Tsunku had cancer and vocal cords were removed.

[arcobaleno]

Remember those throat problems Tsunku had? It turns out they were the early stages of laryngeal cancer.
 
He's currently undergoing treatment, and I hope it goes well. For those of you well versed in Japanese, here's the sources: click, click
 
Found this out from Hello! Online's twitter feed.

[Anderei]

That's really scary. Good thing he was able to catch it early.

[sayu1991]

Oh my god that's really scary! I hope he gets better really soon. Poor guy :( Speaking sounded painful but I didn't realize it was that serious.

[momoirosaya]

Oh wow, I hope he makes a full recovery soon!

[star]

I hope he gets better soon! Despite his trollness, he is the brain behind H!P, so without him its not the same. Hopefully he recovers enough to continue producing and managing H!P.

[yuzuriha]

Ugh, this is awful.  I feel so badly for him.  I joke about him all the time, but as I said on FB I have a love/hate relationship with him.  I hope he feels better soon.<3

[NekoKaiSai]

That's terrifying.  I hope he has a full and speedy recovery.

[JPope]

Do they give any more information wrt the precise location of the cancer? Because relative survival rates for  laryngeal cancer vary greatly depending on the location.
 
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/laryngealandhypopharyngealcancer/overviewguide/laryngeal-and-hypopharyngeal-cancer-overview-survival-rates.
 
This is horrible news. I can only imagine what his wife and kids are going through right now.

[arcobaleno]

From what I can read of the two articles, it doesn't mention any specific area where the cancer is. Tsunku mentions his vocals chords a lot, so if we assume that it's in the glottis and this is stage I, then the survival rate is 90%.
 
Skoban translated Tsunku's blog post here, if you guys haven't seen it / want to see it.

[sayu1991]

Two of the regions mention the vocal cords. I really hope that it's the glottis with a 90% chance and not the hypopharynx (area around the vocal cords) which only has a 53% chance.

[aine]

That's pretty awful. I hope it's not too bad and he'll make a quick recovery, for his own and his family's sake in the first place.

Anyone knows if Tsunku's a smoker?

[sheikhyerbutay]

I have always considered Tsunku a music genius.  Maybe a flawed genius, but a genius none the less.  Who in the world has ever written and produced as many top ten singles as Tsunku has? 
 
This is seriously terrible.   Here is to hoping (and praying) he overcomes this and has a long life ahead of him.

[smtmissin]

I even let out a sigh of relief when I saw it was only the "early stage", but from your comments it seems that even at an early stage the chance of survival may be low. I'm so naive.That is so depressing to know. I you can please change the title of the thread, because it is sad and startling whenever I see it. The word "cancer" in and of itself has always been a nightmare to people and if given a choice, I don't think they ever want to encounter that word in their life.

[Shoujo Q]

Going about my day with this news was hard. "Why are you so down?" The most amazing music producer you've never heard of, has cancer and I'm sad! That's like, emo hipster territory. Of course no one asked me, because they all got their own problems to deal with. 
 
I only wish him the best in this time. Cancer is a horrible thing, but Tsunku is a fighter and he can beat it. That's what I want to say and believe because I'm not ready emotionally to think about anything else but good vibes. Even though when I first heard the news about the lump in his throat, cancer was the first thing I thought about. 
 
I wonder what UF will do now? Because if they don't let him rest and fight this, I'm going to be very upset with them for pushing him. He doesn't seem like the type that would stop and rest unless someone shoved him into a room with a bed and locked the door. 

[YuuakuRisa]

Shojo Q, Tsunku is that type. He is very involved in H!P, not because he is just a workaholic but because they are like his daughters. It is what makes me worry he'll have a difficult time taking a break but on the upside it will make him way more motivated to get well and back into the game.


I HATE cancer.


*editited for wrong pronoun...

[JPope]

[quote="aine"]
That's pretty awful. I hope it's not too bad and he'll make a quick recovery, for his own and his family's sake in the first place.


Anyone knows if Tsunku's a smoker?
[/quote]
 
In nearly every video clip I've seen of him actually working, he's smoking.

[JPope]

I think even a workaholic like Tsunku will understand the need to take a break to beat fucking cancer. And if he doesn't, I have a feeling his wife will clue him in.
 
When we all thought it was just a matter of needing basic surgery, I figured that he probably had more than enough material backlogged to cover any absence, but this definitely changes things. We may see the first Morning Musume singe composed by someone other than Tsunku this year.

[Pucchi-Mo]

He probably has enough songs left over. They had to make so many songs for the B-sides last year, I bet there a few more that got made but were never released. (hopefully not all rejects, more like, this would be better for later...)
 
Actually, since they just did the B-side album, it works out pretty well. Maybe he already has this year's releases planned out far enough that we won't even notice. 
 
If not, Takui, please write a hilariously titled song for H!P girls to sing this year. 

[sayu1991]

Even if he had the releases planned, I wonder who will sing the demo cd that the girls use to learn the song. =/


Either way I really hope that he takes a break from work to focus on taking care of himself and beating this. I know that he sees the idols as daughters but he has three real children and his wife to worry about being there for first and foremost.

[Derby]

Oh God, I hope he recovers quickly and soon :s
It was always painful whenever I heard him talking with this voice. He seemed to be bad, but I didn't expect it to be cancer :(
Anyone knows how long it takes to recover from glottis cancer?

[aine]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="173091" data-time="1394168376"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="aine" data-cid="173060" data-time="1394140258">Anyone knows if Tsunku's a smoker?</blockquote> 
In nearly every video clip I've seen of him actually working, he's smoking.</blockquote>
I guess I never saw a video of him actually working - the closest would be some brief studio glimpses from old MM auditions, but I don't recall seeing him smoke then. Either way, that's a bit disappointing and surely won't help the case.

[momoirosaya]

This is like that famous innovative chef that got tongue cancer and can't taste anymore. Ironic.
But he does smoke, and that is SO horrible for singers to do!! It ruins their voice, and is probably the reason Tsunku's voice sounds so raspy.
Luckily Tsunku should be able to afford the best treatment! He will be okay!

[TicTacAnyone]

I'm gone for a week and this is the news I come back to?
Tsunku noooo

[showraniy]

I don't know anything about cancer of this nature, so I hope Tsunku is able to recover and take an actual break to do it. I don't know his wife or children, but hopefully they have the personalities to make him rest if he's too stubborn to do it on his own.


I'm sad this sounds like the result of smoking. I've never seen him smoke, but if that's what caused this, that is just entirely too preventable and sad.

[JPope]

Who said it was the result of smoking? Yes, he smokes, but that does not mean his cancer is necessarily a result of smoking. He also sings A LOT, so that might have just as much to do with it as the smoking.

[sayu1991]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="173198" data-time="1394477371">
Who said it was the result of smoking? Yes, he smokes, but that does not mean his cancer is necessarily a result of smoking. He also sings A LOT, so that might have just as much to do with it as the smoking.</blockquote>


I'm not saying that smoking did or did not cause his cancer because I'm no doctor. What I will say, however, is that smoking is well known to be able to cause a number of oral, lung, and esophageal cancers. Last time I checked, singing does not have the potential to cause cancer cells to form and grow. Can it cause vocal cord damage? Sure. Do singers have a higher incidence of polyps? Sure, I'll give you that. But to say that it is just as likely that the use of his voice (i.e. singing) caused cancer as it is that cigarettes, which are full of known carcinogens, caused cancer is asinine.

[JPope]

[quote="Sayu"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="173198" data-time="1394477371">
Who said it was the result of smoking? Yes, he smokes, but that does not mean his cancer is necessarily a result of smoking. He also sings A LOT, so that might have just as much to do with it as the smoking.
</blockquote>


I'm not saying that smoking did or did not cause his cancer because I'm no doctor. 
 
[/quote]
 
You probably should've stopped right there. 

[sayu1991]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="173200" data-time="1394481454"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Sayu" data-cid="173199" data-time="1394479184">
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="173198" data-time="1394477371">
Who said it was the result of smoking? Yes, he smokes, but that does not mean his cancer is necessarily a result of smoking. He also sings A LOT, so that might have just as much to do with it as the smoking.</blockquote>
I'm not saying that smoking did or did not cause his cancer because I'm no doctor.
</blockquote>


You probably should've stopped right there. </blockquote>


And why is that?

[showraniy]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="173200" data-time="1394481454"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Sayu" data-cid="173199" data-time="1394479184">
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="173198" data-time="1394477371">
Who said it was the result of smoking? Yes, he smokes, but that does not mean his cancer is necessarily a result of smoking. He also sings A LOT, so that might have just as much to do with it as the smoking.</blockquote>
I'm not saying that smoking did or did not cause his cancer because I'm no doctor.
</blockquote>


You probably should've stopped right there. </blockquote>


By the same token, there is no proof from your medical background as a doctor anywhere in this thread saying singing causes cancer, unless you failed to post your credentials with your opinion.

[star]

I'm not saying that it caused it, but him smoking probably didn't help.