Photo/Illutration From left to right, Koji Nagato, Yasunobu Shiga and Kazuya Nakamura, former members of the talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc., speak at a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 9. (Amane Shimazaki)

One year and a month after talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. acknowledged the sexual abuse allegations against its founder, survivors are demanding further action and assistance be given. 

At a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 9, former members of the agency spoke out against the lack of sufficient support for victims, calling for a more thorough investigation and comprehensive measures to prevent a recurrence.

“I feel that the issue of sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa is gradually fading from public memory,” said Yasunobu Shiga, a former member of the 1990s boy band Ninja, which belonged to the agency. “I continue to speak out because I don't want children to experience the same pain and suffering that I did.”

Shiga, 56, is one of around 1,000 people who have claimed to have been sexually abused by Kitagawa, the late founder of the agency, now renamed Smile-Up Inc.

Kitagawa, one of the most powerful showbiz moguls in Japan, died in 2019 at age 87 without facing criminal charges for his actions.

Shiga criticized Smile-Up for not holding a news conference on the issue for a year, saying the company should not assume that the matter is resolved simply because it paid compensation to survivors.

He also shared that he has been merely surviving and enduring hardships over the past year, having faced online harassment and bullying since going public with his claim.

Koji Nagato, 41, another survivor, echoed Shiga’s concern about the scandal being forgotten.

“Some might say, ‘We’ve had enough of this,’ or ‘Are they still complaining?’ but I keep on protesting because I want the Japanese people to be able to say what is wrong is wrong,” Nagato said.

Kazuya Nakamura, the third speaker at the news conference, criticized authorities for their inaction regarding separate sexual abuse allegations involving the agency’s employees.

Nakamura, 41, is the co-founder of “1 is 2 many,” a group dedicated to combating sexual violence against children.

He emphasized that Smile-Up should acknowledge its social responsibilities and work to regain public trust by using its influence to raise awareness about sexual abuse, especially as more individuals, particularly in show business, come forward to share their stories.

Other victims sent messages to be read at the news conference, including the wife of a former Johnny’s member who took his own life a year ago after becoming the target of cruel online abuse.

“The agency seems to pretend to care about the victims while being busy protecting itself from the scandal,” said the woman. “They’ve never contacted me for a discussion or an apology—nothing.”

She stated that her husband found the courage to come forward after years of suffering from the trauma of sexual abuse, only to face harassment, stigma and other forms of secondary victimization.

As the first anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, the woman said she and her child are struggling to survive day by day.

(This article was written by Amane Shimazaki and Maki Okubo, a senior staff writer.)

Related News