TOKYO - Japanese police issued an arrest warrant for missing actress Noriko Sakai for drug possession, while her 10 year-old son was found safe in Tokyo, according to media reports Friday.
Sakai has been missing since her husband was arrested earlier this week for alleged drug possession, police said Thursday.
Her disappearance has triggered intense focus by the media in Japan and other Asian countries. She was hugely popular in Asia, especially China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, during the 1990s because of her songs and TV dramas.
Her son had also been missing, but was found safe in Tokyo on Thursday evening, according to media reports.
Sakai's mother-in-law asked Tokyo Metropolitan Police to search for the 38-year-old actress and her son Tuesday, a day after Sakai's husband, Yuichi Takaso, 41, was arrested, a police spokesman said.
He declined to be named, citing department policy, and also refused to give details about the husband's case.
Kyodo News agency reported that police stopped Takaso while he was walking in downtown Tokyo and found drugs when they searched him.
Masahisa Aizawa, president of Sakai's management agency, Sun Music, said at news conference Tuesday that Sakai was a responsible person and urged her not to go through the difficult time by herself.
Police said Sakai's mobile phone signal was last detected late Tuesday in Yamanashi, about 60 miles (100 kilometres) west of Tokyo, according to Kyodo. Officials from the Metropolitan and Yamanashi police declined to confirm the report.
