Sakai blames her husband

Actress Noriko Sakai has reportedly told Tokyo police she started inhaling illegal stimulants last summer at the urging of her husband, sources said Sunday.

Sakai inhaled the drugs with her husband, Yukichi Takaso, after heating them or by using a pipe, the sources quoted her as telling investigators.

Sakai was arrested Saturday on suspicion of possessing an illegal stimulant and allegedly admitted to the charge.

She had been missing since Aug. 3, when her husband, a 41-year-old self-described professional surfer, was arrested after a police officer found a plastic bag containing stimulants in his underwear in Shibuya Ward.

Police had continued trying Sunday to confirm her admission to possessing illegal stimulants because the statements she made Saturday had been somewhat ambiguous.

"I don't remember in detail about stimulants being in my room. But if they were in my room, it must be true," Sakai, 38, reportedly told investigators after she turned herself in at a police station Saturday.

Sakai and Takaso were both arrested on suspicion of breaking the law prohibiting production, possession or use of amphetamines, methamphetamines and similar drugs. These drugs produce hyperactivity and can induce euphoria. Regular use can eventually produce such disorders as severe depression and paranoia.

A urine test Sunday on Sakai turned out negative for drugs, the sources said.

Inhaled amphetamines or methamphetamines usually become undetectable in about a week, experts said.

The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Sakai after she turned herself in at a police station in Bunkyo Ward at around 8 p.m. Saturday.

She decided to surrender to police after learning through TV news programs that an arrest warrant had been issued for her, the sources quoted her as saying.

The police obtained the warrant Friday after searching her Minato Ward apartment, where she lives separately from Takaso.

The search allegedly turned up 0.008 gram of a stimulant drug wrapped in aluminum foil, leading investigators to suspect it was residue because a normal dose is usually about 0.03 gram.

Dozens of straws apparently used to inhale fumes after heating the drug were also found and seized.

A sample taken from the straws matched Sakai's DNA, according to the sources.

Victor Entertainment Inc. announced Sunday it has canceled plans to sell a greatest hits CD of Sakai's songs that had been scheduled to come out Sept. 16.

The company also suspended sales of other products related to Sakai, including online distribution of her songs.

"The arrest is very regrettable. An antisocial act like this should never be acceptable," the company said in a statement. "We will keep taking severe actions" against this type of behavior.

Masahisa Aizawa, president of Sakai's talent agency, Tokyo-based Sun Music Production Inc., said at a news conference Sunday he might have to release her.

"If she is indicted, we must naturally come to (a decision), including dismissal," he said.

Aizawa said he was not aware of any drug use by Sakai, although he thought she looked thinner when he met with her last month. Continuous use of stimulants can lead to weight loss.

"I was worried when I met her in mid-July because she had lost some weight. I thought she was mentally tired from taking care of her kid or other things," he said.

Aizawa apologized on Sakai's behalf and expressed relief that she decided to turn herself in. The agency had said during her disappearance it was unable to contact her.

Sakai was summoned early last week to the site where her husband was arrested but refused to appear at a police station for a voluntary urine test. She then disappeared with her 10-year-old son, who was found safe Thursday at an acquaintance's home in Tokyo.

The police said Sakai called the acquaintance from a public phone Wednesday and asked to hear her son's voice.

Sakai, also known by the nickname "Nori-P," married Takaso in 1998 and she gave birth to her son in 1999.