Hideko Tsukida appears more spirited the more she sings on stage, and shows no signs of fading strength in her fight against cancer.
The 65-year-old is one of the few Japanese singers of "fado," a style of traditional Portuguese music. She received the Order of Merit from the president of Portugal in 2010 for her contribution to promoting the genre.
"Fado is a melancholic kind of singing about the past that can never be reclaimed or about those who are departing from you," she said after her latest live performance. "But when you listen to it, you feel more energetic and that is one great thing about fado."