"What's Wrong With Going Naked?" T-Shirts Quote Disgraced Japanese Idol

"What's wrong with going naked?" That's the question popular Japanese singer, actor, entertainer and ad pitchman Tsuyoshi Kusanagi reportedly asked arresting officers who found him naked and screaming in a Tokyo park at 3am last April 23rd.

Kusanagi's question has exploded into pop culture to the point where a company called Club-T is offering up custom t-shirts emblazoned with poor Kusanagi's plea - in 43 different styles.

I say "poor Kusanagi" because he's not getting one thin yen for his troubles, and said troubles are many since he was dragged naked from the park and into the local police station.

Left: scene of the "crime"... Right, Kusanagi being arrested

Not only has he been bumped from a number of TV shows, a movie featuring him set to be released this September has reportedly been shelved. Even harsher - and reminiscent of what was done to out-of-favor Egyptian pharaohs - Kusanagi's photo and name have been removed from ad posters.

In perhaps the unkindest cut of all, Japan's internet photoshoppers have the knives out and are gleefully slicing away at what remains of Kusanagi's reputation. One example is the above image, a parody of Kusanagi's PSA poster advising consumers of the upcoming switch from analog to digital broadcasting.

The parody instead announces Kusanagi's disappearance from TV and, that SMAP, the mega-selling pop group he's in, is now down to 4 members from 5. The original, official PSA campaign by the way? Yep, Kusanagi's been quietly dropped - ouch!

43 ways to ask, "What's Wrong With Going Naked?"

In any case, "What's wrong with going naked?" is, for better or worse, keeping the Kusanagi Saga in the public eye. The buzz is similar to that created when former prime minister Yasuo Fukuda snapped at a reporter "I'm different from you" and in doing so launched a new catch phrase (and dozens of t-shirts).

Order your Kusanagi screen printed t-shirts here - there are 43 different colors & styles to choose from and won't it be fun explaining when people ask what it means? (via Japan Today, Japan Probe and Japan Zone)