Maruyama Karin

ABOUT

Maruyama Karin was a Japanese idol. She passed away on May 22, 2015, from terminal Lung cancer after battling cancer for most of her life.

HISTORY

Maruyama Karin was born on August 2, 1993, in Koriyama City, Fukushima, Japan. In elementary school, it was discovered that she had a malignant brain tumor. From that time through High School she underwent two surgeries. Shortly after graduating from high school, she had a third, with the fourth scheduled. While she was in the hospital, Karin applied for several idol auditions and eventually caught the attention of an agency.

In 2012 she became a semi-finalist in Kodansha's Miss iD 2013 contest alongside Oba Haruka and Kinoshita Ayana. She had her first concert performance in December. She had to halt her activities in February 2013 to have a fifth surgery. She temporarily restarted activities in April but had to halt them again in June due to a sixth surgery. She held her first solo concert in September with a second one in December but was later canceled due to a seventh surgery.

In October 2014, it was discovered that some of the cancer cells from the brain tumor had migrated down to her lungs through the bloodstream. Despite this, Karin set up a crowdfunding campaign on Campfire. Her initial goal was doubled and her first single titled "Eternal Summer" was released on February 28, 2015. They were also plans for her to release another song that she had written the lyrics to herself.

Starting in April, Karin began releasing 1-2 minute videos to talk to fans.

On May 22, 2015, at 13:10 JST. Karin died from Terminal Lung Cancer. 

On August 23, 2017, a special edition of her single was released which also contained a DVD of the acoustic performances of her songs.