Johnny Kitagawa’s Death in 2019: Shocking Allegations of Abuse and Cultural Cover-up in Japan

EPA The announcement of Johnny Kitagawa’s death in 2019 on a Tokyo screen.

NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 23:55

Anoma van der Veere

Correspondent Japan

Anoma van der Veere

Correspondent Japan

“It started when I was 15 years old,” says Kauan Okamoto. He had been scouted as a singer by the famous Japanese artist agency Johnny’s as a young boy. There he, like hundreds of other boys, was abused by the now deceased owner Johnny Kitagawa. His niece announced today that he would step down as director of the entertainment company.

“I pretended to be asleep,” Okamoto told a news conference in Tokyo earlier this year. “He would come into my bed, undress me and perform oral sex.” This happened almost twenty times in total. It didn’t just happen to him. An independent investigative report released last week found that Kitagawa abused hundreds of boys. The scandal sends shockwaves through Japan.

Kitagawa’s victims have all been abused after joining his artist agency as a young talent. Parents authorized Johnny to have their minor child trained by him as a singer or actor. These ‘juniors’ were often invited in groups to stay with Kitagawa in his apartment. They were then attacked individually at night.

EPAKauan Okamoto at the press conference

“One day I was abused and the next day I was offered a pile of money,” said Okamoto. For those who spoke out about it, this meant the end of their career. The research report describes the stories of several victims with similar experiences.

Sexual Violence in Japan

Japan has long struggled with covert sexual violence. Nine out of ten women say they do not report sexual violence. This culture of silence is even stronger among men: only a few report it.

This is partly due to the legislation in the country. For example, men were only added to the official definition of rape in 2017. Before this change in the law, sexual abuse of underage boys fell under child abuse and there was simply no legal provision for adult men.

cover up

Kitagawa, who founded the entertainment agency in 1962, got away with his abuse for more than 50 years. Allegations were covered up by Japanese media.

That’s because the influential entertainment agency is a cultural phenomenon in Japan. Johnny’s represents the most successful artists in the country and maintains close relationships with the Japanese media. They now admit that they ignored the allegations for years.

Only gossip magazine Shukan Bunshun tried to publicize the allegations. In 1999, the magazine published the first article with anonymous sources about the alleged abuse. Kitagawa sued the magazine for defamation, but lost the lawsuit. The judge concluded that the allegations contained a grain of truth and were therefore not slander.

Foreign pressure

After his death at the age of 87 in 2019, the allegations against Kitagawa gradually became more attention. A documentary from the BBC, in which three victims had their say, was broadcast in March this year. More and more people then stepped forward with their experiences with the deceased media boss.

The United Nations investigated the scandal and put pressure on the Japanese government to address the abuse and compensate victims. Only after these developments did the Japanese media dare to take up the subject. Today’s press conference, in which the incumbent director announced her departure, was broadcast on almost all major TV channels.

Retire current director

“These problems were caused by my uncle and as his niece I take responsibility for this,” Julie Keiko Fujishima, head of Johnny’s, said to a group of journalists today. Fujishima hands over her position to Noriyuki Higashiyama, a popular singer and newsreader. She does retain all shares in the entertainment company.

The new director says to take the broom through the entire company and to tackle the problem firmly. He himself denies being abused or knowing about it. He does admit that the gossip had reached him. “But I couldn’t do anything and didn’t do anything about it,” he explains apologetically.

For the victims, Fujishima’s dismissal and the acknowledgment of the abuse feel like mustard after the meal: Kitagawa has already died and cannot be prosecuted. The departing director will continue to own the company. Several former Johnny’s artists are considering suing the company to get justice.

2023-09-07 21:55:57
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