Some of Japan’s best-known companies have cut ties with a powerful talent agency whose founder was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of teenage boys, in a scandal that has rocked the country’s entertainment industry.
The public broadcaster NHK said this week it would not sign new contracts with stars from Johnny & Associates until it was convinced the firm had properly addressed the scandal.
“We will suspend making new offers until we make sure that it is taking concrete steps to compensate the victims and take prevention measures,” NHK’s president, Nobuo Inaba, told reporters.
The commercial backlash has gathered pace since the agency’s then president, Julie Fujishima, admitted for the first time this month that its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, had abused young men and boy who were hoping to make it in Japan’s cutthroat pop scene.
Fujishima, who is Kitagawa’s niece, announced her resignation as president of Johnny & Associates, although she continues to hold 100% of its shares.
The agency’s decision to retain its name sparked criticism from victims and firms that use its performers in advertising campaigns. The agency’s board met last week to discuss a potential name change, with an announcement due on Monday.
NHK’s decision means the agency’s top stars are unlikely to appear in its popular New Year’s Eve singing contest Kohaku Uta Gassen (the Red and White Song Battle), a TV fixture since the early 1950s.
McDonald’s Japan, Japan Airlines, Nissan and the drinks manufacturers Kirin and Suntory are among the firms that have ended or suspended their commercial association with the agency, after a panel of experts concluded in August that the agency had covered up Kitagawa’s sexual abuse for decades.
“Using the agency’s talent would mean we are tolerating child abuse,” Takeshi Niinami, the president of Suntory, told reporters, according to the Kyodo news agency.
Kitagawa, who died in 2019 aged 87, was behind a string of successful J-pop groups, including Smap and Arashi, who built huge followings in Japan and across Asia.
Allegations that Kitagawa, who founded the agency in 1962, had abused young men hired by his agency first appeared in the weekly magazine Shūkan Bunshun in 1999.
Kitagawa sued Bunshun for libel and was awarded damages, but the judgment was partially overturned on appeal, with the Tokyo high court ruling in 2004 that the magazine had sufficient reason to publish the allegations against him. Kitagawa’s appeal was rejected by the supreme court. He was never charged with a crime.
The allegations against Kitagawa, ignored for decades by Japanese newspapers and TV networks, have sparked a reckoning with the country’s record on addressing sexual abuse.
The expert panel said it believed Japanese media had decided not to report the allegations, fearing they would lose access to popular artists represented by Johnny’s, as the firm is widely known.
This month, the government said it would open a temporary hotline, staffed by qualified counsellors, for male victims of sexual abuse. “We hope victims will feel safe and can use the service without hesitation,” Ayuko Kato, a minister in charge of child-related policies, told reporters.
The agency said it had set up a panel of former judges who will determine how much compensation will be paid to survivors of Kitagawa’s alleged abuse.
Kitagawa’s conduct became the focus of media attention after the broadcast in March of a BBC documentary, Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop.
Soon after, Kauan Okamoto, who had been hired by the agency as a 15-year-old, went public with allegations of abuse, telling reporters he had been sexually assaulted on at least 15 occasions at Kitagawa’s luxury apartment in Tokyo. Several other former members of the agency came forward with similar allegations.
• In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
