Johnny Kitagawa sexual abuse scandal

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In 2023, it was revealed that Johnny Kitagawa (1931–2019), the founder of the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, had committed repeated acts of sexual abuse from the early 1970s until the mid-2010s. Considered one of the most powerful figures in the Japanese entertainment industry, Kitagawa held a virtual monopoly on the creation of boy bands in Japan for more than forty years.^[1] No criminal charges were ever filed against Kitagawa, as the Japanese media had covered up the abuse without reporting it at all.

Between 1988 and 2000, Kitagawa was the subject of numerous allegations that he had taken advantage of his position to engage in improper sexual relationships with adolescent boys under contract to Johnny & Associates. Kitagawa denied these claims, and in 2002 was awarded an ¥8.8 million judgment against Shukan Bunshun, the magazine that had published some of the allegations. An appeal by the magazine followed, resulting in a partial reversal of the judgment. The Tokyo High Court reduced the damages to ¥1.2 million, concluding that reports of underage drinking and smoking facilitated by Kitagawa were defamatory, but that the allegations of sexual exploitation by Kitagawa were true. A 2004 appeal to the Supreme Court by Kitagawa was rejected. The case saw minimal coverage in Japan, with many journalists attributing it to Kitagawa's influence over the country's media.^[2][3]

In 2023, four years after his death, Kitagawa's abuse became more publicly known after a report in August of that year concluded that he committed sexual abuse from the early 1970s until the mid-2010s, including the rape of hundreds of boys who were under contract to Johnny & Associates.^[4][5] The report came after abuse claims against Kitagawa had received renewed attention following the release of the documentary Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop and further allegations made by musician and former Johnny's Jr. member Kauan Okamoto earlier in the year.

As of 2023, a reported number of 478 persons have claimed to have been victimized by Kitagawa, of those, 325 sought compensation, and only 150 have been confirmed to have signed to Johnny & Associates.^[6] Later that year, it was revealed that the agency would be renamed to SMILE UP, and that that anything bearing the name "Johnny", such as related companies and performing groups, would undergo changes to remove any trace of Kitagawa's name.