TOKYO (TR) – Following the arrest of television personality and former adult video (AV) actress Anri Sakaguchi on suspicion of theft earlier this month, she claimed she committed the crime on a desire “to experience a thrill,” reports Tokyo Sports (Mar. 30).
On March 17, Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested the 35-year-old after she was caught stealing a 300-yen sandwich from a convenience store in Hachioji City.
Following her release, Sakaguchi appeared in an outdoor interview on the YouTube channel “JUNYA Channel” on March 29 to discuss her arrest. Clad in black, the former entertainer pushed back against the intense media coverage surrounding her case.
“It’s an exaggeration,” she complained. “Did they really need to go that far?”
When pressed on her motive for stealing the sandwich, Sakaguchi confessed, “Somewhere in my heart, I wanted to experience a thrill, or maybe there was a feeling that it would be okay.”
She firmly denied rumors that poverty drove her to shoplift, insisting she “had” plenty of money at the time. She also dismissed speculation that she was under the influence of psychiatric medication.
“People keep saying I’m taking them, but right now I only take Loxonin or Bufferin when my stomach hurts,” she explained. “I get headaches a lot from changes in air pressure, so I take Chinese medicine or Bufferin.”
When asked why she targeted a convenience store in Hachioji, she casually replied, “Mostly because I have a friend there.”
Reflecting on her stint in custody, Sakaguchi pledged to turn over a new leaf.
“If I’m going to face such a heavy punishment for this, I’ve decided I will never do anything bad again — nothing legally wrong ever again,” she vowed. “I just want to live a normal life.”
Other cases
Sakaguchi, a Tokyo native, is the daughter of popular actress Ryoko Sakaguchi. She began appearing in a number of television series after entering the entertainment business in 2008. In October 2016, she shifted gears by making her AV debut for label Muteki.
In 2018, she worked as a hostess and stripper in Tokyo and a sex worker in brothel quarters in Osaka and Kobe cities.
This was not her first brush with the law. In 2017 and the year after, she was accused in two cases involving a former boyfriend. Both cases were eventually dropped by prosecutors.
