BBC NEWS | Naked Japanese singer apologises

A Japanese pop singer who was arrested for public indecency after being found drunk and naked in a Tokyo park has apologised for his “shameful” conduct.

“I drank a lot and did not know what I was doing,” Tsuyoshi Kusanagi said on Friday after being released by police. “I deeply apologise to fans for causing so much trouble and worry,” he added. Kusanagi, 34, shot to fame as a member of 1980s boy band SMAP. He has not been charged for the incident, which took place in the early hours of Thursday.

At the time of his arrest, Kusanagi was allegedly sitting on the grass, undressed and heavily intoxicated. Local media reports said he had drunk more than 10 glasses of Japanese rice wine and beer before going to the park.

His arrest has been a major news story in Japan, where Kusanagi is the face of a government campaign to get the public to switch to digital television. Since the arrest, Toyota Motor Corp and other leading companies have cancelled commercials featuring the star.

via BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Naked Japanese singer apologises.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at this bit.  It’s fairly well-known that Japanese men are notriously badly behave while drunk.  I guess it’s only “shameful” if you are a famous pop star and get caught in public.

If this happened in the UK, I suspect that people would have just nodded their head and said “whatever, who hasn’t done that?”  [This opinion is based solely on my experience of watching Brits on holiday in various places -- talk about badly behaved while drunk.  Jeez.]