Okay, it was a very dumb and embarrassing stunt, but (from my American POV) it seems to have blown up way out of proportion into a huge scandal in Japan. Companies that he has advertisement deals with have dropped him, and "television channels said that they were considering their position." (Kusanagi regularly appears on several TV shows, both singly and with SMAP.)

Even the government is getting in on the act: Hatoyama Kunio, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, has publicly condemned Kusanagi. But I suppose I can't entirely blame him, since "Kusanagi was made the centrepiece of a giant government drive to prepare the public for the impending conversion from terrestrial to digital television broadcasting," so it is rather embarrassing for the government.

Still, the crime didn't endanger anyone, or hurt anyone but Kusanagi himself. (In contrast, one of his fellow band members was involved in a hit and run accident awhile back, which created a scandal of its own.) As crimes go, it's a pretty harmless one--it seems like it would just be another day in the life of someone like Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan. Part of the problem, I guess, is Kusanagi's clean cut reputation. Maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal if he were in a heavy metal band. I feel sorry for him, because I've seen him on a game show that he's a regular on, and he seems like a nice guy, very witty and funny and articulate.

What's really interesting is what the article reveals about work schedule and pressures placed upon Japanese celebs:

As by far the most popular boy band, the five members of SMAP are also among the busiest of all Japanese media celebrities — a class of entertainer that work freakishly long hours and are contractually obliged to perform in any programme or event that their powerful talent agencies dictate.

In common with the other four members of SMAP, Kusanagi appears on a weekly cookery and variety show and five other regular weekly shows. He also makes numerous non-regular weekly appearances across all six terrestrial channels, most of them in prime-time slots. A punishing schedule of studio recording sessions and other promotional work is fitted around that.

With a schedule like that, it's no wonder the poor guy snapped! I hadn't realized that his schedule was that grueling, but I had noticed that Japanese celebs make a lot of appearances on game shows and variety shows, and do a lot of commercials and advertisement work. It makes me think about Iwaki's and Katou's busy work schedules, and the game shows that they appear on--"Connoseiur Report" and the athletic competition between Katou and Miyasaka--which seem kind of silly, but apparently would be considered necessary promotion by their agencies. And from what the article says, and what I've heard from other sources, the agencies hold a lot of power over their clients, particularly a top agency like Johnny's, which manages SMAP--and that in turn reminded me of how Katou was forbidden to work by his agency after he got in trouble for dropping out of his current movie to pursue the role in Fuyu no Semi.

Kusanagi has since held a press conference to publicly apologize and express remorse. It remains to be seen how much effect the scandal will have on his career, or what legal punishment he'll face. When his bandmate, Inagaki Goro, was involved with the hit and run incident, he was placed on suspension by their agency, and the band performed without him for a time until the agency deemed him sufficiently punished and lifted the suspension. I suspect something similar may happen with Kusanagi.

It just made me think, if Kusanagi is in this much for trouble for a minor drunken incident, it's no wonder that Kikuchi was driven out of the country for a major scandal that offended the public mores of the time. It's not like he could apologize for being gay and promise never to do it again.

Anyway, some food for thought and maybe some carrots for plot bunnies?

UPDATE 4/30/09: Prosecutors have declined to charge Kusanagi, so at least he won't be facing any fines or jail time, although he is abstaining from performing for an unspecified period of time. According to this article, he has even received a great deal of sympathy from the public, who feel he "was treated too harshly." When he was arrested, he allegedly told the police, "What's wrong with being naked?" and an enterprising company has been selling t-shirts printed with that slogan!