Shizuoka, Japan – Japanese actress Ryoko Hirosue was released from police custody eight days after she was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a nurse at a hospital in central Japan.

She left Hamamatsu-Nishi Police Station around 6.20am local time (5.20am Singapore time) on April 16 and bowed to the waiting media before leaving in a car.

Prosecutors released Hirosue without indicting her, but they would continue with the investigation, with the 44-year-old cooperating on a voluntary basis. She reached a settlement with the nurse, according to an investigative source.

No alcohol or illicit drugs were detected in Hirosue’s system after tests by the police in Shizuoka Prefecture, her agency R.H said in a statement posted on her official website. It added that she has shown signs of emotional instability and will undergo treatment.

The TV star and singer’s representatives also apologised to the nurse and other parties affected, saying she is committed to meeting her responsibilities in the future.

Hirosue rear-ended a truck on the Shin-Tomei Expressway on April 7 while driving with a male passenger, who suffered a fracture. The truck driver was not injured. 

The actress, who suffered minor injuries in the collision, was taken to a hospital in Shimada, Shizuoka. She allegedly kicked a 37-year-old nurse multiple times and scratched her arm on April 8 after the nurse sought to prevent her from wandering around the hospital.

According to a statement posted earlier on Hirosue’s website, the incident with the nurse occurred after the accident “left the actress in a panic”.

The police visited Hirosue’s home in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward on April 10 in search of information related to a potential charge of dangerous driving causing injury.

Hirosue rose to fame in the 1990s with TV series such as Beach Boys (1997) and Sekai De Ichiban Papa Ga Suki (I Love My Dad More Than Anything In The World, 1998). She has also starred in films such as the Luc Besson-produced Wasabi (2001) and Oscar-winning Departures (2008).

She made headlines in June 2023 after admitting to an extramarital affair with Japanese chef Shusaku Toba, 46. A month later, she announced her divorce from her husband, Japanese candle artist Jun Izutsu, 51.

Hirosue and Izutsu have a son, 14, and a daughter, nine. She also has a 21-year-old son from her first marriage to Japanese designer Takahiro Okazawa, 49.

Hirosue was suspended indefinitely by her then a...