The husband of disgraced Japanese pop star Noriko Sakai on Wednesday told a court of their drug use, fueling a media frenzy that has gripped the nation since their arrests in August.
Yuichi Takaso, 41, told the Tokyo District Court that he was carrying illegal “stimulants” at the time of his arrest on Aug. 3 because he was planning to use them later with his wife.
Takaso and Sakai reportedly used methamphetamines on a regular basis.
“If I left it at home, I thought that my wife Noriko might use it alone without me watching,” he told the court, adding that he was concerned about the dangers posed by Sakai’s unsupervised drug use.
“I was thinking that we could meet up later and do it together,” he said.
Takaso’s arrest eventually resulted in drug charges against 38-year-old Sakai, shocking the Japanese public which has seen her grow from a teenage pop idol to become an actress in high-rating television shows and films.
Further adding to the drama of the case, Sakai, who is also well known in China, Taiwan and South Korea, went on the run for about a week before turning herself in to police on Aug. 8 and admitting to habitual drug use.
More than 1,500 people queued for hours in front of the courthouse to join a lottery for 42 gallery seats to see Takaso, a self-described professional surfer who was unknown to the public before his arrest, testify.
Sakai will have her first court hearing this week, which is likely to attract even more local media interest.
Her enduring fame and girl-next-door image have won her advertising contracts with carmaker Toyota, government public awareness campaigns and a role in a 1993 celebrity-studded commercial against youth drug abuse.
Michael Jackson fans will get a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been tomorrow as the movie charting the tragic singer’s final concert rehearsals makes its long-awaited premiere.
More than 100 hours of behind-the-scenes footage for Jackson’s aborted comeback have been distilled into a two-hour film being hyped by organizers as the last ever performance by the King of Pop.
Jackson family members and stars are expected to descend on a red carpet at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater, one of more than 15 simultaneous premieres being held in across five continents.
The movie — This Is It — will go on a limited two-week release in theaters worldwide from Wednesday, with advance tickets in several countries selling out within days of going on sale last month.
“It’s a movie about rehearsing for a concert that never happened,” Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time.”
Jackson, who died on June 25 aged 50, had spent the previous four months rehearsing in Los Angeles for a grueling series of 50 concerts scheduled to begin at London’s 02 Arena in July.
More than 800,000 tickets for the concerts had been sold, with organizers promising one of the “most expensive and technically advanced” live shows ever.
Jackson was putting the finishing touches to the show at the time of his death, which authorities in Los Angeles have ruled a homicide.
Film director Roman Polanski could face two years in prison if extradited to the US after fleeing sentencing in California on child sex charges in 1978, the Swiss justice ministry said. “The US want him to be extradited for sexual intercourse with a minor. This carries a maximum sentence of two years under US law,” justice ministry spokesman Folco Galli said on Friday.
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