Manabu Oshio

Actor-singer Oshio given suspended prison term for drug use

Monday 02nd November, 01:20 PM JST

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dolphingirl at 06:15 PM JST - 2nd November

I think it's strange that he was given a suspended sentence for drug use. However, a suspended sentence for possession for a first-time offender is standard. Star or not. I don't think they have any evidence to suggest that he is an 'habitual' user so that statement is irrelevant.

As Valmain mentioned, we still do not know whether she died of an overdose. Most fatalities due to MDMA use occur when MDMA is used in combination with other medicinal drugs. It's also possible that she had a preexisting medical condition that made her more vulnerable.

As for whether he can be held responible for her death, they will have to prove a high degree of negligence to warrent criminal liability. To mind mind, if he tried to revive her by giving her heart massage, it shows that he knew her life was in danger but did nothing further to help save her as any reasonable person would have done in that situation. Therefore, he seems pretty guilty of negligent homicide to me but that will be up to the courts to decide.

As others have said, if drugs like MDMA were decriminalized, perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided.

Finally, it's true that celebrities with money often get special treatment in such cases but this is true everywhere, not just Japan.
BurakuminDes at 06:20 PM JST - 2nd November

It's most likely he paid off the Justice Ministry - probably to the tune of tens of millions of yen. I believe it is legal to do this in Japan and get a lesser sentence? Basically, a legitimate form of corruption.

IMO though, I don't agree with imprisoning someone for taking a party drug. Incarceration would put him in contact with hardened criminals - and probably harder drugs.
Tanabata0707 at 09:27 PM JST - 2nd November

I agree with BurakuminDes.
northlondon at 10:28 PM JST - 2nd November

I doubt that the Justice Ministry accepted a bribe. And the compensation payment mentioned above is for the victim of a crime and it's acceptance is noted in a court case. You do not pay the Ministry directly.

It is more likely that the club where Oshio used to meet the girl also has high level politicians as customers and these politicians, the club and it's connections (organised crime) wants to keep the real story of her death away from another embarrassing high profile court case.
BurakuminDes at 11:01 PM JST - 2nd November

It is more likely that the club where Oshio used to meet the girl also has high level politicians as customers and these politicians, the club and it's connections (organised crime) wants to keep the real story of her death away from another embarrassing high profile court case.

Probably right. The mind boggles as to how the system "works" here.
usaexpat at 11:43 PM JST - 2nd November

I'm a little thick as to how a suspended sentence works. Does this mean he has to serve the 18 months 5 years from now or if he keeps his nose clean than the sentence is considered served? Either way, they want more time for Sakai's husband who didn't leave a girl to die instead of calling the paramedics. This guy is scum no matter how you slice it.
sensei258 at 12:07 AM JST - 3rd November

Normally it would mean that if he gets caught again during the next five years, he will go to prison for 18 months. However, here in Japan, it probably just means he will get an even longer "suspended" sentence the next time he is caught.
mnemosyne23 at 12:40 AM JST - 3rd November

This is pretty ridiculous. I get that the suspended term was for drug use, not his abandonment and failure to report an ODed, dying woman. Fine, whatever. But when is THAT going to be brought in to the picture, hmm? He didn't kill her directly, but he was sure as heck a factor in her death! Maybe she'd have survived if he'd made an anonymous call for an ambulance, or done SOMETHING. Slap him with failure to report a crime or abandonment of a corpse and make him actually serve some time!

Meanwhile, Noriko Sakai is looking at 18 months, too, for possession of the most ridiculously negligible amount of the same drug. Will she get a suspended sentence? Or will she get the slammer? No one died in her case -- will justice prevail? And what the heck is justice in these two cases anyway?
Lowly at 02:24 AM JST - 3rd November

no justice drugs should be legal, there would be less crime and less danger for us "normal" ppl this is all spinning scandal wheels and protecting profits of pharm companies & their legal medicine-drugs
nigelboy at 02:26 AM JST - 3rd November

But when is THAT going to be brought in to the picture, hmm?

When the prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him of that charge. Another element of the high conviction rates in Japan which gets ignored by JT posters.
BBLeo at 10:54 AM JST - 3rd November

There is no excuse for justice! And now we can see that Japanese justice is failing, and not just now, but for a long time. Actor-singer o9r not he should be behind the bars!!! It makes me think that there are three law books in judiciary: 'one for rich, one for middle class and one for poor. Which law book did accept this Actor-singer? Or has he even paid top money for top lwayer and ...? Guess what I'm thinking right at that moment? Something is not right with sentencing such people.
Osakadaz at 11:55 AM JST - 3rd November

said it all along...this guy is too connected to big movers and shakers. A certain Tohoku politician and other gangster mates can breathe easy now. Job well done.Corruption 101.
paolo27th at 12:42 PM JST - 3rd November

There is no excuse for justice! And now we can see that Japanese justice is failing, and not just now, but for a long time. Actor-singer o9r not he should be behind the bars!!! It makes me think that there are three law books in judiciary: 'one for rich, one for middle class and one for poor. Which law book did accept this Actor-singer? Or has he even paid top money for top lwayer and ...? Guess what I'm thinking right at that moment? Something is not right with sentencing such people.

As usual I have no idea what you are talking about. The guy got a suspended sentence for DRUG USE, which is not even a crime in most developed countries. He hasn`t been tried nor charged yet for the death of the woman he was with because the matter is still being investigated. No need to talk about big concepts like "justice" and "class struggle".
taj at 09:32 AM JST - 4th November

It was not his Roppongi Hills apartment. Fear of the apartment owner was possibly a factor in his not immediately calling for help.
honey at 04:00 PM JST - 5th November

Typical Japanese bullshit,I am okay with the drug part,but not letting a woman die