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Satoshi Kon, His Wife, Madhouse Studio Write About His Passing (Update 4)

The anime studio Madhouse notified ANN that Kyōko Kon, the widow of director Satoshi Kon, wrote a message about his passing on his official website on Wednesday:

Satoshi Kon passed away due to pancreatic cancer on August 24 at 6:20 a.m. He was 46.

His funeral service will be held for family members only.

We are respectfully and deeply grateful for your kindness during his lifetime.

Kon'stone
Representative Director Kyōko Kon

Update: Madhouse also wrote about Satoshi Kon's passing on Wednesday:

Satoshi Kon, the director of numerous works at Madhouse including Paprika, Paranoia Agent, Tokyo Godfathers, and Millennium Actress, passed away due to pancreatic cancer early in the morning of Tuesday, August 24. He was 46.

With regards to funeral services, a private service will be held for family members only.

We are respectfully and deeply grateful for your kindness during his lifetime.

Madhouse

Update 2: A final message was posted to his website on his behalf on Wednesday, after his passing. His website is currently under heavy traffic load, but ANN archived a copy.

In the beginning of the message titled "Farewell," Kon recalled:

May 18 of this year, an unforgettable day.

My wife and I received the following prognosis from a cardiologist at the Musashino Red Cross Hospital:

"The pancreatic cancer is terminal and has metastasized to the bone. You have at most a half year left."

Later, he remembered meeting with Madhouse founder Masao Maruyama about the final anime film he was directing:

When I conveyed my concerns for Yume-Miru Kikai to Mr. Maruyama, he said, "It's fine. Don't worry, we'll do whatever it takes."

I cried.

I cried aloud.

He concluded his message with the following:

With feelings of gratitude for all that is good in this world, I put down my pen.

Well, I'll be leaving now.

Satoshi Kon

Thank you to toru, Dan42, and mt-i for the news tips.

Update 3: ANN forum user maaya has posted a translation of the beginning of Kon's final message.

Update 4: Writer Makiko Itoh posted a full translation of Kon's final message.