Ai Iijima

Ai Iijima died of pneumonia; no foul play, say police

Thursday 05th February, 06:00 AM JST

TOKYO —

Former television personality Ai Iijima died of pneumonia, police said Wednesday, ruling out foul play in her death. The Tokyo Medical Examiner’s Office examined the case after a police autopsy failed to determine the cause of death. Iijima, 36, was found dead in her apartment in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on Dec 24.

She is believed to have died around a week before her body was found by an acquaintance.

Iijima gained popularity in the 1990s as a variety show host and porn star. Her autobiographical novel ‘‘Platonic Sex,’’ published in 2000, became a bestseller and was made into a movie as well as a television drama.

In 2006, Iijima said her health was not good due to a kidney disease and other problems. She announced her retirement in March of 2007, saying, ‘‘It’s impossible to survive (in the entertainment industry) if I can’t achieve my goal and dream, and I can’t keep on trying.’‘

Meanwhile, Watanabe Entertainment will hold a memorial service for Iijima at the Tokyo Prince Hotel on March 1.

Watanabe Entertainment, which managed Iijima until her retirement from showbiz, said that celebrities Hideyuki Nakayama, Midori Utsumi, Shinobu Otake, Mariko Kaga, Shinsuke Shimada, Ken Shimura, Kazuo Tokumitsu and others will attend.

They also said that the service will start at 11 a.m. for family, friends and colleagues of Iijima, and that the general public can offer flowers and donations from 1 p.m. All proceeds will go to the Japan Foundation for AIDS Prevention.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 40 Total Comments Show All

Badsey at 04:14 PM JST - 5th February

She was a coward. But what was she supposed to do? If she came out and was truthful many powerful unscrupulous people may have lost money and became angry (at her).

It's all about making $$$.

Lesson learned: Money is not everything and brings you little friends.
drink_more_milk at 04:17 PM JST - 5th February

If she had HIV, I wonder how many people (geinojin) she had unprotected with before she realized she was infected. One of the most common ways to die from HIV is by pneumonia, like Freddie Mercury.
Yelena at 04:43 PM JST - 5th February

Very sad story. I wonder why she didn't stay permanently in hospital having such mortal desease? She wasn't a child, she had to realise all the seriousness of her situation.
zaichik at 06:31 PM JST - 5th February

Pneumonia in a 36-year-old doesn't ring any particular warning bells, although one wonders why she was not in hospital or being monitored by a doctor.

However, I can understand why people here are questioning whether Ms Iijima might have been HIV+ in light of the fact that pneumonia is a known complication of HIV/AIDS. And one also wonders about the ability/willingness of Japanese hospitals to accommodate patients who are HIV+.

However, even if she was HIV+, I can understand that her next of kin might not want this publicised.

Be careful out there, chaps and chapesses - HIV is still a reality, even in Japan.
LFRAgain at 06:46 PM JST - 5th February

Justice was served. She lived immorally (porn) out of greed for money, and illegally from her drug use.

Umm... Virtually anyone who holds a job of any sort is working out of greed for money. Are you sugggesting that they (we) all deserve to die painfully and alone from pneumonia to appease some perverted sense of, ahem, "Justice." Do the world a favor: Stay waaaaay the hell out of politics.
JoiceRojo at 10:56 PM JST - 5th February

Why all of you MUST conclude it was HIV?... If you have depression and tried to kill yourself catching a pneumonia in winter is fatal...

If she had the guts that most people say, she would have told the world that she was HIV, especially when you participate in events like that. I don´t thin she had it though, because it seems that she was very incisive and wrote things as they were...

Kidney diseases are complicated, you must take lots of medicine that will weaken your inmune system too, I had calculus renalis once and the meds were so strong, the anti-biotic was awful that I couldn't eat and in winter when you are weak you can catch anything...
Betting at 11:31 PM JST - 5th February

I thought I was bad, but someone people here have really overactive minds. She worked with HIV charities, so she must have AIDS or HIV? That is a pretty bizarre line of thought, especially since I doubt anyone on these boards would know about her bedroom habits in detail.

"She was a coward. But what was she supposed to do? If she came out and was truthful many powerful unscrupulous people may have lost money and became angry (at her).

It's all about making $$$".

She was a coward about what, may I ask? And was supposed to tell what truth?
pontananagoma at 12:10 AM JST - 6th February

May you let her rest in peace.when you are young you do something foolish..she has just chosen the easy path which God forbid us to go.. but in her death, she found that peace shes longing for.. God bless your soul ,AICHAN. Living a life like yours is not easy ,sleep in heavenly peace with the angels !!
usaexpat at 12:57 AM JST - 6th February

JapanHusker: Nice of you to offer your moral majority view. There's a special place reserved for "moral" people like you who think they can sit in judgement of the rest of us. Have some compassion, that Ai Iijima worked in porn is irrelavent, she was a human being and sadly she died alone.
Stonefish at 08:54 AM JST - 6th February

Nice one usaexpat.
mrhog123 at 11:20 AM JST - 6th February

My condolences to Ms. Iijima's family and friends. No more need to be said.
Badsey at 12:49 PM JST - 6th February

During the time of her book promotion she dodged the Aids/Hiv question when asked directly. For what purpose is it to be a coward of the disease you champion?

This young woman died of HIV complications.. What do you save by not telling the truth? I do not agree with this philosophy of pushing this under the rug.

The pneumonia is true -however they are not telling the whole story here.
drink_more_milk at 03:38 PM JST - 6th February

JoinceRojo, It's an issue because it concerns public health. Japanese usage of protection is very low. Hence, if Ai Iijima was HIV positive, its a matter of public health to screen her former partners.
LFRAgain at 04:49 PM JST - 6th February

Badsey,

One can champion a cause without becoming a poster-child for that cause. There are a million reasons a person might not want it to be known that they have HIV/AIDS. Posters like JapanHusker being just one of them. Another might be that she may not have wanted pity from those around her. Who knows? Besides, we don't even know if she had AIDS, so it's pointless to argue based on an unknown. I'll admit, it certainly sounds like complications associated with AIDS may have been a factor in her death from pneumonia. But we don't know. And quite frankly, it's none of our business.
Betting at 12:15 PM JST - 8th February

I think it would be fair to assume that when people like Ijima appear they will will always be badgered by certain reporters about certain questions for certain reasons (e.g. gossip, muck raking, more sensational news to get more readers etc).

At an event to promote her book, which most people would assume is to be a exciting thing, she would obviously be unhappy when some reporter comes along and asks questions that are completely irrelevant. I think most people would agree.

"This young woman died of HIV complications".

Show us the proof please or it would be a good idea to retract your statement.