Ennosuke Ichikawa was part of apparent family pact to take their own lives after he learned he was to be accused of sexual abuse

One of Japan’s best-known kabuki actors has been given a suspended prison sentence for helping his parents die in an apparent suicide pact that sent shockwaves through the world of Japanese traditional theatre.

Ennosuke Ichikawa, a fourth-generation member of a leading kabuki family, was arrested in June after his mother and father were found dead at the family’s home in Tokyo the previous month.