Drug conviction for Japan's pop princess
Updated
She's one of Asia's most famous pop princesses,she's now also a convicted drug user.
In the most publicised drugs case in Japanese history, the singer and actress Noriko Sakai has been sentenced to a year and a half in jail for taking methamphetamines, but the judge suspended the sentence for three years. The straight-laced Sakai's conviction has shocked fans in Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea. The shamed singer now says she wants to quit show business and devote herself to helping nurse the elderly.
Presenter: Mark Willacy
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(Reporter speaking Japanese)
MARK WILLACY: It's the biggest new story in Japan and scrambling from the courtroom reporters literally fell over themselves to be the first to broadcast the sentence handed down to Noriko Sakai.
(Reporter speaking Japanese)
In between gasps for air, this reporter told viewers that the pop princess had been sentenced to a year and a half in prison to be suspended for three years.
The Sakai case has sparked a media frenzy, with TV programs and newspapers giving it wall-to-wall coverage. After all, this is the classic tale of the girl next door and her descent into drug use.
(Noriko Sakai singing)
Noriko Sakai is a super-star in East Asia. She was acclaimed as the wholesome role model who could sing and act. Her endorsement deals with top-shelf companies like Toyota were worth hundreds of thousands.
But then came the downfall. Three months ago police searched her husband on a Tokyo street, finding a stimulant believed to be methamphetamine.
Fearing the police would come after her, Noriko Sakai disappeared, spending almost a week on the run, hoping to win time before she had to give a urine sample to police.
But in the end she turned herself in and pleaded guilty to drug use and possession.
(Yasusaburo Takehara speaking Japanese)
"She has been given a severe punishment" says lawyer, Yasusaburo Takehara. "It'll be hard for her to come back from this" he says.
But Noriko Sakai still has her fans. More than 3,000 of them lined up for just 20 seats in the courtroom to hear her sentencing.
Convicted, contrite and contractually unengaged, Sakai is now vowing to pay back society.
The disgraced singer says she wants to leave show business behind and now dedicate herself to nursing the elderly.
(Nursing expert speaking Japanese)
"Even if you graduate from nursing school the starting salary is just $500 a week or less," says this nursing expert. "I doubt Noriko Sakai would last too long on that" she says.
(Noriko Sakai singing)
In some cultures a singer with a drug conviction can be edgy and cool. In Japan it's a career killer and if Noriko Sakai sticks to her word, her next performance could be at a Japanese nursing home.
