Kusanagi: What's wrong with being naked?

[furuya]

Probably my ONLY post in here ever: via http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/v...d-in-tokyo-park





SMAP member Kusanagi arrested for stripping naked in Tokyo park

Thursday 23rd April, 10:56 AM JST



TOKYO —

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, a member of Japanese pop music group SMAP, was arrested Thursday for allegedly stripping naked under the influence of alcohol at a Tokyo park around 3 a.m., the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said.



Kusanagi’s arrest on suspicion of public indecency in Hinokicho Park near Tokyo Midtown in Minato Wardat the park in Akasaka district in Minato Ward came after a male neighbor called police and reported someone screaming.



’’What is wrong with being naked?’’ Kusanagi, 34, was quoted as telling a police officer questioning him on the spot. Kusanagi was alone and violently resisted police interrogation, prompting three police officers to cover him with a sheet and take him to a patrol car. The jeans and jacket he is believed to have worn were found in the park, investigators said.



Kusanagi told police he had beer and shochu distilled spirits at an Akasaka bar with two friends. He admitted stripping his clothes off and said he regrets what he did, adding he does not remember why he got naked, they said.



His agency, Johnny & Associates, tightly controls all media appearances by its “talents.” A spokesperson said the company has not learned the details of the incident but offered apologies to Kusanagi’s fans and others for ‘‘causing anxiety and trouble.’’ The spokesperson declined to comment on what it would do in terms of his future activities.



Tokyo police said Kusanagi was highly intoxicated as his alcohol level in a breathalyzer test conducted five hours after his arrest was 0.8 milligram per liter, five times higher than the benchmark for drunk driving.



Public indecency carries a fine up to 300,000 yen or a maximum six-month jail term in Japan.



Kusanagi was later transferred from Akasaka Police Station to Harajuku Police Station, which is equipped with detention facilities. Clad in a blue shirt, his eyes were glazed and hair was tousled when he was witnessed by reporters who had gathered at the Akasaka station.



Kusanagi is serving as a government-designated promoter of Japan’s shift to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting, but the communications ministry plans to remove him, ministry officials said. Analog broadcasting is scheduled to end in July 2011 in Japan.



Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama vented anger when asked to comment. ‘‘The act is shameful for a person who is asking the public to shoulder a financial burden’’ of buying new televisions to prepare for the shift.



The minister said he plans to remove all the posters promoting digital broadcasting that feature Kusanagi, while the singer’s arrest immediately triggered the cancellation of commercials featuring him airing in Japan, including one by Toyota Motor Corp.



Kusanagi is well known for his fluency in Korean and has starred in a number of TV dramas, commercials and movies. Born in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, in 1974, he debuted as a SMAP member in 1991.



The incident caused ripples in South Korea as well, where he is known as ‘‘Cho Nan Gang,’’ with the media reporting his arrest as breaking news.



South Korean newspaper Kukmin Daily reported in its online edition that Kusanagi’s arrest ‘‘has shocked fans’’ both in South Korea and Japan. The news briefly topped a search ranking of the country’s major Internet portal site.



In 2003, Kusanagi took part in a TV talk show featuring then South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and met with the current leader Lee Myung Bak in April last year on another TV program.



Following Kusanagi’s arrest, a woman living near the park said she heard a man whooping and was concerned that her baby might wake up from the noise. One man said he thought there were several people making noise.



In 2001, another member of the five-member, all-male vocalist group, Goro Inagaki, was arrested on suspicion of illegally parking his car and obstructing police officers from performing their duties in an attempt to dodge a parking ticket. He was spared indictment at that time.

[Shoujo Q]

I read the news elsewhere, all I have to say is LOL! That's gotta suck. That should teach you not to go running around the park naked.

[tsukinobyouin]

Corinne and I were talking about this last night and wondering how it would effect his career. I guess it all comes down to what ends up happening to him legally. If he gets off with a fine, I imagine he'll probably go the route of Goro (temporary suspension/slap on the wrist), but if he gets any jailtime...damn.



It kind of sucks for him that he's going to get major heat over this when it's something that the average slarayman probably has probably done at least once XD Like Corinne said, it's too bad for Kusanagi he isn't Nakai, no one would have cared <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ph34r:' /> I guess this is like Kago smoking for Kusanagi fans. Now he's no longer innocent and sweet, he's a weird naked guy.

[Liana]

I lol'd when I read this, especially as it's Tsuyoshi of all people and of how cliche it all is. I really, really hope he had a lampshade on his head and they just didn't mention it, just to make it all that much more sitcom. I love that this is SMAP's second huge police involved scandal; sure, they've been around forever and our bound to be human and get in trouble and Goro's Grand Theft Auto was really just kind of weird, but it seems excessive when a lot of groups don't seem to have . . . any. Oh SMAP. Role models!

[Fina]

I'm loving this just because it was big enough to wind up on Perez Hilton. It has to be pretty ridiculous to wind up on that site. In all honesty I really couldn't care too much, he was never one of my favorite members of the group. Or - really - I'm not even a huge fan of SMAP, and they hardly do anything as a group anymore, so in the chance that he does get jail time it's not a huge loss for me.

[sadude]

[quote name='furuya' post='63997' date='Apr 23 2009, 03:35 AM']Kusanagi’s arrest on suspicion of public indecency[/quote]

What, someone in Japan finally took a look at his face? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... imshot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rimshot:' />

[neshcom]

Some arrest photos



Artist re-creation

[stoveroad]

Here's a video of Kusanagi's apology with English translation audio. The upside is that he isn't epileptic given the number of camera flashes going off.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhLFBxsE5-U

[Kago]

This is crazy though. Almost every sponsor who had tied in with him through 2011 has pulled their support, and this will end up costing JE around 5billion yen according to most estimates.



All for just doing something that probably happens in Japan a lot given the drinking culture.



He did test negative for drugs though so at least he didn't go the route of Akasaka.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Peking Duck' post='64034' date='Apr 25 2009, 03:44 AM']Here's a video of Kusanagi's apology with English translation audio. The upside is that he isn't epileptic given the number of camera flashes going off.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhLFBxsE5-U[/quote]



I nearly pissed myself when the cameras always went shshshrhshsrhsrhsrhhsr totally wild, when he was bowing. lol

But hey, at least we wasn't drunk at the press conference unlike some other guy...



The only memory I have of him is that he made a very funny special with JunJun, Risa and two other MM members. He seemed like a nice and gentle guy.

[Tallgeese]

I personally think this is FUNNY AS SHIT whenever stuff like this happens, especially when it's someone as big as SMAP. He'll probably get the Goro treatment, i.e. a year (or more) long ban from any public appearances. I just hope he doesn't drag down the rest of the people in SMAP. I mean Nakai is FINALLY getting a decent role in a rom-com this season (in Konkatsu).

[mizer_unmei]

I think the uproar over this is unnecessary. I may be too used to American scandals, but he's not 18 or anything so it's not like it's something that doesn't happen everyday.



Anyway, Kusanagi's been growing on me because of his love for the Koreas, but this might have put him at the top of the SMAP list for me. What IS wrong with being naked anyway? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote name='mizer_unmei' post='64074' date='Apr 26 2009, 08:07 AM']I think the uproar over this is unnecessary. I may be too used to American scandals, but he's not 18 or anything so it's not like it's something that doesn't happen everyday.[/quote]



I think a lot of the uproar has to do with the fact that he's supposed to be the most sweet, wholesome, clean-cut, nice-guy (and so on) member in SMAP, so it sort of has the same effect as Kago's smoking scandal did in terms of image. Lots of people smoke, but that doesn't make most people think more than "that's a gross/stupid habit" Since it was cutesy/sweet/innocent Kago though, people were all up in arms. Since it's Kusanagi's image more than Kusanagi himself that represents products and campaigns, I can understand why he got dropped so quickly.



Legally though, it definately feels like they're going too far. The drug test/search was just rediculous.

[tsukinobyouin]

Bit of a bump, but this isn't big enough to merit a new topic.



Johnnys Jimusho has made the announcement today that Kusanagi will be resuming his activities on the 28th with the filming of SMAP's variety show SMAPxSMAP. The episode will air 6/1. No word on whether or not he'll get any of his commercials back, but overall it seems this has basically blown over and his actual punishment was pretty light.



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