Kohei Tsuka, one of the country's best-known playwrights, has lung cancer, sources said Monday.
He is now receiving cancer drugs, the sources said.
Tsuka's latest play, "Hiryuden 2010 Last Princess," will open as scheduled Feb. 3 at the Shinbashi Enbujo theater in Minato Ward, Tokyo, they said.
Tsuka, 61, is a second-generation Korean born in Fukuoka. He won the prestigious Kishida Gikyoku Prize in 1974.
Heading his own drama group, he has trained a number of high-profile actors, including Morio Kazama and Kenichi Kato.