When Japanese celebrities fall from grace, they fall hard and fast. Yesterday actress and former teen idol Noriko Sakai, 38, appeared in the Tokyo District Court pleading guilty to charges of using an illegal stimulant, hoping to stave off a ten-year prison sentence.
The short version of the story is that Sakai’s ‘professional surfer’ husband was arrested in Shibuya in August, after police thought he was acting strangely and subsequently found illegal drugs in his pocket. Sakai tried to rescue him, to no avail, then went into hiding. The public worried for her, thinking that the shock of finding out she had a drug-abusing husband was too much to bear.
Six days later, she turns herself in to police, admitting to having used an illegal stimulant 10 times, or ‘usually about once or twice a month’, according to an article in The Asahi Tribune today. In court, prosecutors were unforgiving:
‘The defendant was in the business of giving people dreams and hope, but her crime led to major disappointment among many people and also caused economic losses.’
The verdict will be handed down 9 November, but for her part Sakai is already repentant. She plans to leave showbiz to study nursing so she can care for her mother, who is ill. She also plans to get a divorce. There’s been no mention of plans to remove the small tattoo spotted on her ankle last year (tsk, tsk).
Sakai’s star still seems to be shining bright among at least one part of the community though. There was a typhoon here yesterday but that didn’t stop 6,615 fans waiting outside the court. They know the exact figure because, the Tribune states:
‘Before the trial, numbered wristbands were handed out to 6,615 people hoping to get a seat in the courtroom. Twenty were chosen at random, making the odds – one in 330 – the highest ever.’
There you have it, the local way to measure celebrity stardom – the odds of getting a ringside seat while dreams, hope and economic losses come crashing down all around. A note to Noriko Sakai: Don’t worry, I for one am not holding you responsible for any losses I might have incurred, economic or otherwise.
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