Japanese actress sentenced for stimulant abuse

TOKYO: A Japanese singer-turned-actress known across Asia as a sweet, girl-next-door star was convicted and sentenced yesterday for using illegal stimulants.

Noriko Sakai, 38, was given an 18-month jail term, suspended for three years, for the offence.

The celebrity, who shot to fame in the late 1980s as a pop singer and who later turned to acting, has been the subject of media scrutiny across Asia ever since she and her husband, Yuichi Takaso, were arrested in August for possessing and using drugs.