One of Japan’s most influential leisure manufacturing corporations has issued an apology over sexual assault claims leveled towards its founder, Johnny Kitagawa, a long time after allegations about abuse of younger males in his care first got here to gentle.
Accusations that Mr. Kitagawa pressured intercourse on the boys who signed onto his company, Johnny & Associates, within the hopes it could catapult them to pop stardom had been made a long time in the past. And over a dozen former trainees have spoken out. But Mr. Kitagawa, a titan of Japan’s leisure trade credited with serving to to create the J-pop boy bands that have been fashionable amongst Asian followers earlier than the Ok-pop increase, has confronted little public scrutiny even after his demise in 2019.
In March, the accusations towards him have been the main target of an hourlong documentary by the BBC, which interviewed three accusers. As a number of different accusers got here ahead after the it aired, public strain mounted for the company to reply.
On Sunday, the chief government of Johnny & Associates and Mr. Kitagawa’s niece, Julie Keiko Fujishima, apologized in a written and video assertion revealed on its web site.
“I would like to express my apology from bottom of my heart for the social problems caused by the sexual assault cases of Kitagawa, our founder,” Ms. Fujishima stated.
Ms. Fujishima stated the corporate took the accusations “very seriously” however stopped in need of confirming or denying them. “I don’t think those issues didn’t happen at all,” she stated, “However, it’s not easy for me to confirm if allegations are true or not without confirming with Johnny Kitagawa.”
She added that she had not been conscious of the accusations towards Mr. Kitagawa.
Mr. Kitagawa was by no means criminally charged over the accusations and constantly denied them.
Mr. Kitagawa’s accusers have stated that he made sexual advances towards them whereas they educated to rise by means of the ranks of his expertise company, which is understood for producing a few of the greatest pop teams in Japan. Some stated they felt they might not refuse his advances.
Most of the accusers have been nameless. But final month, Japanese Brazilian singer Kauan Okamoto got here ahead along with his account of being repeatedly sexually abused by Mr. Kitagawa through the 4 years he was on the company between 2012 and 2016. He was abused between 15 and 20 occasions, ranging from when he was 15, he stated at a news convention.
Mr. Okamoto stated in an interview with The New York Times that he felt he couldn’t resist Mr. Kitagawa’s advances if he wished to proceed on the manufacturing firm. “I had to be determined to quit if I were to resist,” he stated.
Mr. Okamoto was unaware of the allegations when he first signed to the company, he stated. After he joined, “Other boys asked me, ‘Have you been assaulted?’” he stated. “I said, ‘What?’ They said, ‘Oh, you haven’t yet.’”
Many accusers, together with Mr. Okamoto, have stated that they nonetheless look as much as and are grateful to Mr. Kitagawa.
“I wouldn’t have made it that far on the stage without him,” Mr. Okamoto stated. “You feel like he is nearly a family member. So many people are thankful to him.”
Over 18,000 folks have signed a petition calling for the corporate to conduct an impartial investigation into the accusations. However, Ms. Fujishima has rejected the thought, saying that some victims might not wish to take part in an investigation. She added that the corporate would as an alternative present “consultation services” the place victims can converse to counselors, legal professionals and medical doctors.
Some journalists and media specialists have additionally questioned how Ms. Fujishima was not conscious of the accusations made towards Mr. Kitagawa.
“If Julie Fujishima ‘didn’t know’ about the abuse, why not simply tell that to all the journalists (including myself) who contacted her agency about claims of abuse in 2023, 2019, 2005, 2000, 1999, 1988,” David McNeill, a professor of communications at Sacred Heart University in Tokyo, stated on Twitter.
The first public accusation made towards Mr. Kitagawa from somebody who stated he had skilled abuse got here in 1988. Koji Kita, a member of one of many company’s earliest profitable boy bands, wrote a e book detailing allegations of sexual abuse by the hands of Mr. Kitagawa and the way different male teenage trainees had skilled abuse. His account prompted a string of comparable accusations from different former trainees. As early as 1965, native news media reported that the guardians of 4 boys sued Mr. Kitagawa, claiming he made sexual advances towards them. The boys later stated they might not keep in mind the small print.
In 1999, the Japanese journal Shukan Bunshun reported the accounts of a number of nameless accusers, sending shock waves by means of the leisure trade. The story attracted worldwide consideration however was largely ignored by the native media.
The company sued the publication for libel and denied it entry to acts managed by Mr. Kitagawa. In 2002, the Tokyo District Court dominated in favor of Mr. Kitagawa, ordering the writer to pay 8.8 million yen (about $65,000) in damages. The quantity was decreased to 1.2 million in 2003 by the Tokyo High Court, which discovered that the accusers’ statements have been in step with each other.
Media specialists have famous that native tv stations and newspapers have traditionally been cautious about angering Mr. Kitagawa and his firm, fearing that their entry to his acts could be restricted.
Source: www.nytimes.com