Two men who claim they were sexually abused as teenagers by a Japanese entertainment mogul have been interviewed by a special team set up by the talent agency to investigate the allegations
TOKYO — Two men who claim they were sexually abused as teenagers by a Japanese entertainment mogul were interviewed Monday by a special team set up by the talent agency to investigate the allegations.
Junya Hiramoto and Shimon Ishimaru, both former members of a boy dance and song group called Johnny’s Junior, said they still want an apology and compensation from Johnny & Associates.
“They have not admitted anything and they have not apologized,” Hiramoto told reporters after the interviews.
“We want a peaceful solution. There’s no point in going down the bloody, contentious path of fighting hate.”
The two are among a dozen men who have been accused of sexual abuse by the agency’s founder, Johnny Kitagawa. They say they were abused at his luxury mansion in Tokyo, as well as other places, such as his car and hotels abroad, while performing concerts as teenagers.
Kitagawa, who died in 2019, was never charged.
Earlier this month, the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights called on the Japanese government to take action on the abuse at Johnny & Associates, noting that the victims numbered at least several hundred and blaming the mainstream Japanese media for what it called “cover… up” by being silent. The full report is due to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next June.
The separate team that conducted Monday’s interviews was created by Johnny & Associates. He is due to provide his findings to the company later this month. Johnny & Associates has only commented in online statements, and how it will respond to the team’s findings remains to be seen.
In response to a request for comment from The Associated Press, Johnny & Associates said all matters are being reviewed by the investigative team. The company promised a statement about the investigation later this month.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who claim they were sexually assaulted, but Kitagawa’s recent accusers decided to be named publicly in the news.
Following a BBC documentary on Kitagawa that aired this year, musician Kawan Okamoto spoke in April at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo, the first person in decades to make such claims using his real name.
A new accuser, Yukihiro Oshima, a member of Johnny’s Junior for two years starting in 1998, spoke on Monday.
“For 23 years I tried to live my life with a deep scar in my heart,” he said.
Oshima and other victims said they didn’t understand what was happening at first. They said they just want to put an end to such crimes, not only in the entertainment industry, but in Japanese society as a whole.
Japan lags behind other developed nations in protecting the rights of children as well as people attacked by sexual predators. Public opinion also tends to be unsympathetic, and men who have spoken out against Johnny & Associates have been ridiculed and harassed online.
“We hope the company will come to the table to discuss compensation together.” We are ready to persevere,” Ishimaru said.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama