The head of influential J-pop talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. stepped down Thursday after criticism that management mishandled sexual abuse allegations against its late founder.
The resignation of Julie Keiko Fujishima, niece of founder Johnny Kitagawa, follows an investigation which found the music impresario abused “at least hundreds of victims” between the early 1970s and mid-2010s. The investigators’ report also blamed the agency’s family-led management for allowing the misconduct to continue.
Before his death in 2019, Kitagawa built a stable of popular boy bands that included Hikaru Genji, SMAP, Arashi and Sexy Zone. The company’s stars have for decades dominated Japan’s media and advertising industry as well as the world’s second-biggest recorded music market. Although weekly news magazine Shukan Bunshun ran a story about Kitagawa’s abuse in the late 1990s, he was never charged.
The release of a BBC documentary in March detailing allegations against Kitagawa prompted several victims to come forward, and the ensuing uproar led the agency to issue a rare apology and agree to an independent probe. Last month, members of a UN human rights group also looked into the case and called on Japan to better protect children from sexual abuse.
The agency appointed Noriyuki Higashiyama, a former teen idol, as its new president. He would be the first non-family member to lead the company. The investigators’ report had blamed Fujishima’s late mother Mary Yasuko Fujishima in particular for turning a blind eye to the founder’s misconduct.
--With assistance from Yuki Furukawa.
