The president of a Japanese talent agency specializing in male bands has admitted for the first time today that young artists have been sexually abused for decades by her uncle and predecessor at the head of Johnny & Associates.
At a press conference, Julie Keiko Fujishima announced her resignation and “deeply apologized to the victims, affected people and fans”.
The resignation comes a week after an internal investigation confirmed that Johnny Kitagawa has committed “repeated and continued” sexual abuse over decades, the exact number of which is unknown.
The report, based on interviews with 41 alleged victims and agency executives, recommended the resignation of Fujishima, who succeeded Kitagawa in 2019, arguing she had long known about the allegations but “did not investigate”.
Fujishima will be replaced as president by Noriyuki Higashiyama, a former member of the music group Shonentai, an actor and television host long represented by the Johnny’s agency, who has also publicly apologized to the victims.
“The victims and their families have suffered physically and mentally for a long time. I want to face this situation and I have a firm intention to address this matter sincerely and with all my efforts,” Higashiyama said at the press conference.
Both the former president and the new leader did not discuss what procedures could be put in place to protect the artists or whether financial compensation or psychological support would be provided to the victims.
Allegations against Kitagawa have been publicized since 1988. a powerful figure in Japanese entertainment. However, the founder of Johnny & Associates, who died in 2019, has never been charged with any crime.
The case returned to the spotlight in April, when Japanese musician of Brazilian descent Kauan Okamoto became the first alleged victim to come forward and allow both his name and photo to be published.
At the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo, Okamoto, who signed a contract with Johnny’s when he was 15, said he had been abused at least 20 times and that he had seen colleagues abuse him.
The musician said Johnny Kitagawa allegedly molested between 100 and 200 minors during his time with the agency, between 2012 and 2016.
A campaign to boycott Johnny’s emerged on social networks, including companies making advertising and sponsorship deals with the artists managed by the agency.
Some critics noted that the Japanese press had been silent on the allegations for decades, suggesting they feared retaliation and losing access to artists managed by Johnny’s.
According to the allegations, Kitagawa regularly invited young singers and dancers, many of them minors, to sleep at his mansion, where they were then pressured to have sex with the tycoon.
Source: DN
