All charges against Tsuyoshi Kusanagi dropped by prosecutors

by Chris MaGee

Okay, after this week's public apology by Tsuyoshi Kusanagi for his drunken, naked romp in a Tokyo park I said that the best thing to do would be just to let the story go away. It would be embarrassing enough if you or I got polluted enough to end up in a public park with no clothes on at 3:00 in the morning (well, unless we were with someone else with no clothes on that is), but to have the news splashed all over TV, radio, and the internet is a pretty traumatic experience. When I saw this story posted at Yahoo Singapore this morning I had to do a quick follow up. Prosecutors have decided to drop all charges against the 34-year-old actor and SMAP member because of his public apology. I would also like to think that the prosecutors would have realized that with Kusanagi blowing over 10 times the legal limit on a breathalyzer test that the whole case verged on not legally responsible due to reason of alcohol-induced insanity. 10 times the legal limit! That's a lot of booze.

Of course this may not repair the damage that Kusanagi has done to all his various endorsement deals and TV contracts, but at least now he won't have to worry about six months in prison or fine of up to ¥300,000 ($3,060), the penalty for his offence. So, now let's leave him be... and Kusanagi-san, repeat after me, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable."