Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, a member of the Japanese pop music group SMAP, was arrested Thursday for public indecency after stripping naked while under the influence of alcohol at a Tokyo park, causing ripples not only in the nation but in South Korea, where the singer, who is fluent in Korean, is also popular.
     After arresting the 34-year-old Kusanagi, police searched his home in Tokyo's Minato Ward, spurring numerous telephone calls from his fans in protest. The suspect admitted to stripping naked and told investigators, ''I regret what I did. I don't remember how I went to the park, and why I became naked,'' according to the police.
     His agent, Johnny & Associates, said Thursday night Kusanagi will refrain from entertainment activities for the time being.
     The incident triggered the cancellation of TV commercials in Japan that feature Kusanagi, including one by Toyota Motor Corp. It has also angered the government, which has designated Kusanagi to promote Japan's shift to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting. The group SMAP also enjoys popularity in many other Asian countries.
     Kusanagi's arrest at around 3 a.m. at the park next to Tokyo Midtown, a new landmark in Tokyo's Roppongi-Akasaka area, came after a man living near the park called police as Kusanagi had been making noise, the police said. His apartment is also located in the Tokyo Midtown complex.
     ''What's wrong with being naked?'' Kusanagi was quoted as telling a police officer, who was questioning him at the scene. Kusanagi was alone and resisted police questioning, prompting three police officers to cover him with a sheet and take him to a patrol car. The jeans and jacket he is believed to have worn were found in the park, investigators said.
     According to the police, Kusanagi drank alcohol in Akasaka with two of his friends from Wednesday night to around 2 a.m. Thursday. After leaving the bar, he walked near the park with one of the friends and parted with her.
     The Tokyo police said Kusanagi was highly intoxicated as his alcohol level from a breathalyzer test conducted five hours after his arrest was 0.8 milligram per liter, five times higher than the limit for drunken driving.
     Kusanagi also underwent a urine test, but there was no drug reaction, the police said. The police did not seize anything during their half-hour search at his home, which was conducted to shed light on ''his motive and the background'' of the case, investigators said. He is to be sent to prosecutors Friday.
     After the media reported on his arrest and the police raid on his house, the Akasaka police, who arrested him and searched his home, received numerous phone calls.
     Many of the callers protested to the police for searching his home, the police said.
     Public indecency carries a fine up to 300,000 yen or a maximum of six-month jail term in Japan.
     Johnny & Associates offered an apology to Kusanagi's fans and others for ''causing anxiety and trouble.''
     Kusanagi was later transferred from Akasaka Police Station to Harajuku Police Station, which has detention facilities. Clad in a blue shirt, his eyes were glazed and his hair was tousled when seen by reporters who had gathered at the Akasaka station.
     The TV personality has been a government-designated promoter of Japan's shift to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting, but the communications ministry plans to remove him, ministry officials said. Analog broadcasting is scheduled to end in July 2011 in Japan.
     Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama vented anger when asked to comment, calling Kusanagi a ''bastard.''
     ''The act is shameful for a person who is asking the public to shoulder the financial burden'' of buying new televisions to prepare for the shift, he said.
     Hatoyama said he plans to remove all the posters promoting digital broadcasting that feature Kusanagi.
     Kusanagi is well known for being fluent in Korean and has starred in a number of TV dramas, commercials and movies. Born in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, in 1974, he debuted as a SMAP member in 1991.
     In South Korea, where he is known as ''Cho Nan Gang,'' the media reported his arrest as breaking news.
     The South Korean newspaper Kukmin Daily reported in its online edition that Kusanagi's arrest ''has shocked fans'' both in South Korea and Japan. The news briefly topped a search ranking of the country's major Internet portal site.
     In 2003, Kusanagi appeared on a TV talk show featuring then South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and met the current leader Lee Myung Bak in April last year on another TV program.
     Following Kusanagi's arrest, a woman living near the park told Kyodo News that she heard a man whooping and was concerned that her baby might wake up from the noise. One man said he thought there were several people making noise.
     In 2001, another member of the five-member, all-male vocalist group, Goro Inagaki, was arrested on suspicion of illegally parking his car and obstructing police officers from performing their duties in an attempt to dodge a parking ticket. He was spared indictment at that time.
==Kyodo