(Update) Ichikawa Ennosuke Gets Suspended Sentence over Parents' Suicide

   Tokyo, Nov. 17 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke IV to three years in prison, suspended for five years, for assisting in the suicide of his parents.
   Presiding Judge Kenji Yasunaga said that the 47-year-old's decision to assist in the suicide was "short-sighted."
   The judge referred to Ennosuke's statements that his parents decided to commit suicide after Ennosuke told them that he planned to end his own life because a weekly magazine was to report on alleged cases of sexual and power harassment by him.
   "Even if his thinking was narrow at the time, there were few extenuating circumstances in his motives and the events leading up to the crime," the judge noted.
   On the other hand, the judge said a suspended sentence was appropriate as Ennosuke has shown remorse for his actions and has received offers of support from concerned people.

(2023/11/17-20:18)

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