Tsuyoshi Kusanagi of “New Map” is about to release a movie in which he plays the lead role… The reason why the “nudity incident” of 15 years ago has been talked about and a lot of positive reactions have been received.

Former SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi has been active as an actor, including the highly acclaimed role of Yoshikazu Hatori in the NHK TV series “Boogie Woogie,” which aired in the second half of 2011. The other day, the “nude arrest incident” of 15 years ago came back into the spotlight on X (formerly Twitter), but for some reason, “netizens’ reactions were generally favorable,” according to an entertainment writer.

On April 23, an X-user posted, “Today is the 15th anniversary of the Kusanagi-kun park nude front roll incident,” along with a screenshot of the incident report. The post received 16,000 reposts and 70,000 “likes” (as of May 10).

On April 23, 2009, 15 years ago, Kusanagi, then a member of SMAP, was arrested by the Akasaka Police Department of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department for public indecency in Hinokicho Park in Minato Ward, Tokyo, on suspicion of “making a scene while naked. Kusanagi was drunk at the time, and a police officer from a nearby police box rushed to the scene after a neighbor reported that there was a drunken person making noise in the park. According to media reports at the time, Kusanagi insisted when questioned about his duties, “What’s wrong if I’m naked? When he was pushed and questioned during his arrest, he said, “Shingo! When he was pushed and questioned during the arrest, he shouted out the name of a member of SMAP, Shingo Katori, …….

It was also reported that Kusanagi “folded and put away” the clothes he took off at the site, or so the comment section of the aforementioned post quoted Kusanagi as saying,

In the comments of the aforementioned post, it is interesting to note that Kusanagi folded her clothes and left them there.
[Clothes were folded up well, weren’t they? And it was a mysterious situation where he was suspected of being on drugs, but he was really just drunk, which makes him rather likable.
[Joon] It’s not like he was involved in a violent incident or anything, so please forgive him.
[Claire] “Just forget about it for a minute.

I got the impression that the episode was digested as a “funny” episode.

On the other hand, before X-users got excited in this way, Kusanagi himself made a joke about the nudity incident himself, by coincidence. New Map,” a group consisting of Kusanagi, Katori, and Goro Inagaki, held a fan meeting in Hokkaido on April 20 and 21, and when the word “naked” was mentioned during the MC time on April 20, Kusanagi made a joke.

According to a report on SNS by a fan who attended the performance, Kusanagi made a mistake that day when he was playing the guitar. As the story goes, Inagaki expressed that this event, where fans gather, is a place where mistakes can be shown, in short, ‘a place where you can be naked (both in mind and body). Then, Kusanagi said, “Am I going to get caught again? Katori looked up to the heavens and said, “I’m going to get caught again. Katori looked up to the heavens and said, “I’m going to be pissed off,” to which the audience laughed, perhaps remembering the incident.

Incidentally, Kusanagi refrained from performing after the incident, but returned to work about a month later. Although he had abstained from alcohol, he lifted his drinking ban for the first time in about five years in March ’14, just in time for a visit by Tamori, a celebrity with whom he had a close friendship, to “Bistro SMAP,” a corner in “SMAP x SMAP” (Fuji Television network). The variety show hosted by Tamori, “Laugh It Up! (the same name), which will end its broadcast at the end of the same month, so he decided to toast with beer with the SMAP members.

At first, Kusanagi was holding a non-alcoholic drink in his hand, saying, “I’m banned from drinking,” but Tamori suggested, “No more drinking, starting today! He was drinking beer with deep emotion when Tamori recommended, “No more alcohol, starting today! Kusanagi, who had once made a mistake with alcohol, was successfully rehabilitated. His success since then is well known.

After leaving Johnny’s (now “STARTO ENTERTAINMENT”) in September ’17, he continued to enjoy a high following for his acting work.’ In 2009, he won the Best Leading Actor Award at the 44th Japan Academy Awards for the movie “Midnight Swan” (released on September 25, ’20), in which he starred. In the same year, Ryo Yoshizawa, who played Eiichi Shibusawa, starred in the historical drama “Seiten wo Sukuke,” but Kusanagi passionately played the role of Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the “other main character. His performance in the morning drama “Boogie Woogie,” which aired until the end of March this year, was also well received.

Kusanagi is preparing for the release of a movie starring him, “Goban Zanri,” on May 17. We hope that Kusanagi will continue to shine as a unique actor while taking care not to get into trouble in his private life.