The president of the largest Japanese boy band agency has broken the omerta. Julie Fujishima acknowledged on Thursday, September 7 the sexual abuse committed for decades by her predecessor, Johnny Kitagawa, on young recruits to the country’s music scene. At a press conference, she announced her resignation at the same time. “I apologize from the bottom of my heart to his victims,” ??she added. Mr. Kitagawa, Ms. Fujishima’s uncle, died in 2019 at the age of 87.

Ms. Fujishima’s resignation comes a week after the publication of the results of an investigation highlighting the sexual assaults committed by Johnny Kitagawa against many young talents since the 1950s. Mr. Kitagawa had founded the agency in 1962 Johnny

The local media had already raised accusations of abuse and sexual exploitation of minors against this all-powerful boss. In 1999, the weekly Shukan Bunshun had published a series of articles relating the accusations of several boys against him. But Mr. Kitagawa was awarded damages for defamation as a result of these publications, although the decision was partially overturned on appeal.

Ms. Fujishima had “failed to investigate”

Julie Fujishima has appointed singer and actor Noriyuki Higashiyama, a veteran of the agency, to replace her. “It will take a very long time before we can regain people’s trust,” Higashiyama said, adding, “I will devote the rest of my life to solving this problem.” »

However, he said he was reluctant to change the name of the agency, whose talent it produces is called “Johnny’s”. And Ms. Fujishima explained that she would remain on the management team, in order to help the victims.

At a separate press conference on Thursday, alleged victims of Mr. Kitagawa reacted positively to the agency’s announcements, but said they weren’t enough. “The scars left on my heart will never fully fade,” said Yukihiro Oshima, who was a “Johnny’s” in the late 1990s. Junya Hiramoto, another former member of a boy band at the agency, said wish that “the company does everything in its power to save” the victims.

The controversy over Johnny Kitagawa resurfaced after a BBC documentary aired earlier this year and open-faced accusations by one of the victims, prompting an apology from the president of the talent agency. A commission commissioned by Johnny and Associates to investigate in turn estimated that at least “several hundred” young men had been assaulted by Mr. Kitagawa.

His investigative report released in late August, based on interviews with forty-one alleged victims and agency executives, contains explicit accounts of sexual abuse. It recommended the resignation of Ms. Fujishima, who succeeded Mr. Kitagawa in 2019, arguing that she had long been aware of the charges but had “failed to investigate”.

According to the report’s authors, the president’s attitude fostered a mindset that made company officials feel like they could “handle Kitagawa’s sexual abuse very well as if it never happened.” “. “The replacement of the current president is essential for the agency to reform and start from scratch,” the panel said.