EXCLUSIVE: How Sir Paul McCartney Was Plagued by Prison Rape Fears After He Was Banged Up in Japan Over 'Idiotic' Drug Smuggling
Paul McCartney admitted he worried about being raped in prison after his Japanese drug smuggling arrest.
Nov. 11 2025, Published 8:54 p.m. ET
RadarOnline.com can reveal Sir Paul McCartney feared he might be raped during his spell in a Japanese prison – calling his 1980 drugs arrest that led to him being caged "the maddest thing" he had ever experienced.
The 83-year-old Beatles icon was infamously locked up in Tokyo after being caught at customs carrying a large bag of marijuana in his suitcase as he arrived in Japan to tour with Wings.
The 'Idiotic' Smuggling Decision
Sir Paul McCartney recalls fearing for his safety during his 1980 Japan prison ordeal.
The country's strict drug laws carry a potential seven-year hard labor sentence, and McCartney has now admitted his carefree decision to bring cannabis from New York was "idiotic."
"I was out in New York and I had all this really good grass. Excellent stuff," McCartney says in his new memoir, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run.
"We were about to fly to Japan, and I knew I wouldn't be able to get anything to smoke over there. This stuff was too good to flush down the toilet."
He added: "It was the maddest thing in my life – to go into Japan, which has a seven-year hard-labour penalty for pot, and be so free and easy. I put a bloody great bag of the stuff right on the top of my suitcase.
"Why didn't I even hide it in a pullover? I look at the footage now and I just think, 'That couldn't have been me.'"
Detainment and Confession
McCartney admits bringing cannabis into Japan was 'the maddest thing' he ever did.
McCartney, then 37, was detained at Tokyo's Narita airport as his wife Linda and their four children looked on.
Their daughter Mary, now 56, recalled: "I just remember somebody lifting it up and me feeling very confused, like this might be a problem. And then them saying to Mom and Dad, 'Whose is this?' Because it was their case. And I remember them looking at each other, going, 'Which one of us is going to do this? Because one of us needs to stay with the kids.' And then Dad saying it was him, and then they took him away."
McCartney confessed immediately, telling Japanese police he had broken the law and apologizing.
"It probably didn't help that I had more than I could get through in a month," he said.
"They still wanted to know everything. I had to go through my whole life story – which schools I went to, my father's name, our address, my income. I even had to tell them about my MBE medal from the Queen."
Fear and Shame in Jail
He kept his spirits up by singing and chatting with fellow prisoners through cell doors.
Once in jail, the musician said he was overwhelmed by fear and shame.
"Now you've put your wife in it, you've got your kids in it," he said.
"And knowing how faithful Linda was, I thought, 'Well, the kids are going to grow up in Japan. Linda will stay here.' All that's going through your head: 'Have I really done this? You bloody idiot.'"
He continued: "Then the British vice-consul told me I could get seven years' hard labour. That's when it got extremely worrying. I couldn't sleep for the first three days. It was five days before Linda was allowed to visit me, and I'd never spent a night apart from her since we'd married. It was pretty rough. I had to share a bath with a bloke who was in for murder. I was afraid to take my suit off in case I got raped."
Making Friends and Saying Goodbye
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After nine days behind bars, McCartney was released and said his goodbye was unexpectedly emotional
Still, McCartney tried to keep his spirits up by organizing singsongs and trading words with neighboring prisoners.
"You had to do something, or go mad," he said.
"I was trying to learn a few words in Japanese… I would say, 'Toyota!' They would go, 'Toyota! Toyota!' And then I'd hear them laughing. It was crazy."
He was released after nine days and said his parting was unexpectedly emotional.
McCartney said: "I was happy to leave, but I'd made a couple of friends in there so the parting was a little sad. As I walked free, I was shaking hands with these prisoners through the letterboxes of their cells."
