Productions company to make films. Kurobe's Sun which he produced was a great success but some movies he produced failed and he was forced to appear in the television dramas although he was reluctant to appear. Yūjirō survived a 1978 oral cancer of the tongue, and a 1981 aortic aneurysm, supported by friends, family and his legion of fans. However he was later diagnosed with liver cancer and died at Keio University Hospital in 1987 on July 17 at 4:26. He was 52 years old. His final appearance as an actor was in the final episode of popular detective television drama Taiyō ni Hoero!. In Taiyō ni Hoero! Ishihara kept on playing the role of Shunsuke Todō for 14 years and gained new popularity. Throughout his life Yūjirō used alcohol and tobacco, and ate meals that were lacking in vegetables; this unhealthy lifestyle is generally acknowledged as contributing to his early death. Legacy and memorials Yujiro Ishihara was called a Japanese Elvis Presley and his films and music are still followed by lovers of the Shōwa period. On the anniversary of his death, 17 July, his mourning ceremony is often rebroadcast on television. His grave is a granite gorintō, at Sōji-ji temple in Tsurumi, Yokohama, Kanagawa. A memorial museum opened on June 21, 1991, in Otaru, Hokkaido. In 1996 his older brother, Shintaro, published a biography, Otōto (弟), (Younger Brother), that won the Mainichi Bungakusho Special Prize and became the basis of a drama broadcast by TV Asahi in 2004. His image features on a 1997 Japanese postage stamp. Selected filmography Gesshoku (1956) Season of the Sun (太陽の季節, Taiyō no Kisetsu, 1956) - Mr. Izu (supporting role) Crazed Fruit (狂った果実, Kurutta kajitsu, 1956) - Takishima Natsuhisa The Baby Carriage (乳母車, Ubaguruma, 1956) - Muneo Aizawa Chitei no Uta (地底の歌, 1956) - Fuyu, the Diamond Ningen gyorai shutsugekisu (1956) Jazz musume tanjō (ジャズ娘誕生 Jazu musume tanjō, 1957) - Haruo Nanjô This Day's Life (今日のいのち Kyo no inochi, 1957) Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (幕末太陽伝 Bakumatsu taiyōden, 1957) - Takasugi Shinsaku Washi to taka (1957) - Senkichi I Am Waiting (俺は待ってるぜ Ore wa matteru ze, 1957) - Jôji Shimaki Man Who Causes a Storm (嵐を呼ぶ男 Arashi o yobu otoko, aka A Storming Drummer, 1957) - Shoichi Kokubu Shorisha (1957) Subarashiki dansei (1958) Yoru no kiba (literally "Fang of the Night") (1958) - Kenkichi Sugiura Rusty Knife (錆びたナイフ Sabita naifu,