Gaijin Kanpai
In Association with YesAsia.com
Akadot Retail
Thu, April 23, 2009 (12:00am EDT)
SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (34) has been arrested for public indecency after causing a disturbance and running around naked in Hinokicho Park near Tokyo Midtown late on Wednesday night.

At around 3:00am on April 23, residents in that area notified police that a naked man was making a lot of noise in the park. Officers arrived to find a drunken Kusanagi, and after he refused to heed their warnings, they arrested him on the spot for public indecency. Kusanagi is said to have openly defied the officers, answering them with "What's wrong with me being naked?" According to police, a breath analysis test taken 5 hours after Kusanagi's arrest detected a BrAC of 0.8 mg/L, well over the legal limit.

Kusanagi has been part of the super-popular group SMAP since 1988. As he is one of the industry's biggest stars, the incident is likely to have a big impact. He is already being pulled from several advertisements, including commercials promoting Japan's transition to all-digital broadcasts by 2011.

One of the most recent reports says that he has lost his somewhat regular role on NHK's "PythagoraSwitch." Fuji TV will likely have the toughest decision to make, as Kusanagi is a regular on four of the network's popular shows.

Kusanagi also has a starring role with Yui Aragaki in the movie "Ballad: Namonaki Koi no Uta" (directed by Takashi Yamazaki). Filming has already wrapped up and the picture was scheduled for a September 5 release, putting distributor Toho in a difficult spot. TV Asahi is also considering their options, as it had planned to run some TV specials about the film on weekends from April 25 to May 18.
More News
· related to SMAP
· related to Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
· related to Tokyo Midtown
· related to NHK
· related to PythagoraSwitch
· related to Fuji TV
· related to Yui Aragaki
· related to Ballad: Namonaki Koi no Uta
· related to Takashi Yamazaki
· related to Toho
· related to TV Asahi
· from Apr 23, 2009
· under topic People
 
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