Yuri Nakamura, the acclaimed Japanese-Korean performer featured in the Netflix original series Romantics Anonymous, passed away from rectal cancer on September 1 at the age of 44.
The accomplished actress had been diagnosed with rectal cancer thirteen years ago, but this information remained confidential, according to a statement released by Alpha Agency. After their 1998 debut and 1999 breakup, Nakamura decided to focus her aspirations on the screen.
She went on to establish the musical duo YuriMari with friend Mari Izawa after passing the singing audition for the well-known talent search program “Asayan” in 1996.
Yuri Nakamura, recognized for her role in the Netflix production Romantics Anonymous (2025), has passed away, as confirmed by her representation. Love & Peace (2007), the follow-up to Izutsu Kazuyuki’s critically acclaimed breakthrough film. She made appearances in the science fiction movie Arc (2021), the catastrophe drama Fukushima 50 (2020), and Kore-eda Hirokazu’s After the Storm (2016). Her last on-screen roles were in the Netflix drama Beyond Goodbye (2024) and the streaming series Romantics Anonymous (2025), which is a Japanese adaptation of the French film Les Émotifs Anonyme made with a Korean production team. She performed on stage in between, most notably in Robert Allan Ackerman’s October 2008 production of 1945.
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, she accumulated a sizable filmography, making appearances in both mainstream and festival-circuit productions. Her most well-known early part was that of Kyonja, an aspiring actress navigating life as a Zainichi Korean in Japan, in Pacchigi! She received the Newcomer Award at the 3rd Osaka Cinema Festival and the Zenkoku Eiren Award for best actress for her performance. Nakamura played Irene in the latter.
