Japanese Entertainment Agency Johnny's Admits Founder Sexual Assault... President Fujishima Resigns

Former Idol Group Member as New CEO
"Sincerely Responding to Victim Compensation"

Japan's famous entertainment agency 'Johnny's Office' (hereinafter Johnny's) officially acknowledged and apologized on the 7th for the sexual violence committed by its founder, the late Johnny Kitagawa, against numerous male trainees during his lifetime.

Fuji Shima Juri Keiko, president of the famous Japanese entertainment agency 'Johnny's Office,' is wiping tears during a press conference held in Tokyo on the 7th. / Photo by Yonhap News

According to Kyodo News, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and others, former Johnny's president Juriko Fujishima held a press conference in Tokyo on the day and bowed her head, saying, "I sincerely apologize to all the victims."

She also announced that she took responsibility for the issue and resigned from the presidency on the 5th. Fujishima is Johnny Kitagawa's niece. However, she decided to retain the CEO position to promote compensation efforts for the victims.

She added that regarding the shares of Johnny's, which she owns 100%, "I intend to discuss them under the new system going forward." This is to prevent the harms of family management led by Johnny Kitagawa and his sister, the late Mary Kitagawa.

The successor president is Noriyuki Higashiyama, an entertainer from Johnny's three-member idol group 'Shonentai.' He is currently the oldest entertainer belonging to Johnny's.

At the press conference, the new president Higashiyama said, "We will seriously face the victim compensation and respond sincerely." He plans to suspend his personal entertainment activities within the year and devise thorough measures to prevent recurrence as president.

Regarding Johnny Kitagawa's sexual violence, he said, "I heard rumors but never directly heard of any victim," adding, "The Kitagawa siblings were 'absolute figures' within the company."

However, he expressed his intention to maintain the company name derived from the founder's name. President Higashiyama said, "There is fan support, and I think it is good as it is one expression of the energy and pride in nurturing entertainers until now."

The press conference by Johnny's attracted great attention, with most Japanese public broadcasters airing it live.

Johnny Kitagawa founded Johnny's in 1962 and nurtured famous idol groups such as SMAP and Arashi. He died in 2019 and is known to have sexually assaulted numerous male idol hopefuls by abusing his authority.

His sexual violence issue was reported by a Japanese weekly magazine in 1999 and circulated as an open secret, but it did not become a major social issue before his death.

The issue gained attention this year in March when the British public broadcaster BBC aired a documentary titled 'The Predator of Japanese J-Pop.' The voices calling for a fact-finding investigation grew louder following a press conference by sexual violence victim Gawan Okamoto.

In response, Johnny's formed an investigative team composed of external experts, and after three months of work, the team announced on the 30th of last month that "it is recognized that widespread sexual exploitation was repeatedly committed over a long period."

The investigative team stated that Johnny Kitagawa committed sexual violence from the 1950s until the mid-2010s shortly before his death, and they heard testimonies from many people that the number of victims reached at least several hundred.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.