KUALA LUMPUR: Award-winning Japanese actress Yuko Takeuchi was found dead in her apartment in Shibuya, Tokyo on Sunday.
The 40-year-old star of HBO drama series Miss Sherlock, was found unconscious by her actor husband, Taiki Nakabayashi, 35, at about 2am, according to a recent news report by Japan Times.
However, no suicide note was found.
She was sent to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has launched an investigation into the death. They suspect that Takeuchi had taken her own life.
"It came all of a sudden, and we are all stunned and saddened by the news," her talent agency, Stardust Promotion Inc., said, adding that it is examining the details of the incident.
Takeuchi received a number of film awards and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Japanese Academy Award for three years in a row from 2004.
Takeuchi, a native of Saitama Prefecture, became popular after starring in a 1998 classic Japanese horror movie Ringu, which had been adapted by Hollywood as The Ring.
She had also started in a number of television dramas and movies, including the Asuka morning drama series broadcast by NHK between 1999 and 2000, and Sanada Maru, a year-long historical drama series aired by the public broadcaster in 2016.
Takeuchi's recent role was in The Confidenceman JP: Princess, the second movie based on the popular Fuji Television drama.
