Category Archives: Entertainment News

Tokyo police have found all the evidence they need to prove that actress/singer Sakai Noriko (38) was a user of methamphetamine. In a search of her home they found not only carelessly hidden drugs but also the paraphenalia for using them. A test revealed Sakai’s DNA, confirming her husband’s statement that they had taken drugs together. Sakai is still on the run, with her last known location thought to be in Yamanashi Prefecture. It has been revealed that on Sunday night, immediately after she refused to allow police to search her or to accompany them to the police station for a urine test, she withdrew several hundred thousand yen from a convenience store ATM. She is known to have bought underwear and cosmetics and returned briefly to her home before going into hiding. Her husband was arrested on the spot on Sunday night, and an arrest warrant for Sakai was issued on Thursday.

It was also revealed yesterday that Sakai’s younger brother Takeshi (30) was recently arrested on a drug charge, though the incidents are thought to be unrelated. Takeshi is a member of the Yamaguchi Gumi organized crime organization in Fukuoka, his family’s hometown. He was arrested on June 29 for using threats of violence to take a car and cash from an acquaintance. While he was on bail in that case, police thought his behavior suspicious and subjected him to a urine test. When that test proved positive for MDMA, he was arrested on July 17. His court case is due to begin August 28.

Not only is actor Oshio Manabu facing likely jail time, but there won’t be a wife tying yellow ribbons for him while he’s inside. Actress Yada Akiko (30) yesterday faxed a statement to the media saying she had filed for divorce from Oshio (31), less than a week after his arrest for drug use. The couple had been separated for about six months and Yada acknowledged that the reasons included Oshio’s extra-marital affairs, their “incompatible values,” and the ongoing effect on her son and other people around her. There have been reports that the woman whose death is at the center of the ongoing investigation, rather than pursuing Oshio for his fame and money in fact felt she was being stalked by the bad-boy actor and musician. Her family and friends, who attended her funeral during the week, have expressed their anger at Oshio’s seeming refusal to take responsibility for her death. The media has also been critical of his statements to police, in which he has insinuated that the woman coerced him into taking MDMA (ecstasy) and that it was the advice of an acquaintance that made him abandon her body in the luxury Roppongi apartment where she died, naked on a bed. In her statement yesterday, Yada apologized for her ex’s behavior but said she was not ready to speak to the press in person. The couple married in November 2006 and had a child the next year.

Earlier stories:

Oshio Manabu Faces Drug Arrest (Aug 4, 2009)

The Japanese media are hitting fever pitch with the news that Tokyo police have issued an arrest warrant for actress/singer Sakai Noriko (38). Her management agency Sun Music Production, refused to comment on the latest development except to say they are checking the facts. When “Noripi,” as she is popularly known, and her young son disappeared after the drug arrest of her husband late Sunday night, the general feeling was one of sympathy. The consensus was that she was simply overwhelmed by the shock of what was happening and trying to escape the inevitable media glare. But today it was revealed that police have discovered stimulant drugs at the Kawasaki home shared by Sakai, her husband Takaso Yuichi, their 10-year-old son, and Takaso’s mother. Though she has long had a squeaky clean image and is a popular TV “mama-san” role model, Sakai has had more than her share of troubles. Her mother died when she was young and when her father remarried, the family moved to her step-mother’s home in Saitama Prefecture; her father died in a traffic accident in 1989; in 2000, shortly after Sakai returned from maternity leave, Mizoguchi Nobuo – her manager since her 1985 debut – hanged himself at the Sun office. The only sign of her since her disappearance was a brief signal from her mobile phone, the origin in Yamanashi Prefecture just 30km from the scene of her father’s fatal accident. This morning, the news that her son was safe at the home of a friend in Tokyo seemed to be the beginning of a resolution to the incident. But with an obviously rattled Sakai now the subject of a manhunt, the media are understandably nervous about the possible outcome.

Earlier stories:

Noripi in Search of Enlightenment? (Aug 5, 2009)

Sakai Noriko Goes Missing (Aug 5, 2009)

Noripi’s Hubby in Latest Drug Arrest (Aug 5, 2009)

Actress Ohara Reiko was recently found dead at her home in the Tokyo suburb of Setagaya. She was 62. She was found by a police officer called by a relative who became worried after repeated failed attempts to reach the actress. Ohara joined the Toei movie studio in the mid 1960s and established herself as a supporting actress next to such stars as Takakura Ken and Umemiya Tatsuo. She later moved to the world of TV dramas where starring roles soon made her the most popular actress in the country. But she is perhaps best remembered for her line in a commercial for Suntory Red whisky: “Sukoshi aishite, nagaku aishite” (love me a little, love me long). She herself was twice married and twice divorced, to actor Watase Tsunehiko and enka star Mori Shinichi. Since 1999 she battled a disease known as Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system. The condition forced her to cut back on her workload, though she made occasional TV and stage appearances. In November 2008, she suffered a broken wrist and injured her knee in a fall at her home.

Watch one of Ohara’s famous Suntory commercials:

Sukoshi aishite, nagaku aishite

• The latest developments in the disappearance of Sakai Noriko. The star hasn’t been seen since the drug arrest of her husband on Sunday night. Police started a search for Sakai and her 10-year-old son following a request from her mother-in-law and management agency. A signal from her mobile phone was detected in the Minobusan mountain area of Yamanashi Prefecture on Tuesday night, close to where she lived as a child with her stepmother and late father. A report this morning said that the current whereabouts of her stepmother are also unknown. Meanwhile, it was revealed last night that Sakai left her son in the care of an acquaintance before leaving Tokyo on Monday.

A former Johnny’s Jimusho idol singer has gone from stealing hearts to stealing steel balls, according to a statement released by Saitama police on Wednesday. Kasukabe City police station named Matsumoto Kazuki (26) as one of four men arrested last month for stealing from pachinko parlors in the city. The statement gave details of one minor theft, but the total sum stolen over several years amounts to some ten million yen. Matsumoto joined Johnny’s Jimusho when in the eighth grade, and as a member of the Johnny’s Jr. group he appeared in TV commercials and drama series. But three years later he left the agency, saying he wanted more free time. He started working at a La Festa pachinko parlor in Kasukabe in January 2007 and soon he got involved with the group who were stealing pachinko balls and exchanging them for cash. A typical theft would involve temporarily disconnecting a device that counts the balls during a machine test. According to the police statement, on one day they stole 3,300 balls for which they got about ¥8,000. But over the course of time, the group stole a sum estimated at around ¥10 million. Pachinko, while considered Japan’s biggest leisure activity, operates in a shadowy area skirting the law. Parlors are unable to give out cash winnings, but patrons exchange their ball bearing-like “tama” for token gifts, which in turn they exchange for cash at hole-in-the-wall shops located just outside the premises. The vast majority of pachinko parlors are operated by ethnic Koreans and billions of yen are believed to be funneled each year to North Korea.

• Details continue to trickle out in the Oshio Manabu case. The actor (31) continues to insist that he didn’t know the tablets he and his female companion took last weekend were illegal. The cause of her death has yet to be determined, but Oshio has said that she passed out after taking a second tablet of MDMA (Ecstasy). The exact time of her death has yet to be officially reported, but one estimate would put Oshio at the scene for up to ten hours before he telephoned his manager and medical services were called. A legal expert has said that Oshio is unlikely to face murder charges, and if he is determined to have forced the women to take the drug he would likely face manslaughter charges. As he has acknowledged that he left the apartment after calling his manager, he will at least face charges of abandonment of a body. That combined with the drugs charge would lead to a prison sentence of five years or more.

Meanwhile family and friends attended the woman’s funeral in Gifu Prefecture on Wednesday night. Her name has not been made public, though her photo is published in today’s issue of the weekly magazine “Friday.” She was 31 and described as having the looks of an actress. She is said to have been having an affair with Oshio, who is married to actress Yada Akiko (31), for about six months.

The latest update on the whereabouts of actress/singer Sakai Noriko (38) is that her mobile phone was last spotted in the area of Minobusan in Yamanashi Prefecture. The mountain is a pilgrimage destination for Buddhists and is the burial place of Nichiren, the 13th century monk and founder of one of the biggest Buddhist schools. Sakai’s phone, unreachable since the arrest of her husband Takaso Yuichi (41) on Sunday night, was switched on briefly on Tuesday night. It then became unreachable again, but it’s not known if this was because it was turned off or because it was out of network range. Sakai’s mother-in-law and the president of her management agency formally requested a police search for the star on Tuesday. Meanwhile it was revealed that Sakai was waiting for her husband in their car when he was stopped on a Shibuya street and arrested on the spot for possession of stimulant drugs. She and their 10-year-old son haven’t been seen since. In a related development, it turns out that Takaso’s claims to be a professional surfer were lies. An angry Japan Pro Surfing Association said today that he has never been registered with them even as an amateur. Takaso is believed to have lied about his profession to help business at the store he runs in central Tokyo selling surfing and other sports-related goods.

Earlier stories:

Sakai Noriko Goes Missing (Aug 5, 2009)

Noripi’s Hubby in Latest Drug Arrest (Aug 4, 2009)

The family of actress/singer Sakai Noriko (38) have asked Tokyo Metropolitan police to try and track down her whereabouts. No one has been able to contact her since her husband was arrested on Sunday night for possession of stimulant drugs. Aizawa Masahisa, president of the Sun Music management agency that represents Sakai, gave a press conference yesterday. He said she has not been seen at her home, which she also shares with her mother-in-law, and repeated calls to her mobile phone have gone unanswered. “I’m sure she is extremely distressed at recent events. But I would ask her not to try and deal with this on her own but to contact us as soon as possible.” There had already been rumors of a split between Sakai and her husband, pro surfer and business owner Takaso Yuichi (41), who have a 10-year-old son. The couple married in 1998. Sakai took maternity leave after the birth of her child but returned to work and has become a “Mama-san” role model in TV commercials and dramas.

• In the ongoing Oshio Manabu case, it turns out the woman whose naked body was found in a luxury Roppongi apartment was a top Ginza hostess in her 30s. A source said that the Gifu Prefecture native had started out at a “cabakura” (cabaret club) in the seedier Kabukicho district, later moved to a hostess club in Roppongi, before reaching the “elite” level of hostessing in Ginza. She is said to have known Oshio from her time working in Roppongi, and he has acknowledged that she was an “acquaintance.” Though Oshio is known to have been to the apartment frequently, it belongs to the president of an online lingerie business. The ¥400,000/month 1-bedroom apartment is said to be one of several in the Roppongi Hills Residence that were used as “play spots.” The company president has many friends in showbiz and the IT industry, and this week’s case could lead to the exposure of a major sex and drugs scandal. Meanwhile, management for Oshio’s wife, actress Yada Akiko, faxed a statement to the media yesterday. They said she was cooperating with the police investigation but pointed out that the couple have been living separately for the last six months. Yesterday, Oshio was transferred from the Azabu police station to the detention center at the Mita station.

Earlier story:

Oshio Manabu Faces Drug Arrest

Hot on the heels of talento Oshio Manabu’s arrest for drug use just last night, this morning it was revealed that pro surfer Takaso Yuichi (41) has also been detained by Tokyo police in an unrelated drug arrest. The husband of actress and former top J-pop idol Sakai Noriko (38), he was stopped for routine questioning in the Dogenzaka area of Shibuya late Sunday night. He was found to be in possession of stimulant drugs and was arrested on the spot. Takaso and “Noripi” met in 1998, when she was getting into marine sports and he was running a sports shop in central Tokyo. She got pregnant and they were married by the end of the year. After taking a year of maternity leave Sakai was back at work, now appearing more often in “Mama-san” roles. Takaso runs the “Core Side” ski and snowboarding store in Minami Aoyama. There had been speculation recently of a split between the couple.

It looks like talento Oshio Manabu (31) has got himself caught up in a very serious matter. Avex Management announced yesterday that they had cut him loose, saying only that he had broken the terms of his contract. It was later revealed that he has been arrested by Tokyo police for drug use and possible involvement in the death of a woman. Police at the Azabu station, responding to a call on Sunday night from a Roppongi Hills apartment building, found a naked woman dead on a bed. They are questioning the caller as well as Oshio, who is described as connected to the apartment. A urine test on Oshio gave a positive result for MDMA, better known as Ecstasy. He said he had received the drug from a friend but had taken it without realizing it was illegal. Oshi made his acting debut in 1998 and quickly developed a fan base through his roles in popular TV dramas. With a career that jumps erratically between acting and music, Oshio is mainly known these days for his 2006 marriage to popular actress Yada Akiko (30, photo right) and his surliness with the media. In May of last year he joined Avex, saying he was aiming to make it as an international actor. But the beginning of this year saw him revive his rock band LIV, who were supposed to be releasing an album within the year.

Actor Bessho Tetsuya (43) gave a press conference today after his management announced yesterday that he is engaged to be married and recently became a father. He and his fiancee, whom he has known for 20 years and who is not in show business, became parents on July 16. The baby was born very prematurely and is still in a neonatal intensive-care unit. The couple met in 1989 in the U.S. where Bessho was working on his big screen debut in the sci-fi clunker “Solar Crisis” (also known as Crisis 2050). His future bride, a Japanese American, was a student at UCLA at the time. She came to work in Japan after graduating college and they remained close friends.