Disgraced actor Manabu Oshio started his 30-month prison term Thursday for failing to come to his girlfriend's aid after she overdosed on Ecstasy during a drug- and sex-fueled night at his apartment.
"I do not agree with what the ruling says and it is not my true wish to go to prison," Oshio, 33, said in a statement released by his lawyer. "But I would like to fully serve my time as I believe going to prison may have some meaning for me."
Earlier in the day, Oshio visited the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office to complete the official procedures regarding his incarceration at the Tokyo Detention House.
Oshio also received a suspended 18-month prison sentence on a separate charge of using drugs. But the five-year suspension is expected to be annulled, allowing him to serve both terms concurrently.
Oshio and his girlfriend took the synthetic drug MDMA, or Ecstasy, in August 2009 at his residence, it was ruled. When his girlfriend, a 30-year-old bar employee, became gravely ill after ingesting a massive amount of the drug, Oshio failed to call an ambulance or make any efforts to revive her. The Tokyo District Court convicted him in September 2010, and Tokyo High Court upheld the verdict last April. The Supreme Court rejected his final appeal in February.