Police in Kanagawa Prefecture arrested composer Hideki Taniuchi ( Death Note , Kaiji , Otogi Zoshi , Aoi Bungaku Series ) for possession of dried cannabis on Tuesday. According to the prefectural police, the 39-year-old man asked to speak with a lawyer and has not provided a deposition yet.

Police reported that Taniuchi was taken into custody from his Yokohama home at about 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday. He was allegedly concealing a pipe and 1.5 grams (about 0.053 ounces) of marijuana valued at about 9,000 yen (about US$110) in his second-floor living room.

Authorities went to Taniuchi's residence after receiving testimony from a Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) employee. Kanagawa Prefectural Police had arrested a 36-year-old woman (Note: name redacted for privacy) on Saturday for marijuana possession. The woman claimed that she received the marijuana from Taniuchi. According to police, Taniuchi had been giving the woman marijuana for five or six years.

In addition to composing music for television anime series, Taniuchi performed opening theme songs for Hajime no Ippo ( Fighting Spirit ) as a guitarist in the rock band Shocking Lemon .

Police in Japan arrested Kamikaze Girls author Novala Takemoto for cannabis possession in 2007. Police also arrested Tsuyoshi Kosuga of cro-magnon , the musical group that co-composed the soundtrack for the Hyouge Mono anime, for similar charges in 2011.

Updated: Redacted name of other woman arrested for privacy.

Source: Sankei Shimbun