The Mysterious Disappearance of Yuki Yajima

Well, there's really no sign of Yuki Yajima and so far, I think this will remain one of the greatest mysteries ever.  We've seen the lineup of all the Biomen acting or not but where in the world is Yuki Yajima? So I decided to update this post with more information found in the Japanese Wikipedia.

She had her TV role prior to Tokusatsu. What I find amazing is that she did have a regular TV appearance in the show Yagyu Jubei's Abare Journey as Akumi from 1982-1983. The role of Akumi well... DIED! However, unlike her next two dying roles - she did have a huge part rather than a guest role. So why did Toei decide to hire her into the next role? Apparently, her real agency was the Japan Action Club (JAC) which eventually decided to try her out in Tokusatsu.

Before that, she took part in the JAC Musical in 1981 in the Fun Pirate Adventure during the second and the third run. It would also be interesting she had a minor role in Roaring Fire as a high school student, in Adventurer Kamikazee as a university student, and in PC Wars ISAMI as Shoko. The first two movies were by Toei while the third one was by Salbow. Pretty much, she already had a momentum which probably made her attractive to Toei Ltd. 

Shogo B'Stard

It would be interesting that Toku Sarai did play the main character of Isami - ALL BEFORE Chojuu Sentai Liveman. Obviously, this may have caught the attention as to how they could turn Yuki into the first female yellow ranger. I haven't seen the film yet though I read it's about gang wars. I bet there are some really good action scenes with her. This was in 1982 - a year before her first Toku role.

She was seen as a guest actor in Sharivan as Bell Helen who lasted for a couple of episodes until her character was killed off by Lady Doctor Polter. So yeah, pretty sad but at the same time made me think couldn't they just have let her go to Bird or something? Regardless, she was moved away from Sharivan so she could play her rather short-lived character Mika Koizumi. She was a guest role, her character was eventually killed off but then again never forgotten. But I guess she wasn't so happy how she was written off. Maybe, that's what made some tensions between her and JAC.

She was pretty much an interesting action star herself especially with her fight scene with Yukari Oshima in episode two. Nobody knew why she suddenly left after Bioman episode nine, as far as I've heard it was very, very unprofessional that she left the show. Some say that she was heavily insulted by the cast director and she refused to go on. Another says she was pregnant which doesn't have any proof. The other theories and speculations link to payroll issues (A heavy issue in the 80s Toku perhaps?) to which she decided to quit. Again, there's always the easy assumption that somebody may have just decided to call it quits.

So why was she enlisted into Bioman? I guess the people behind the show were impressed by her track record with the movies. I guess they wanted to have an experienced actress to play Mika. However, it seemed that Yuki felt she deserved more for her previous experience. I mean, she was in Jubei and she had some roles already. Her leaving eventually allowed Sumiko Tanaka to take over. Unlike Yuki, Sumiko wasn't a regular let and had a guest role in Sharivan (as a dormitory girl) before showing off what she could do as a worthy replacement. Also, Yuka Motohashi (who became a season-long Mika) managed to stay through Carranger and didn't have many previous roles before becoming a ranger. I guess newcomers tend to be more welcome these days.  

Regardless, she should have just arranged her departure properly so at least, Mika Koizumi's death scene could have been done better or they could have written her off in a better way. Also, I thought it's sad she never had any more roles after leaving Bioman thus confusing everybody where she is but fortunately, Sumiko Tanaka was able to continue what she may have unprofessionally left behind. 

So far, according to the Japanese Wiki, producer Takeyuki Suzuki doesn't even have an answer to why she left. Later, both Michiko Makino and Naoto Ota were said they thought they saw her in passing. Regardless, it seems that her disappearance from the public eye is just one huge mystery. Probably, she's just living a private life somewhere as far as I can speculate. 

Updated on: September 30, 2021