of this yak club owners that instead of spending the prime of their youth having a good relationship with people that they trully love and will trully love them and good education , they were becoming a posession or toy dolls by these "HARDWORKING" Alpha samurai males. so sad...

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sorry....but killing yourself because u cannot find true love???? How weak. So many people perservere through so much more than THAT. Hard to feel sorry for her...

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Hostess to racy model. I'm stereotyping, but it seems at a young age she was involved in business that treats her not as a person, but as an object. Such treatment can destroy people.

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Tragic. On a different note, what is it with this sort of news and Meguro? Seems like the only time I hear about that ward is when an Actor, Model or Politician is having a hard time of sorts. Ideas??

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sorry....but killing yourself because u cannot find true love???? How weak

May have just been the straw that broke the camels back and we have no idea what other problems (mentally, socially or otherwise) that she may have had. Who are you to judge her?

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Another statistic to add to the shocking suicide rate here in Japan. Life is so precious.

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On a different note, what is it with this sort of news and Meguro? Seems like the only time I hear about that ward is when an Actor, Model or Politician is having a hard time of sorts. Ideas??

There are a lot of wealthy people living in Meguro-Ku. Guess it is law of averages at work.

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Another victim of the isolation that contemporary society brings. Very, very sad.

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..."made her name as a gravure model for men’s magazines and later as a race queen....," I guess you can make a name in numerous ways...so did Bin Laden...

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moonbeams : exactly!!!

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Sad news. Japan has an extremely high suicide rate but I think it's sad that we mourn only the attractive, young ones.

:(

It's too bad that Miyu's talento jimusho or manager didn't recognize any signs of her suicide but I hope it's a wake up call for other jimushos and managers.

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Probably didn't help her self-esteem that they put the word "talent" in parenthesis either.

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Often these girls are "encouraged" to engage in certain extracurricular activities in order to raise their standing in the gravure world. Saying she wasn't able to find true love could be code for having become thoroughly disillusioned after becoming used and exploited.

i think lesgrande hit the nail on the head.

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So sad that she gave up on the idea of finding "true love" at the age of 24. Most people don`t find it till much later than that. Was there no-one she could have spoken to, or who could have helped her through this?

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Another permanent solution to a temporary problem.....what a waste!

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Truly sad. Folks here know I think this whole Japanese "talent" thing is nonsense. But the fact that a 24 year-old felt compleed to take her life is still truly unfortunate. May she rest in peace.

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RIP.

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Well by the time you're 24 I guess you know it all so this must be the end result. Obviously, she didn't know it all and had she waited and thought about things years from now she would be shaking her head thinking that she ever thought about killing herself. BTW, this is what I have already heard from over a half dozen Japanese girls over the last few years. Sad state of affairs back then but at least they're alive and kicking now.

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For some of us who dont LIE, CHEAT, are CONSIDERATE, and LOVING in nature, have a truely truely difficult time trying to reason why we should continue on living. Its is difficult enough to find a good mate with the traits mentioned above, let alone a soul mate (who we are attracted to), especially in this land of sexual sin.

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i don't believe "cannot find the true love thingy" was her motive. she's too young to find the true love... i think something else bothers her or she's just too sentive/naive to live in this cruel world? IDK. RIP girl...

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Sad news of the day...

That said, this woman has made some decisions that are deemed irresponsible to parts the society.

Does "not able to find true love" warrant someone to die? Or, is there something fishing behind this, such as a bigger scandal related to talent management and handling?

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I'd speculate this isn't necessarily a suicide but possibly a yakuza murder, especially given her hostessing past. That being the case the blog wouldn't have been posted by her either but by her killer(s) as a cover for the murder. Given alleged yakuza involvement in tarento agencies there could be any number of reasons for this - owing money, 'sending a message' to certain other parties, personal issues...

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yokomoc - I'd speculate this isn't necessarily a suicide but possibly a yakuza murder, especially given her hostessing past.

You say what? Oh, my dog! Was that really sugar you put on your cereal this morning? Just another desperate and dateless japanese chick that offed herself over her self-pity.

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If she's the youngest of 10, I can't fault her for making money in any way possible. Unless her parents were millionaires, her life growing up was probably not so luxurious and it's possible she had no opportunity to make a good living without using her looks. Maybe she needed to support her family or pay for college or whatever. It's not our place to judge, and there's nothing (generally) immoral about hostessing or gravure modeling.

Anyway, it's sad she gave up on life so soon. If she did have depression, working in entertainment--especially a segment that treats women as disposable objects--couldn't have helped. I wonder how many people have to die before Japan gets with the picture and starts to think about doing more than just installing blue lights on platforms ...

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Rags to riches story gone wrong. She was one of ten siblings who was working in a hostess bar at 18. Read; she came from near poverty and used her sexuality to earn cash for the family. (not saying she was a prostitute just a good hostess)

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Messed up... total waste

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An acquaintance found her by a door with a scarf and belt around her neck at about 2 a.m. and called emergency services

does nobody find it weird that "an acquaintance" found her inside her apartment at 2am? strange........

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Mittsu:

" does nobody find it weird that "an acquaintance" found her inside her apartment at 2am? strange........ "

No, I don´t find that in itself strange. It is not like she had a 9-5 company job.

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I'm not sure in her case if she made it from rags to riches. A lot of them are appearing on programs but are not highly paid.

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They are showing her apartment building on TV now. I am surprised to see that is a pretty ordinary place. I thought she was higher in the geinojin pecking order.

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"This is sad, she looked decent." If she had not looked 'decent' would this be sad?

"Some people are simply too labile for this world!" Define 'labile' and I will decide if you can stay in this world.

"If I was that unstable I had committed suicide 50 times within the last 10 years." Nothing stopping you is there?

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Most geinojin live in average apartments, unless you are top earners like Smap, etc you can't and are not expected to live in the super-duper places.

In my area we got a few famous manga-ka, etc living and their houses are just average for the area.

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Life in the fast lane, surely goina lose yr mind.

What's that old saying: Live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse. This is a sad story, maybe an indictment on the "talento" industry here. I mean, this girl was "working" in hostess bars - "entertaining" rich old men and doing God knows what - at age 18, not even considered an "adult" by Japanese. No wonder she was bound to have future problems.

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She was depressed for sure. Her mother died last year and she said many times that she wanted to join her because she missed her. Plus, unless your some desperate guy that would settle on any woman, who would want to get involved with her in this soceity. A soft porn model/x-bar girl isn;t someone I want to bring home to mama.

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Don't all women want to be cherished and honored for who they are as persons, not for what they offer men ?? How can someone as sexy as that ever trust that their partner is with them out of sincere love and respect ???

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Very sad. I highly doubt she killed herself just because she couldn't find true love. Usually there are many factors involved including a sensitive personality, lack of family support, low self-esteem, poor coping skills, and so on...It is so hard to understand why someone so young would take their own life.

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Sad. Wonder what this society did to her.

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Very sad news indeed. But I am not sure she ever had a chance. I remember her talking on TV one time that her mother went into labor with her while busy playing pachinko. She laughed about it (as did the other "talents") but I thought it was a horrifying story, IMHO. Maybe she is in a better place?

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this has really broken my heart. i remember watching a show that followed her back to her home town and she was so close with her family, her parents seemed like such lovely people even though they struggled financially (and its not like miyu could support them very much on a talent's wage). this is really sad, i remember thinking she was so cute. may she rest in peace, i hope that wherever she is now she is no longer in pain.

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Love how JT only mentions the love part...

Lets see... she was the youngest of 10 children, came from the countryside, poor family, mother died last year, went through the earthquake alone (assumingly), and probably wasn't making that much money... I can see why the supposed depression may have come...

the rags-to-riches thing is doubtful... she probably wasn't making any more than 250,000 a month, I'd be willing to bet under 200,000... that is nothing in Tokyo, especially Meguro... these kind of young "Talento" don't make much money...

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God rest her soul.

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It you can't find love were you live look for love somewhere else. You have to think out the box these days killing yourself is no option. Lastly someone said she was may at making around $200,000 a month crap girl take some of that money and invest it in yourself or invest it in another country were it can make your life better.

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Maybe she was lovesick. RIP

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The poor girl. My heart goes out to her. A note to whom it may concern. Don't kill yourself. Someone out there really does love you.

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I can't believe it.why does she die? I am very sad. So, I like her character. God rest her soul.

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Fame is a heavy mantle to bear for one so under-equipped.

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A real bummer that she, at age 24, topped herself. Very sad. In retrospect we can say that all the signs were there. (we just, as always, weren't listening) 1) Youngest child of 10. 2) Actress 3) Soft porn 4) Hostess. If EVER there were a check list for the psychotically needy. That would be it. I'll even bet her daddy didn't give her hugs as a child.

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GG2141:

" 1) Youngest child of 10. 2) Actress 3) Soft porn 4) Hostess "

I don´t see any of those as inherent reasons for suicide. And besides, "gravure" is not "softporn". It is what we gaijins would call bikini babes. Or what am I missing.

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this is so sad... i watched many variety shows that had her as a guest and though she always called herself "bimbo tarento" i always thought "mada mada da yo!".. may she rest in peace :(

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But, don't forget! There are over 30,000 suicides in Japan every year, so she is only one of a hundred people that killed themselves today.

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"this is so sad... i watched many variety shows that had her as a guest and though she always called herself "bimbo tarento" i always thought "mada mada da yo!".. may she rest in peace :("

She was funny ! Is "Daikazoku bimbo tarento" a notch above "Obaka-aidoru" ??

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RIP Miyu

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I have said it once, I have said it like a million times, Japan is a damned cold country, hint I aint talking about temperature

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I would have married her and loved her...my wife walked out on me, of course by NOW, I'm too old for this girl, but hay, how bad would I have been compared to THIS ?

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May her soul rest in eternal love and peace.

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who wouldn't love her! RIP, so sad.

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It's so tragic when someone decides to murder themselves.

If you can't love yourself first, there's no way you're going to "find it" anywhere out there. It's sad she didn't realize that.

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Unfortunately when it comes to suicides & a person is that destressed sometimes we do not realize this or they are asking to much.

I have had a few friends committe suicide & one was at my shop wanting to talk & talk, not only about the past or present, but also the future & in this case another m/c race we would be in. The same person had long talks with some of his other friends & we had all assumed he was in hire spirts.

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Killed herself for not finding love at 24? Thebway young people in Japan are misled by the ideology of society is sickening!

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@Yabits - exactly!

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I agree Yabits. So sad.

Taka

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Wait..."apparently"??? ..."scarf and belt"??? ...erm.....

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This is a real shame, so sad. There is a ton of pressure from agencies and managers on the idols and various "tarento" and we don't know exactly what happened to push her to this course of action other than a vague reference to not finding love.

Some people think that celebrities like Miyu Uehara or announcer Ako Kawada have it made, but this is often far from the truth.

RIP

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"A real bummer that she, at age 24, topped herself. Very sad. In retrospect we can say that all the signs were there."

Read her autobiography. She attempted suicide not so long after coming to Tokyo - as early as 20 - agonized over a failed romance. I'm not saying the career was one to be envied. But the basic vulnerability was born from poverty, gangs, and sexual assaults of a hard scrabble childhood before getting famous off of it all.

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But the basic vulnerability was born from poverty, gangs, and sexual assaults of a hard scrabble childhood before getting famous off of it all.

So in the end this woman was unable to overcome these obstacles of hers to become a stronger individual. In other words, she ended up losing her own battle, and her physical self.

This should serve as a warning to the younger generation... let alone her colleagues from the same age group within the industry.

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24? Damn. That's not right.

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JT, you should do a better job of reporting. The news is saying that she killed herself because she lost her mother last year. The only reason she was working so hard and trying to appear on TV was for her mother, who she described as being hardworking (you have to be with 10 kids!) and that she had the utmost respect for her. Apparently she was severely depressed since her death. By the way, the "acquaintance" who found her was her boyfriend. Neighbors heard him scream her name many times before the ambulance took her away. I feel really bad for him too. Anyway, does the fact that no one mentioned this mean that most people here don't (or can't) watch the Japanese news?

Moderator: We reported the facts. Any "news" that says she killed herself because she lost her mother last year is speculating. Nobody knows yet why she killed herself.

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The information about that being someone she had been seeing for a while wasn't out when the story broke because I also checked in the Japanese press. Also didn't her mother die over a year ago ? There is more in what I have seen about Miyu herself not getting work lately and being depressed over the "renai" not working out.

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Its also sad that she was not able to build her self confidence after all she has experienced. In a land of inspiration, locals themselves fail to find it.

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Most likely if a girl has any self-esteem at all when she starts out in the sex industry, it is dead and buried by the time she is finished...

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There is no use in speculating on "why ?". Suicide is a illness, and they grasp any pretext. Sadly that concerns so many people of all social origins.

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she is beautiful, talented, and smart. But why just because she cant find true love? damn she's still young im sure many guys out there want to marry her? RIP girl ...

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The news has stated that she had told her father that she wanted to go where her mother was. She was depressed because of the death of her mother. Something must have happened with her boyfriend which acted as a trigger. A sad story, she seemed like a nice person.

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Looking for love in all the wrong places.

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and the wrong people...

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Suicide? OK, I haven't seen the police report but from this write-up I have to wonder about murder. It's a tragedy in any case.

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Sorry to see her go. I enjoyed her on those variety shows, especially that show (Ikinari?) where she competed with another comedian on who could spend the least in a month on a 10,000 yen budget.

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OK, I haven't seen the police report but from this write-up I have to wonder about murder.

Why is that?

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Very sad news but sadly just another number in 30000+ Japanese that will committ suicide this year. Unfortunately there will be no public discussion or interest in how the nation can address the issue of suicide and suicide prevention in its society.

RIP Miss Uehara

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SO SAD... can't find true love and she's only 24??... must be more than that.. what a waste of a beautiful young girl.. i would have married her in one second!!!!

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Poor girl,my thoughts are with her and her family.None of us can know the state or place she was in emotionally.I hope she is with her Mom now.Rest in Peace.

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Poor girl, she was such a beautiful shining star and had her whole life ahead of her.. She could have easily been picked for some big time movie roles.. My thoughts go to her and her family.. This is so sad. Rest in Peace my dear.

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It's times like this that I personally believe that people like her have no business getting involved with "gei-no-kai" here in Japan.

She seemed like a sweet young woman raised well by her parents and family, but naive, and not ready for the dog eat dog world of talento here in Japan.

Another 100%v preventable death. Japan's gei-no-jin" and "gei-no-kai" are responsible for chewing her up and spitting her out.

What a waste! I wish her family peace.

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This is painful news. I have lost hope in finding true love myself. But I sure I could have convinced her to shun suicide.

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Just saw a segment on Youtube where she was doing a investigation in a haunted house around June of last year. She was left alone in a room with night vision cameras where she encountered apparitions, evps, etc. Classic ghost hunter stuff. I don't want to start speculations flying,but could this have affected her? Especially since this was after her mother died? Very scary when you watch this despite the fact she showed a lot of courage in this situation. I heard also that she was psychic, and while this video was being replayed on the variety show (Sunday Japon?) she got distressed, because she felt something "heavy" on her back and was literally carried off the set. A lot of you say she could not have killed herself for just her mom, or because she could not find true love, but the alternative reason seems more frightening...

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Without direspecting the memory, Many Asian Idols have to perform extra work with some of the Entertainment Boss Men, both Guys and Girls. Have you not seen the suicide rate of drama actors and models for no apparent reason around the world, if you knew the truth about the entertainment business it would discust you. Bless the Families.

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what a waste of such a young and beautifull Lady, some seem to have it all, Looks, fame, however the one thing we all cherish is "True Love"

Older japanese must take responsibility for the way they pressure young people to conform to their ideal life style for example ........Must do certain things at a certain age (Must be married by 30, leave home by 25)

I feel so sad that this beautifull person saw only one way out, and a drastic way too.

Ture love by 24, very rare to find that, many in japan are not able to talk about their true feelings for fear of ridicule from their peers.

I lived and taught english in Japan for 7 years and saw the exploitation of young japanese ladies, especially in books displayed in stores such as Family mart.

Through my 7 years there found that Japanese students find it very hard to convey their true fellings, many work long hours and do not have the chance to learn or even practice social interaction.

I can understand the type of business she was in and the pressure to make others happy at the expence of her own happiness, Just wish she had got out of the business and found a regular job where she may have found that true love.

These comments do not just apply to beautifull Japanese Ladies who take this dreastic measure, it applies to all Japanese population

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