Mao Kobayashi dies age 34 of cancer

The death of a former newsreader who won acclaim for
blogging about her breast cancer fight hit the headlines
Saturday in Japan, with the media and officials praising her
courage.

Mao Kobayashi died Thursday aged 34, her husband 
and popular kabuki actor, Ebizo Ichikawa, said Friday at a nationally televised news conference attended by about 
400 reporters.

Kobayashi shocked the country in September with 
her blog titled "Kokoro" - or heart -- after concealing her 
illness from the public for about two years.

Her blog racked up millions of registered readers on 
one of Japan's biggest blog platforms as she chronicled 
her painful battle, posting pictures of her with tubes on the face and a wig for hair loss because of anti-cancer treatment.

She was later named in the 2016 edition of the BBC's 100
Women list of inspirational and influential female figures.

"I decided to say goodbye to myself who hid behind 
(cancer)," Kobayashi, a mother of two, wrote in her first post.

The Mainichi Shimbun said on its front page that her blog,
which attracted media attention with every update, 
became a social phenomenon.

The Nikkei business daily, quoting the head of a breast 
cancer patient support group, called her blog "courageous" because a number of cancer sufferers concealed their 
illness in Japan.

Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga 
said: "It's so regrettable (but) I'm sure that her fighting 
stance against the disease encouraged a lot of patients."

A tearful Ichikawa told the news conference: "She 
passed away just saying,'I love you.'"