China's J-lovers

Last Tuesday night, Noriko Sakai (酒井法子) left home with her 10-year-old son. The police and her employer launched a nationwide search. Sakai is a Japanese pop singer and actress. It is reported she was desperate and could be suicidal after her Don Juan of a husband was arrested for possessing illegal drugs.

It is a story that naturally made the headlines in Japan, but it also filled many Chinese hearts with anxiety. People left words of hope and blessings on Chinese Web forums.

All this because Sakai starred in Hitotsu Yane no Shita (同一屋檐下) and Heaven's Coins, two of her drama series that were aired in China in the early 1990s. Her album Smile soon followed. She then starred in a Panasonic commercial customized for the Chinese market, in which she chirped the jingle in Chinese.