Tokyo police say kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke is admitting to allegations that he helped his mother kill herself.

Investigators say the 47-year-old kabuki star is telling them that he and his parents decided to die due to a weekly magazine report on his involvement in a scandal.

Ennosuke, whose real name is Kinoshi Takahiko, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of helping his mother kill herself by giving her sleeping drugs.

Ennosuke and his 76-year-old father and 75-year-old mother were found collapsed at their home in Tokyo on May 18. His father was a kabuki actor known as Ichikawa Danshiro. Both parents were confirmed dead.

Tokyo police said they may have died of psychotropic drug poisoning on May 17 or the next day.

Ennosuke was found semi-conscious and taken to a hospital, where he was questioned by investigators. He was initially quoted as saying he and his parents talked about dying together and being reborn, before the parents took sleeping medication.

Ennosuke also told investigators that he helped with his parents' suicides, and was going to follow them by killing himself.

Police said ingredients of two kinds of sleeping medicine were detected in Ennosuke and his parents. They suspect the medication is one that had been prescribed to Ennosuke.

Investigative sources say Ennosuke also said in questioning prior to the arrest that he and his parents decided to bid farewell together because of a magazine article. The report on Ennosuke's personal scandal was published on the day they were found collapsed.

Theater critic Kamimura Iwao said Ennosuke's absence from kabuki has had a huge impact, as he is a key actor who has attracted the largest audiences among actors of his generation. Kamimura said the incident could at least temporarily affect kabuki's box office sales and popularity.