Investigators demand resignation of top J-pop talent agency boss after her uncle’s abuse revealed

Kitagawa’s Johnny & Associates dominated Japan’s showbiz industry for decades

File photo: A passerby watches a TV news reporting Johnny Kitagawa’s passing away in Tokyo, on 10 July 2019 (via AP)

The head of Japan’s largest boyband talent agency, who happens to be late founder Johnny Kitagawa’s niece, should step down due to allegations of his decades-long sexual abuse of recruits, a panel has said.

On Tuesday, a panel established by talent agency Johnny & Associates to investigate abuse allegations said Julie Fujishima should resign.

The panel said she had long been aware of the allegations against her uncle, but failed to initiate a proper investigation.

In late May, a team of independent experts commissioned by the talent agency conducted interviews with 41 individuals.

Their findings indicated Kitagawa allegedly initiated the sexual abuse of boys as early as the 1950s, and this behaviour persisted within his agency from the 1970s through the 2010s.

“Johnny & Associates did not take appropriate actions, such as investigating whether the sexual abuse (allegations) against Johnny (Kitagawa) were true or not” despite various news reports and court cases, the report said.

“Johnny & Associates had a serious problem of lacking governance.”

The panel consisted of three experts: Makoto Hayashi, a former prosecutor-general, Nozomu Asukai, a psychiatrist and Azusa Saito, a child trauma specialist. They were also joined by six lawyers from the Anderson Mori & Tomotsune law firm, who are assisting in the investigation, according to Japan Times.

Kitagawa passed away in 2019 due to a stroke at the age of 87. Throughout his career, he played a pivotal role in the creation of J-pop supergroups like SMAP, TOKIO and Arashi, which garnered a massive following of devoted fans across Asia.

The panel members meanwhile said they found the statement by Ms Fujishima that she “didn’t know” at the time “to be a lie”.

“It will be extremely difficult to change the mindset of its [Johnny & Associates] executives and members, and start over with Julie at the top of management,” the report said, and urged the company chief to step down.

“This will allow it to prevent one of the biggest reasons behind the lack of corporate governance at Johnny & Associates which is the negative effect that came from a family-run business,” it said.

Local media reported that a collective of individuals who have experienced sexual abuse, however, issued a statement on their website clarifying that they are not seeking Ms Fujishima’s resignation.

“We think it is unacceptable that she should resign to avoid responsibility,” said Junya Hiramoto, a representative of the victims’ group. “We recognise that Mr Shirahase [agency’s vice president Suguru Shirahase] who is all-knowing, is the one most responsible for this,” it alleged.

In May, Ms Fujishima issued a public apology on the agency’s website, stating she had no knowledge of the abuse. On Tuesday, the agency apologised to the victims again.