THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 14, 2023 at 18:26 JST
The headquarters of Osaka prefectural police (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
OSAKA--A man who came forward about being sexually abused by showbiz guru Johnny Kitagawa and was later harassed online was found dead in Osaka Prefecture in an apparent suicide, investigative sources said.
The body of the man, a resident of Osaka city in his 40s, was discovered in mid-October on a mountain in Minoh along with a suicide note, the sources said.
A former member of the Johnny & Associates Inc. talent agency, the man belonged to Johnny’s Sexual Assault Victims Association.
The group was established in June by former members of the talent agency, now called Smile-Up Inc., who said they were molested as teenagers by Kitagawa, the founder of the agency.
Kitagawa died in 2019 at age 87 without ever facing criminal charges over his actions.
After making media appearances about the sexual abuse, the man became a target of online harassment. Anonymous social media users accused him of lying for financial gain.
Other members of the association have told police they are receiving similar defamatory comments online.
Johnny & Associates had long denied the allegations against Kitagawa, which go back decades.
An investigation panel set up by the agency released a report in August, confirming the abuse allegations and saying Kitagawa’s victims likely numbered in the hundreds.
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