Zard Singer Izumi Sakai, 40, Dies from Staircase Fall

[Hisoka]

Japanese singer-songwriter Izumi Sakai, better known as Zard, died on Sunday of a brain contusion after falling three meters (10 feet) off the landing of a staircase at the Keio University Hospital. She was undergoing treatment for cervical cancer. Sakai, whose real name was Sachiko Kamachi, was 40 years old. The ex-model wrote and performed theme songs for numerous anime projects, including Slam Dunk, Yawara! Special - Zutto Kimi no Koto ga…, Dragon Ball GT, Chuuka Ichiban!, and Detective Conan (Case Closed). Thanks, John. Source: Asahi

This is so depressing since Zard has been my favorite Jpop band for so many years. :'( I knew she had cancer but this is a huge blow and just a bit hard to swallow.

[GreatNekoKoneko]

...damn. this really sucks. this is like Ritsuko Okazaki all over again.

[Gibb]

Damn, what a tragic loss. I've been a Zard fan for several years as well. She will be missed.

[kenshinbebop]

Damn....I love the case closed theme so much.

Thanks for the find...


RIP :(

[SonRyu]

It wasn't all that long ago that I was introduzed to ZARD, and I gotta say, after listening to her discography, I've come to like Izumi Sakai's work quite a bit. This is another huge loss.

[Yukito Kunisaki]

I never heard any of Zards stuff, but as a big Jrock/Pop fan, I feel for her. She gave to the Asian media, and that is enough of respect to say from someone who never heard their stuff that he will even miss her.

R.I.P.

[tenshi_a]

Wow, Zard, gone so suddenly... it's terrible... another fatal victim of stairs, like the seiyuu Shiozawa Kaneto (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=852) was, all those years ago...

Dying of something like this while in a hospital, being treated for something else... I bet there are a lot of friends, family and fans out there, while dealing with this loss, must be really angry at the hospital. Was it unsafe?

[J Dude]

I can't say I've heard too much of Zard's music, minus whatever of it I heard from Dragonball GT, but this is definitely sad. I'm glad to see Suki's post got deleted too, because you have to have a pretty awful personality to post lol in response to someone's death.

[Suiko Eiji]

Damn, I just read this afternoon what happened. I think Sakai Izumi had one of the prettiest voices in Japanese pop music in probably the last decade.

[ryushe]

My sister told me yesterday. Man I loved most of her songs...

*Listens to "Don't you see" in respect"

[cris]

People are saying that this might have been a suicide and it's currently being investigated. BTW, her real name is Sachiko Kamachi so might find more info through that if you're interested.

蒲池（かまち）幸子（さちこ）

[tenshi_a]

There's an article about this event in the Mainichi newpaper:
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070528p2a00m0et027000c.html

Also, Zard's latest compilation album is now at number 6, coming in from outside the top 100...
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070530p2a00m0et015000c.html

[Shiroiyuki]

...like the seiyuu Shiozawa Kaneto (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=852) was, all those years ago...

*sniff* even though I pretty much hated the OAV, the original voice of Vampire Hunter D will be missed in my book. So will Zard, for that matter. What a beautiful voice she had, such a shame!

The hospital should be looked at now to find out if unsafe conditions lead to her death. Maybe investigating could prevent more tragedies from happening in the future?

[cris]

It's not the hospitals fault if I read it correctly, that's why they are looking it into is as a possible suicide.

I think she fell off a handicap stairs or something. Don't remember the details now.

[Animexcel]

I read this tonight and I'm deeply saddened by this. Even though I've only heard her DBGT songs; I listen to them all the time, and to hear that she died at a young age, it's really tragic. I loved her voice.