Missing actress now a suspect

Tokyo police obtained an arrest warrant Friday for pop idol-turned-actress Noriko Sakai, who vanished last Monday after her surfer husband was arrested with stimulants in his underwear.

Metropolitan Police Department officers sought the warrant following a search of her home in the capital's Minato Ward that turned up a small amount of methamphetamine.

Police said they intend to arrest her on suspicion of possessing illegal stimulants.

Initially, police believed that Sakai, 38, pulled a vanishing act with her 10-year-old son, but the boy was found Thursday staying with an acquaintance of Sakai's in Tokyo.

Sakai's husband Yuichi Takaso, 41, a self-proclaimed professional surfboarder, was arrested in Shibuya Ward early Monday after he was found in possession of a small amount of methamphetamine.

Sakai turned up at the scene shortly after her husband contacted her by telephone to say he was in trouble with the police.

Sakai took off after the police confirmed that the substance Takaso had on him was methamphetamine, and arrested him.

Staff members of the talent agency to which Sakai belongs said they had been unable to reach the actress on her cellphone since Takaso's arrest.

However, investigative sources said a faint signal from Sakai's cellphone was picked up in a mountainous area in southern Yamanashi Prefecture on Tuesday.

The phone went dead soon afterward.

Sakai, who is affectionately known as "Noripi" by fans, started her career as a teen singing sensation. After giving birth to her son, Sakai maintained her profile by appearing in TV commercials and dramas, projecting an image of the "ideal mom."

Masahisa Aizawa, president of the talent agency that took Sakai under its wing, told reporters he hoped Sakai "would show herself right away." Aizawa said the company had no intention of severing its ties with her.

Sakai, a native of Fukuoka Prefecture, made her debut in 1985 and later appeared in popular TV dramas.

Last year, she played the lead character of a homemaker who is chosen to serve as a lay judge in a promotional film to help advertise the new citizen judge system.

The Supreme Court, which was responsible for the film being made, said Friday it would refrain from using it for the time being.

In the meantime, companies that had hired Sakai's image to sell their products began reconsidering their contracts with the actress.

Toyota Motor Corp., whose Noah line of minivans Sakai has been advertising since 2007, was among the companies wondering what to do.

Toyota's ads featuring Sakai are not currently being aired on TV. The company removed footage of the ads from its website on Friday.

Pharmaceutical company Arax Co. said it was considering whether to rescind its contract with Sakai to advertise the company's Norshin line of painkillers.

Reports that police wanted to arrest Sakai not only made news in Japan. The story was also big in China, where dramas in which she has appeared are avidly followed through the Internet and via exported DVDs, as well as in Taiwan.

Under the headline "Noriko Sakai still missing," The Beijing News on Friday reported the latest developments in the case.

Chinese websites were filled with photographs of the actress, roundup articles and comments from Net users.(IHT/Asahi: August 8,2009)