- Founder of Japanese entertainment company Johnny & Associates, Johnny Kitagawa, under investigation for alleged sexual abuse
- The lead investigator in the case said that they would not address monetary or criminality questions
- Former prosecutor Makoto Hayashi said that the situation is a serious governance problem
The founder of Japanese entertainment company Johnny & Associates, Johnny Kitagawa, is under investigation over allegations of sexual abuse, potentially placing the company's culture under the spotlight.
While the investigation will hear testimony from victims, it will not address monetary or criminality questions. It is focused on preventing such cases from happening in the future, said the lead investigator on Monday.
Accusations of Sexual Abuse
In a statement, a former prosecutor, Makoto Hayashi, said that the situation at the company is a "serious governance problem." He added that the process would prioritize hearing from victims who have come forward against the defendant.
The panel that is in charge of the sexual abuse case will outline where the response at the Japanese entertainment agency failed and will provide recommendations on how to prevent them from happening in the future. The allegations against Kitagawa, an influential figure in Japanese entertainment, have been spreading for decades, but he was never charged with any crime until his 2019 death, as per ABC News.
The recent allegations surfaced as a topic for scrutiny after a special segment by BBC News earlier this year. It focused on several people who claimed that they were the victims of sexual abuse while they were younger during their time working for Kitagawa's company.
Since then, many others have come forward to share their allegations against the company's founder, including Kauan Okamoto, who spoke in April at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo. Despite alleged sexual assault victims not usually being identified, Okamoto came out to the public.
The latest allegations have also served as a wake-up call over Japan's supposed lagging fight against sexual abuse and harassment. During their time working at Johnny's, as the company is commonly called, dozens, perhaps hundreds of children may have been assaulted.
Investigating Organizational Culture
The talent management agency hired an investigation team of experts to independently and exclusively investigate sexual abuse claims. According to the Japan Times, the team would also determine whether or not there was an "organizational culture" that enabled Kitagawa's suspected longtime abuse.
However, the probe will only examine cases of the people who come forward against the company's founder. This has caused concern that the investigative team will be unable to uncover the full story regarding the sexual abuse controversy, which first surfaced in the 1960s.
The top executives of many major Japanese companies that have become ensnared in scandals, including Toyota and Toshiba, bowed deeply as a form of apology during a news conference. The company's current chief executive, Julie Keiko Fujishima, also Kitagawa's niece, has denied knowing about the sexual abuse.
Last month, Fujishima released an online video that apologized for the "disappointment and worries" that fans must have felt. She said that she was unaware of Kitagawa's controversial actions and did not attend the Monday news conference, said CTV News.
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