In a quiet residential area in Setagaya, Tokyo, once stood the mansion of actress Kaoru Yachigusa (88 years old). After working for the Takarazuka Revue Company, Ms. Yachigusa made her debut on the silver screen in 1951 with “Mekashita Koenchu,” and in 1977 won the TV Grand Prize for Best Actress for her role in the drama “Kishibe no Albume” (TBS). The house with a modern exterior was built on a plot of about 150 tsubo (about 1.5 square meters), and the vast garden had cherry blossoms and golden osmanthus trees to remind one of the four seasons, as well as a large pond. The land alone was said to be worth 300 million yen as an asset of the house. However, the house that Ms. Yachigusa loved and lived in for nearly 60 years was torn down, and three newly built houses were built on the site. The film company source told us that the mansion “had a very special garden.
In the garden of the house, there was an area for living creatures to live. In a custom-made 4-meter square pond, frogs and killifish caught in the neighborhood swam around. Insects and wild birds also flew in and out, and it was her daily routine to admire the scene of the garden while feeling the four seasons.” Ms. Yachigusa had deep feelings for this garden. In the past, she married film director Senkichi Taniguchi (95 years old) over the objections of those around her. Although they were not blessed with children, they were known as a “loving couple” who enjoyed hiking in the mountains together. They lived together as a wife for half a century until Taniguchi’s death in 2007, and after his death, they lived at home with their dog. Ms. Yachigusa was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018 and underwent major surgery. After the surgery, those around her recommended that she move into a nursing home, but she chose home care, saying, ‘I want to stay with my dog in this house where I spent time with my husband,'” a close acquaintance confides. A close acquaintance confides, “Ms. Yachigusa announced her condition in February 2019. The doctor told her that she had only a few years left to live, so she was planning to adjust her work schedule by about 2021 and organize her personal affairs in the process. Before her death, Yachigusa had been working hard to leave behind a garden of memories of her beloved husband, but various problems stood in her way. ……. The second part of the article reports on the various problems that arose in the survival of her home, the person to whom she bequeathed the property, and the whereabouts of her beloved dog, whom she loved like her own child. (Continued in Part 2)