This is the first time that Sakaguchi has revealed the exact name of his medical condition which is an incurable illness designated by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The illness which is also known by the name avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head, is a pathologic process that results from interruption of blood supply to the bone. It is said that there are about 11,000 patients and another 2,000 to 3,000 cases are found each year. As there is no effective cure for this illness, patients may have to go through surgery to get an artificial hip joint if necrosis of the bone takes place and affects the ability to walk along with extreme pain experienced by the patient. An alternative is to cut off a part of the bone and do correction surgery on the joint. People in their 30s to 50s form the bulk of the patients and men are more likely to get this. It's been said that one of the reasons leading to this illness was the use of steroids and excessive drinking. Besides Sakaguchi, RYOJI of Ketsumeishi announced in 2016 that he was suffering from this while the late Misora Hibari was also diagnosed with this in the last years of her life.
In his statement, Sakaguchi said that as per some media reports earlier, he had been unwell since 3 years ago and caused inconveniences to various parties as a result. As it had been determined that it would be difficult for him to continue his acting career given his current condition, this was what led to his decision. Although he had undergone surgery and his symptoms have been alleviated to a large extent compared to before, there is an element of uncertainty because his condition may worsen anytime in future.
Sakaguchi revealed that he will continue with his treatment for the time being and he hoped to be able to do something which he can manage when his condition improves. However, he is unsure now if this would be in the entertainment industry as an actor. For someone like him to have come this far, he expressed his thanks to the people who had worked with him, his agency's staff, his family and his fans for their unwavering support.
Sakaguchi became a regular model of fashion magazine MEN'S CLUB in 1999 and made his debut in the TV Asahi drama "Best Friend" in October the same year. Since then, he has been active in dramas and sports variety shows due to his sporting talent. His father Sakaguchi Seiji is a retired wrestler and judoka while his elder brother Yukio is a martial artist and professional wrestler. He has two sons who were born in September 2014 and May 2016.
According to K Dash, Sakaguchi first noticed something wrong with his hip joint when he was acting in the stage play "Juusannin no Shikaku" in August 2012. He used painkillers to get through the run of the play and bore with the chronic pain to continue with his acting career. However, when he wrapped up filming for the FujiTV Spring 2014 drama "Zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi", he decided to go for a month's treatment after getting married in January the same year. By this time, he already needed to use crutches to move around and was hospitalised in July 2014 for a series of tests which did not lead to a conclusive diagnosis. It was only until spring the following year when he was officially diagnosed with the illness and went for surgery soon after.
However, the pain still persisted after the operation so he stopped his acting activities and limited his work to narration and CM shoots only. Although he had an offer to start in a Autumn 2018 drama last year, he decided in late January this year to concentrate on his treatment despite his initial thought of using that drama to mark his return as an actor. By then, his CM contract had already ended. K Dash explained that the drama required him to do some action scenes which he could not manage. Especially as Sakaguchi's selling point all this while was his physical fitness, he could not allow himself to continue being an actor if he couldn't do his best anymore. Although the pain is manageable now and doesn't have any effect on his daily life, his condition may worsen anytime so he decided to leave showbiz for the time being and try his best to regain his health. It was reported that although he could still do his favourite activities of surfing and paddling, there was no way he could stand up on the board. At the moment, he is going for rehabilitation at the hospital every six months but has ruled out surgery to get an artificial joint due to the potential side effects post-surgery. K Dash indicated that as long as Sakaguchi himself wishes to return, they would be willing to sign a contract with him anytime in future.
Sources: Nikkansports / Sponichi Annex / Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon
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