Filed photo taken on April 5, 2007 shows Japanese actress Noriko Sakai in Tokyo, Japan. Actress Noriko Sakai has been missing, her management office said Tuesday. [Ren Zhenglai/Xinhua]

Japanese pop singer Noriko Sakai, who has enjoyed popularity in Taiwan and China, has gone missing after her surfer husband was arrested on a drug possession charge, her agent said Tuesday.

Sakai, 38, has not been seen and has not responded to repeated phone calls and e-mails since police found her husband late Sunday with illegal drugs, said Masahisa Aizawa, president of management agency Sun Music.

"A missing person's report has been filed with the Akasaka precinct (police)," he said in a televised press conference.

"If Noriko is watching this, please know that we are worried so much and please talk to us," he said.

Sakai, who became intensely popular for her girl-next-door image in the 1980s and the 1990s, went missing after her 41-year-old husband was arrested late Sunday for possession of "stimulants", a Japanese category of hard drugs, that include amphetamines and methamphetamine.

Sakai, now a mother, is still popular both as an actress and singer and has her own line of clothes.

Japan strictly prohibits the possession of both hard and soft drugs. Drug use by celebrities like entertainers and athletes frequently makes national headlines.

(AFP August 5, 2009)