2023-11-17 08:43:47
Published17. November 2023, 09:43
Japan: Famous actor sentenced for assisted suicide of his parents
Ennosuke Ichikawa, one of Japan’s best-known traditional kabuki theater actors, received a three-year suspended prison sentence.
The actor appeared in a Tokyo district court.
AFP
The affair shook the Japanese world of traditional arts. One of Japan’s best-known kabuki theater actors was given a suspended prison sentence on Friday for assisting his parents’ suicide. Ennosuke Ichikawa, 47, was arrested last June following his two parents were found unconscious at his home in Tokyo the previous month. The death of his 76-year-old father, also an actor in this form of traditional Japanese theater, and of his 75-year-old mother were subsequently confirmed.
According to local media, Mr. Ichikawa had warned his parents of his intention to end his life following being informed of the publication of an article in a tabloid accusing him of harassment and sexual assault. All three then decided to commit suicide together, the parents taking sleeping pills with the help of their son. Mr. Ichikawa himself was found in a semi-conscious state the same day.
Kabuki actor Ennosuke Ichikawa, 47 years old.
AFP
“I had all kinds of things repressed inside me”
“I caused such problems in the kabuki world that I felt I no longer deserved to be a part of it. I thought it would be better for me to be dead, and so I chose to commit suicide,” he said during the trial last month, according to Japanese media. In addition to the charges once morest him, he was also reportedly affected by the stress of years spent caring for his father who was suffering from cancer and was plagued by violent mood swings, he said. explained to the court.
A star actor in traditional Japanese theater, Ennosuke Ichikawa, whose real name is Takahiko Kinoshi, began his career in kabuki in 1980 and became one of the country’s most renowned actors. He has notably played in London, Amsterdam and at the Opéra Garnier in Paris.
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(AFP)
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