Shinichi Chiba announces retirement, sort of

I just spotted this at the Viva Chiba Yahoo newsgroup, courtesy of Henshin! Online publisher August Ragone (who is a mega-nice young man). I'm kind of bummed out, esp. since other posters think he's ill.

"During an interview on NHK's SATURDAY STUDIO PARK this past week, Shinichi Chiba (68) announced that after his departure from the cast of the current NHK Taiga Drama FURINKAZAN for "personal reasons," he's hanging up his acting hat. At one point in the interview, he shed tears, saying that after 50 years in show business, that he'd rather quit while he is still in top form. He stated that this retirement will a semi-retirement, and take a year off before embarking on new projects, which will be announced at a later date."