Drug-tainted Japanese pop idol divorced: reports
AFP
TOKYO- Japanese pop star Noriko Sakai, who was last year convicted of illegal drug use, has been divorced from her surfer husband, who taught her the habit, press reports said Friday.
"We have confirmed that their divorce became official in July," her former management firm Sun Music Production told Japanese media.
Sakai, 39, had fan bases in Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan, parlaying her image as a girl next door and then a perfect mom into top acting roles and lucrative advertising deals before her arrest last August.
In November, she received an 18-month jail term, which was suspended for three years, for using stimulant drugs. Her then husband Yuichi Takaso, 42, a self-styled professional surfer, was also sentenced to a suspended two-year term for the same offence.
The two had been reportedly in divorce talks for months while Sakai took online classes at a university in northern Tokyo, to study nursing care.
"I feel relieved to learn that their divorce is final," Sun Music Production vice president Masahisa Aizawa told Japanese media. "It assures us that she is determined to correct herself."
The Tokyo District Court ruled that Takaso encouraged Sakai to use drugs with him.
The couple were married in 1998, a year after they met through surfing. They have an 11-year-old son, who was born in Hawaii.
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In November, she received an 18-month jail term, which was suspended for three years, for using stimulant drugs. Her then husband Yuichi Takaso, 42, a self-styled professional surfer, was also sentenced to a suspended two-year term for the same offence.
The two had been reportedly in divorce talks for months while Sakai took online classes at a university in northern Tokyo, to study nursing care.
"I feel relieved to learn that their divorce is final," Sun Music Production vice president Masahisa Aizawa told Japanese media. "It assures us that she is determined to correct herself."
The Tokyo District Court ruled that Takaso encouraged Sakai to use drugs with him.
The couple were married in 1998, a year after they met through surfing. They have an 11-year-old son, who was born in Hawaii.
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