The president of Japan’s largest boy band agency acknowledged Thursday the sexual abuse committed over decades by her predecessor on young recruits to the national music scene, and at the same time announced her resignation.
“The agency and I personally recognize the sexual abuse committed by Johnny Kitagawa,” Julie Fujishima, niece of the fallen pope of J-pop who died in 2019, said at a press conference. “I apologize for the from the bottom of my heart to his victims,” she added.
His 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, who died in 2019 at the age of 87, founded the Johnny Agency in 1962
Local media had already raised accusations of abuse and sexual exploitation of minors concerning him during his lifetime. In 1999, the weekly Shukan Bunshun published a series of articles presenting the accusations of several young men against him.
But Mr. Kitagawa was awarded damages for defamation following these articles, although the decision was partially overturned on appeal.
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 talents it produces are called “Johnny’s”.
And Ms Fujishima explained that she would remain part of the management team, to help “compensate” the victims.
At a separate news conference on Thursday, alleged victims of Mr. Kitagawa reacted positively to the agency’s announcements, but said it was not enough.
“The scars left on my heart will never completely disappear,” said Yukihiro Oshima, who had been a “Johnny’s” in the late 1990s.
Junya Hiramoto, another former member of the agency’s boy band, said he hoped “the company would do everything in its power to save” the victims.
The controversy over Johnny Kitagawa resurfaced after the broadcast at the beginning of the year of a documentary by the British public television channel BBC and the open accusations of one of his alleged victims.
Ms. Fujishima then apologized but denied having any knowledge of the actions of her predecessor.
A commission charged by Johnny
Its investigative report released in late August, based on interviews with 41 alleged victims and agency executives, contains graphic accounts of sexual abuse.
It recommended the resignation of Ms. Fujishima, who succeeded Mr. Kitagawa in 2019, arguing that she had long known about the accusations but had decided to turn a blind eye.
According to the authors of the report, this attitude of the president had fostered a state of mind giving agency officials the impression that they could “handle Kitagawa’s sexual abuse very well as if it had never happened.” .
“The replacement of the current president is essential for the agency to reform and start from scratch,” the panel estimated.
09/07/2023 10:56:24 – Tokyo (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
