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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

J-pop Star Noriko Sakai Faces Drug Charge

The Japanese popular icon, Noriko Sakai, the singer and actress with a girl-next-door image has turned herself in to authorities in Tokyo Saturday evening and admitted to taking stimulant drugs since last summer encouraged by her husband, despite her urine test coming back clean. The prosecutor may dismiss the charge.
Noriko Sakai (酒井法子, born February 14, 1971 in Fukuoka) debuted on a video at the age of 15 in 1986, but rose to fame at 16 through acting in TV dramas and singing in the 1990s with nickname NORI-P (のりピー). She is popular all over Asia, an unusual achievement for a Japanese actress, and recently revived her career by appealing to older female fans. Her best-selling single to date is "Aoi Usagi" (碧いうさぎ, "Blue Rabbit"). This song was released on May 10, 1995, and used for the opening theme of the Japanese TV drama series Hoshi no Kinka (星の金貨), which she also starred in, and I watched whole series. It's currently Sakai's biggest-selling single of her career.
Entertainment world drug arrests have been making the headlines for the past week in Japan, and have shocked fans in Japan and elsewhere who believed in her "pure and straight" image. I suspend all belief of all allegations when it comes to Japanese news. There are so many possibilities, and things are rarely 'proven'. I lived and worked in Japan over decade. They have very strict drug laws. The drug use is widespread in the entertainment world. She is probably the most popular Japanese celebrity outside of her home country. Because of that, she may have suffered from tremendous stress that we can never imagine, and she will undoubtedly be banned from the industry.
She should get back to the normal life as before. I hope she gets things sorted out, and manages to move on and keep her career on track. The good news is that Sakai's 1995 hit single "Aoi Usagi" was the #1 downloaded song Tuesday on the iTunes music site following her arrest over the weekend. Please enjoy the song with me.

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