Kusanagi Tsuyoshi from SMAP arrested for public obscenity

SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi has been arrested on the charge of public obscenity for walking around nude on 23 April 09. Kusanagi was under the influence of alcohol and is yet to sober up according to reports this morning. However, he has admitted his guilt to the police.

According to the Akasaka Police Station, they received a call from someone living near Hinoki-cho Park which is just beside Tokyo Midtown, at around 2.55 am on 23 April that a man was creating a disturbance there. When policemen reached there, they found a naked Kusanagi making trouble, shouting words which didn't mean anything and was apparently intoxicated. Even though the police were trying to get him to calm down and stop screaming, he refused to do so and even said that there was nothing wrong for him to be naked. It is also reported that he hit the policemen when they were telling him to stop creating a din. As such, the policemen arrested him on the spot. He resisted arrest at one point so the police had to handcuff him and wrap him up in a sheet before sending him to the police station. Kusanagi's clothes were folded neatly and placed somewhere within the park which were found later. At the moment, he is still under custody in the Akasaka police station. He has been made to undergo the alcohol test and it is found that he registered a reading of 0.8mg of alcohol/1 litre which is 3 times the limit for drink-driving offences.

Kusanagi has been a member of SMAP and was known for his quiet and gentle personality. He was selected as Best Jeanist for 5 years in a row and was well-known for having mastered Korean in a short period of time. He also made his debut into Korea some years ago. He is now the CM character for the digital broadcast campaign which starts in 2011. In a survey among single people in their 30s, Kusanagi was named the No.1 representative for "Soushoku Danshi" i.e. guys who are caring towards friends and family but are not too keen on romance. Kusanagi was known as someone who loves to drink and was seen drinking beer in a number of TV programmes in the past.

This is not the first time that a SMAP member has run into trouble with the law. In Aug 2001, Inagaki Goro was caught for illegal parking and causing hurt to a female police officer who tried to stop him. He was sentenced to probation as he was deemed to have no malice in his actions. This led to Inagaki having to take a break from work for 143 days. His CM deals were terminated and his dramas had to be shown at a later date. Given the nature of Kusanagi's offence this time, it is expected that he will suffer a greater punishment especially if he did hit the policemen who were there to stop him from creating a disturbance. If he is found guilty under the public obscenity charge, he stands to be jailed for under 6 months and/or a fine of under 300,000 yen.

Due to the arrest of Kusanagi, everyone is sent into a frenzy as to how to deal with the situation. FujiTV has 4 TV programmes which feature Kusanagi i.e. Waratte Iitomo, SMAPxSMAP, Bokura no Ongaku and Chonan Kan. According to insiders there, the management is having a meeting about this issue. Likewise in TV Asahi, Kusanagi's programme "PuSma" has an upcoming episode on 28th April thus they are also deciding what to do with it.

At Toho's side, Kusanagi has an upcoming movie, "BALLAD Na mo naki Koi no Uta" due to be shown from 5 Sept. Although filming has already ended, this is the first time that a cast member in their movie was arrested before the roadshow thus they are in a fix as to what to do. There is a SP featuring this movie to be shown from 25 April to 18 May over the weekends but TV Asahi is deciding whether to axe this too.

As Kusanagi is involved in many CMs, the impact of his arrest is even bigger. According to the Digital Broadcast Promotion Board, the current CM was slated to be shown till July but they will remove Kusanagi immediately and choose another artiste as a replacement immediately. They are currently in plans to liaise with TV stations to remove the CM. As for other sponsors like P&G and Yamasa Soy Sauce, they are taking the CMs off for the time being and deciding what to do when more details of the case are released.

SMAP's recording company, Victor Entertainment released a statement saying that there are no plans for a new SMAP song at the moment. Further action will be taken once they have more information of the case.

At Johnny's Jimusho, about 100 members of the press are there currently waiting for further updates to the situation.

Report above comes from a number of articles published in Sankei, Mainichi and Yomiuri.

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This has got to be the biggest headline today! And it's so shocking that I do not know how to react. Honestly. I really thought that my eyes were playing jokes on me. This is because Kusanagi has always been portrayed as one with a healthy image and to be arrested for public obscenity is a big blow to what he has built up over the years. And coupled with the fact that he was said to have hit the policemen will make it worse. I believe he will be in a worse shape than what happened to Inagaki in the past and his road to redeeming himself will be even tougher. What a pity! He's a good actor and such a hardworking guy...非常に残念！

Why did he drink so much? Why was he alone in that park? Why did he decide to go naked and make noise? Under stress? Under the influence of alcohol?

This incident will deal another big blow to the management of Johnny's Jimusho. Another incident due to the influence of alcohol. Honestly speaking, someone of Kusanagi's age should know better. It's not as if he's drinking as an underaged. However, people will think that JJ is now powerless in controlling how their artistes behave outside of work. A mockery of their well-known iron-fist management style. And everyone in JJ will be pressed for comments on this issue when they appear in public, especially the SMAP members. Inagaki will be haunted once again as news of his past offence is dug up again to compare to what may happen to his fellow teammate. Deja vu...what a nightmare!

It remains to be seen what will happen next since Kusanagi is under custody. I guess we will know more details as the day progresses. Keep checking here for more updates.