Oshio held after testing positive for Ecstasy

Actor Manabu Oshio was arrested Monday on suspicion of using Ecstasy, police said.

Manabu Oshio

Oshio, 31, tested positive for the synthetic drug, also known as MDMA, in a urine test conducted by police in connection with a woman who was found dead at an apartment in Tokyo's Roppongi district Sunday night.

The police questioned Oshio, who has starred in TV dramas and movies, on a voluntary basis Monday after it was learned he was with the woman, in her 30s, in the apartment before she died.

Oshio was quoted as saying he called his manager and left the apartment after the woman developed a health problem.

The police said they conducted the urine test because Oshio showed symptoms of drug addiction, including shaky hands, during the questioning.

Oshio reportedly told the police he was not aware that the drug, which he said he was given by an acquaintance, is illegal.

The police are investigating the cause of the woman's death and the possibility of a crime. Her body showed no external wounds, they said.

The actor's office, Avex Management Inc., terminated his contract Monday.

Oshio, who is also the vocalist for the band LIV, married actress Akiko Yada in November 2006.

Actress Noriko Sakai has been missing since her husband was arrested Monday for allegedly possessing illegal stimulants, her management office said.

"Please do not worry all by yourself and contact us," Masahisa Aizawa, president of Sun Music Production, said in a message to Sakai during a news conference Tuesday.

Aizawa said Sakai's mother-in-law asked the police to search for the 38-year-old actress earlier in the day.

Her husband, Yuichi Takaso, 41, was arrested after a police officer became suspicious about the self-described professional surfer when he was walking alone in Tokyo's Shibuya district, searched him and found a plastic bag containing stimulant drugs in his underwear.

Takaso later told investigators the drugs were for his personal use, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

According to Sun Music, Sakai has not answered calls to her home or mobile phones since the arrest.