Prosecutors decide not to indict SMAP singer Kusanagi over indecency

Friday 01st May, 02:34 PM JST

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Mark_McCracken at 10:43 PM JST - 1st May

Celebrity treatment. Did he engage a fat lwayer to pull this one? If this was just an ordinary person, it is almost sure that he will be convicted.

Kusanagi didn't receive special treatment.
fatfrenchfool at 10:54 PM JST - 1st May

he had the arrest because of his fame. worse things are done everyday on the Joban line but because drunk is ok, no arrest.
usaexpat at 12:06 AM JST - 2nd May

Thank god, what a waste of coverage in the first place. A few appologies maybe some rehab and he'll be back singing crappy songs.
Betting at 12:42 AM JST - 2nd May

I think he he did break the law and he should be punished by the law in some manner (but each to his/her own as we see by the posts here on JT).

However, as for the media spectacle and the politicians who also jumped in, that was clearly out of order. Absolutely no need for anyone else, other than the police and Kusanagi, to get involved.
smithinjapan at 01:19 AM JST - 2nd May

While I don't think he should receive much by way of punishment, laws are laws, and the man broke at least one, and needs to be indicted for it as any one else would -- err... aside from celebrities, law makers, university professors with mirrors on their shoes (to see up girls' skirts), etc. Indict the guy and make him do more community service (not in public where the pervert might expose himself again, of course).
smithinjapan at 01:22 AM JST - 2nd May

fatfrench: "he had the arrest because of his fame. worse things are done everyday on the Joban line but because drunk is ok, no arrest."

Actually, he had the arrest because he began fighting with the police officer who asked what was going on (verbally, at least, he began fighting). When two more police had to come in he resisted, and was arrested.

Irregardless it's still beside the point -- he broke the law and of course should have been arrested as he was, and should have also been indicted. Saying the Japanese police don't normally arrest someone for such behaviour isn't a statement on how minor the person's crime is but how poor the police are at enforcing laws.
northlondon at 02:51 AM JST - 2nd May

They guy is a common criminal, who may have offended innocent members of the public. A term in jail would cutb his preverted tendencies and hopefully his alcohol problem.

Nope. Not many innocent members of the public about at 3am in the park behind Midtown. I guess you have never ever taken your kit off if you feel it is perverted to do so. You muppet.
RangerMIFFED at 05:59 AM JST - 2nd May

Please come back Kusanagi-san! Just take it a bit more easy and continue to keep your pretty face on train posters to brighten my commuting life. Everyone in Japan probably has at least one story of incredibly nutty behavior from drinking. Hey, you didn't harm anyone or yourself, so everyone...L I G H T E N *U * P * !
LFRAgain at 07:10 AM JST - 2nd May

Smithinjapan, et al,

" . . . he broke the law and of course should have been arrested as he was, and should have also been indicted."

So, Smith, you're saying that everyone, everywhere, regardless of any circumstances surrounding any wrongdoing whatsoever should be indicted and prosecuted as a matter of course? I don't think most people, yourself included, judging by your posting history, would enjoy living under that type of totalitarian absolutism - "irregardless." ;-)

"Saying the Japanese police don't normally arrest someone for such behaviour isn't a statement on how minor the person's crime is but how poor the police are at enforcing laws."

No, it suggests that perhaps the Japanese criminal justice system still possesses enough of the humanity that it was created to serve to recognize that sometimes the full weight of the law isn't always necessary in all cases in order to promote civil tranquility. Contrary to the trend that’s taken most Western nations by storm, namely a police force that spends the better part of its time in the public eye decked out in riot gear and armed to the teeth, the Japanese still place value in community policing – which includes leniency where it’s warranted. And it works – for Japan.

Your statement is absurd on the surface when all one has to do is walk down the street to see that any alleged inability on the NPA to enforce laws doesn't really pan out in the relative peace one experiences in daily life here. (Yeah, yeah, yeah - people are going to jump on me for playing the "Japan is safe" card, but it doesn't make the statement any less true based on what anyone who lives here knows to be true with but a cursory glance outside)

Kusanagi was crucified by the police for a incredibly minor infraction, and the vast majority of Japanese here believe so as well. Which makes it all the more amusing to hear non-Japanese lecture Japan on how it should handle its internal - and arguably minor - civil disorder issues. The prosecutors, recognizing that they went too far, and likely further recognizing that the illegal warrantless search of Kusanagi's apartment in the hopes of procuring some sort of high-profile trophy was indefensible, backed off. But too little, too late. The damage has been done.

Will Kusanagi recover from this? I’m sure he will, and I hope he bounces back quickly, defying the expectations of his worst detractors and hypocritical denouncers – like Communications Ministry asshat Kunio Hatoyama, who seems to believe being drunk and naked in a dark park in the middle of the night with no one to actually see you is a far more grievous crime than appearing drunk at a G-7 press conference discussing the fate of the world economy in front of an international audience. The one good thing that may come of all this is that Kusanagi may finally be willing to face up to his drinking problem and seek improvement. Best of luck to him.
bdiego at 07:16 AM JST - 2nd May

Wow some people here are pretty ignorant if they think police arrest most people who commit these infractions. In fact, the very same Roppongi police refused to arrest someone using heroin when I pointed it out to a patrol. They also refused to indict a tourist who got drunk and broke into their own country's embassy. It's not much different in any other civilized nation, most petty infractions do not make it to an indictment nor should they. But go ahead and be naieve on that.
medievaltimes at 08:33 AM JST - 2nd May

because he showed regret

The whole show regret thing is overated. Shame culture working overtime.
buddha4brains at 08:55 AM JST - 2nd May

Just because there are laws doesn't mean that every infraction has to be prosecuted. Life is not a TV show or some board game where the rules have to be followed and penalties meted out.

Clearly Kusanagi embarrassed himself and only the cynical would doubt his regret. No one died or got injured, and no property was damaged. It was in the middle of the night and few people saw him. Let him crawl into hiding and reflect on his actions.
mrhog123 at 03:52 PM JST - 2nd May

Lets see he didn't fondle some woman on the train, he didn't try to do some sereptious photography, all he did was engage in some public nudity. I think the man has suffered enough, ne?
smithinjapan at 06:52 PM JST - 5th May

LFRAgain: "So, Smith, you're saying that everyone, everywhere, regardless of any circumstances surrounding any wrongdoing whatsoever should be indicted and prosecuted as a matter of course?"

Regardless of ANY circumstances surrounding any wrongdoing whatsoever? nope. I didn't say that at all. What were the surroundings behind this guy's breaking the law? ALCOHOL! Are you saying the guy should be let off because he was drunk? If there were a REAL reason, then I would say let it go. Being drunk, thank god for the Japanese, is not an offense in public, so he can't be charged for that; but he cannot be let off for exposing himself in public and resisting arrest because he has an alcohol problem.

bdiego: "Wow some people here are pretty ignorant if they think police arrest most people who commit these infractions"

I don't think you're going to see too many people on this site arguing that Japan actually cracks down on laws, or arrest even 'most' people who commit infractions. LFR is right, I wouldn't want to live in a place that DOES do this for every minor thing. If they see a minor scuffle and the two parties simply apologize and make nice and the police let it go (and no one is the wiser about it), then good, but this guy was caught for doing something illegal and it's been plastered all over the news (for better or worse), and they are publicly saying what he did was okay and need no more punishment than he's undergoing. People on this site as well seem to think it's perfectly all right if you take off all your clothes and go strut about the parks at night, and drunk to boot.

Anyway, I'm not saying the guy's punishment should be Draconian and should be limited to community service for so many hours, but he was caught and it got out, big time (and no, I'm not saying if it's hush hush all should be forgiven in every case, either). Announcing he won't be punished according to the law because he's depressed and lost a few of his millions is not very fair to most people who are law-abiding and not alcoholics.
gogogo at 03:22 PM JST - 6th May

Someone needs to investigate this! This was serious waste of money, time and resources! Who was the person in charge of this, they need to be fired!