Photo/Illutration Police officers search the area around the home of famed Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward on May 18. (Wataru Sekita)

Tokyo police, citing a judicial autopsy, said the parents of popular Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke likely died of an overdose of psychotropic drugs.

Police believe the famed Kabuki actor attempted suicide May 18 at his home just as a weekly magazine reported his alleged involvement in a sexual abuse and power harassment scandal. 

This stoked presumptions his parents also took their own lives because they could not live with the scandal.

The 47-year-old actor, his Kabuki actor father, Ichikawa Danshiro, and his mother were found collapsed at their home in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward.

Announcing their findings May 19, the Metropolitan Police Department said it is continuing to look into the type of drug involved as well as how it was taken.

The police autopsy placed the time of death at between May 17 and 18. The parents, aged 76 and 75, had no obvious external injuries and there was no sign of forced entry into the home.

While Ennosuke was also taken to hospital, he was discharged May 19. Police will question him after his health returns to normal.

Police conducted an investigation at the home on May 19 and found several smartphones, which they are now examining.

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