Japan: Noriko Sakai Drug Trial Draws Crowd Of 6,000

TOKYO (AP) -- More than 6,000 people crowded outside a Tokyo courthouse Monday as Japanese actress Noriko Sakai pleaded guilty to drug use and prosecutors sought a prison sentence in a trial that has caused a media frenzy.

The 38-year-old Sakai was among the first Japanese actresses to gain popularity in Asia, and her arrest in August threatened to shatter her wholesome image.

The scandal has dominated headlines for months in Japan, and authorities have said they will crack down on drug use in the entertainment industry.

Prosecutors accused Sakai of inhaling amphetamines in July on the southern island of Amami Oshima, where she went with her husband and their son to view a lunar eclipse. Investigators also found a tiny amount of the drug in her Tokyo condominium. Sakai was arrested after turning herself in, following a weeklong disappearance.

"My husband encouraged me to use (the drug), but it was my own decision. It was a very thoughtless act," the Kyodo News agency quoted Sakai as telling the court Monday.

She is charged with drug use in violation of an anti-stimulant law. The violation carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, though most first violations bring suspended sentences.

Prosecutors on Monday sought 1 1/2 years in prison for Sakai at Tokyo District Court, where more than 6,600 people lined up in the rain for 20 seats to watch, a court official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

A ruling is expected on Nov. 9, the court official said.

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After 41 days in custody, Sakai was released last month on 5 million yen ($55,000) bail.

Her husband is being tried separately on similar charges.

Sakai said she wanted to divorce her husband and make a fresh start, Kyodo reported.

"I must correct myself. I feel miserable," she said, adding that she wants to quit entertainment and study nursing care for the elderly.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20091026/as-japan-actress-trial/

Comments

[blogattelle]

no woman no cry: you've just smoked marijuana, it's normal

[yogandclimber]

this falls under the category of "throwing salt on the wound"

[bartonfink]

let's see: porn capital of the planet - check, cities over-crowded to the point of insanity - check, game shows involving humiliation and borderline torture - check

entertainers using stimulants for the purpose of watching eclipses - at last, check

what a weird, hypocritical little country

[klandish]

I know Japan loves to aesthetically out do anything American does and do it consummately but do they really want to follow in the footsteps of our out dated and inhumane 'war on drugs'. Please Japan leave this one alone.

[dennissinned]

Please! Tell me she didn't in-HALEEEE!!!

[ChrisR]

Just a little racist humor, eh? Of course, you won't see that. Lot of that going around lately.

[yappnmutt]

now all they need to do is find the other three people(two of them are foreigners) doing drugs in japan and they will have the problem fixed(yes that's a pun).

[harriettubman]

She said her husband "encouraged" it. I believe her too. It is a very subservient culture for women, especially with the older ones. She has brought shame on her family--which is a huge issue there.

[Takae]

Subservient? I do wish people wouldn't make a sweeping generalization about a culture that still isn't familiar to the media.

[brady61995]

shes the example to be made of for the new drug war in japan. its not even a scratch on the surface there.

[harriettubman]

Honor is their code word in that part of the world. They hide a lot from the world and they appear "perfect" people. I was amazed at the number of homeless people in Tokyo. You will never see that on CNN. Crime was big too but in their communities not with the Americans. I could leave my doors unlocked. I use to watch the Japanese news too. One of my Japanese co-workers told me "Americans will never see the bad".

Look at how China built walls around their slums during the Olympics; that's how far they will go to appear perfect.

[ChinaMurdoch]

Remember how China was a closed society just a few years ago. How dare you say that China builds walls around their slums and wants to appear perfect. Their imperfections - and there are many - are open for all to see. No other major country has changed so much and for the better than China. It still has a long way to go - but it is progress none the less!

[iScan]

Recreational drug use in small amounts like this does not constitute something the state should waste their time on. You know its just about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[T Specter]

Stop criminalizing NORMAL HUMAN BEHAVIOR!

[Mannock]

Damned straight. Give me the nod while "dispose" of that neighbor with the leaf blower.

[KIVPossum]

snorting meth is not normal human behavior.

It should not be criminal to do it. As long as you don't hurt anyone, what you want to do with your body is your choice.

[trccommission]

Snorting speed (amphetamines) is not the same as taking meth. One gives you an energy boost keeps you awake, and used to help housewives do the cleaning and keep thin in the 50's, the other is meth.

[davidwayneosedach]

Imagine if we had Japan's laws here. Upwards of 75% of the population would be in jail!

[Mannock]

Um...wouldn't that be a reduction?

[loki]

lol

your right. If we had japans laws, prisons wouldnt be a profitable business like they are here. Where Prison companies pay off judges to send more prisoners their way and such..

[rayjoy]

The prisons are already overflowing with drug offenses. The US incarcerates more of their citizens than any other country in the world.

[loki]

well, when you send most the jobs off shore, and then allow companies to illegally hire people who came here illegally, sometime with the help of the same companies, so more and more people are out of work and desperate. They end up doing normal human behavior and do whatever they can do to survive. The rich dont like it when someone just takes whatever they want, like the very rich do. Only they can do that. The rest of us go to jail. The same jail the very rich own, and get paid tax payer money to house the same American citizens they hate.

[vorpalmusic]

Drugs are bad, mmmkay?

[NewArtz]

Well, arresting this actress will certainly solve the problem of drug use. There's not a problem on earth that incarceration won't remedy. Prisons for people who harm themselves through chemicals are known to correct the problem because .....uh, because.... I seem to have run into a problem in that there is no real basis to have written what I wrote. The idea of prison being the solution seems, in fact, to sound absurd and delusional.

Why is it people are suppose to be reality oriented by abstaining from chemicals that distort reality, yet reality seems to have been distorted just fine by those who don't do chemicals. That either means being off drugs is no saner than being on drugs, or everyone is actually secretly drug addled, and only a few, like this actress, are prosecuted.

If society were sane, then the individual would have a guide to sanity.

[loki]

at least in prison she will be able to do her drugs in a controlled environment.

[superlive]

In Asia Noriko Sakai is primarily considered a singer despite her many successes in film and television.