Japanese star gets suspended sentence for drug case
Last Updated: Monday, November 9, 2009 | 1:46 PM ET
CBC News
Japanese actress Noriko Sakai received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to drug possession and use. (Kyodo News/Associated Press) Japanese singer-actress Noriko Sakai, who shot to fame across Asia based on her clean-cut image, on Monday received a suspended sentence for drug use and possession.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced the 38-year-old entertainer to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, according to a court spokesman.
The jail term will be dropped after three years, provided she remain crime-free.
More than 3,000 people applied for admittance to the courtroom's 21-seat public galley during Sakai's case, with throngs of people also gathering in a park outside the court to await the verdict.
According to a statement from the judge, Sakai has pledged to stop using drugs and is considering a divorce from her husband, who she claims introduced her to drug-use about four years ago.
Sakai headlines in August when she disappeared for about a week. It took place after her husband, Yuichi Takaso, was arrested for drug possession and use of amphetamines.
She later turned her 10-year-old son over to relatives and herself to the authorities.
After her arrest, Sakai spent nearly 40 days in detention before she was released bail.
Sakai burst onto the music scene in the late 1980s and added acting to her slate in the 1990s. She was a popular performer across Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea for her sweet, wholesome, girl-next-door persona and later for her image as a seemingly perfect celebrity mom.
Since the arrest, which shocked her Asian fans, Sakai has lost a host of commercial deals as well as her contract with record label Victor Entertainment. Her albums and other products have also been pulled from stores.
With files from The Associated Press
