It could. That is how I found out that my sprinkler had been turned off (when we had a rainy spell). I just forgot to turn it back on. Sometime during a dry spell in winter, I noticed that a Kanjiro had dry and browned out leaves. Checking the soil, I noticed it was dry and then discovered the sprinkler was off. Oops. The shrub recovered of course.

Thanks for the reply.. gives me some hope! I'm worried because my camellia has been this way for almost 3 weeks now. Should I remove all the dry leaves from the plant, while I wait for a miraculous recovery?

It would not hurt to remove any of the brown leaves. If you scrape the bark gently beginning at the top of the plant and working your way down towards the bottom, look for any green beneath the bark. If you find green, the plant may recover. Also, if you find green, cut of the dead stems off to just above that green layer.

Thanks, Spartacus, that's good to know. I did scratch a bit of the bark earlier and it was green.. but now I'll do it from top to bottom as you suggested.Thanks, again.
P.S. I tried posting this reply last night but kept getting a 'message rejected' note - let's hope it goes through this time.