Ex-Japan National Volleyball Player Guilty over Cannabis

Tokyo, July 31 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo District Court on Friday gave a one-year prison sentence, suspended for three years, to Shunichiro Sato, a former member of the Japanese men’s national volleyball team, for possessing cannabis. The 26-year-old defendant possessed about 0.8 gram of dried cannabis at a “pachinko” pinball parlor in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward on May 27, according to the ruling. Sato had a not insignificant amount of cannabis during the national team’s training camp, Judge Hironobu Ono said. The defendant had a strong “affinity” to drugs, having started using them while in university and indulging in cannabis with a partner in off-season periods, the judge pointed out. After giving the sentence, the judge told Sato not to forget the regret he expressed during his trial and to stay on the path to reform. In the trial, Sato said he had used cannabis during long breaks. The defendant said he clinched a deal to play for a professional volleyball team in India after he is released on bail. “I want to work hard from scratch so that I can regain the trust I lost,” Sato said. Sato was scheduled to participate in an international tournament from June 10 as a member of the national team. After the case came to light, he was removed from the roster for the 2026 season. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]