World Scene: Japan

Comeback for 'naked' pop star

A Japanese pop star, who was arrested last month after dancing drunk and naked in a Tokyo park, returned to limelight yesterday.

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, 34, a member of the 5-member singing group SMAP, had voluntarily stayed out of the public eye since his April 23 arrest on suspicion of public indecency. But prosecutors dropped charges after Kusanagi profusely apologized in a nationally televised news conference and promised not to drink too much again. In his comeback news conference, Kusanagi sometimes paused over his words, overcome with emotion, when he vowed to never cause such hardships for his fellow SMAP members.