Johnny Kitagawa Abused Nearly 1,000 People, BBC Documentary Reveals

The variety of males who’ve come ahead to say they have been abused by the once-celebrated J-pop agent Johnny Kitagawa is now near 1,000, based on a BBC documentary airing tonight.

The Shadow of a Predator hosted by Mobeen Azhar will present testimony from a wealth of people that have been younger boys signed by the Johnny & Associates expertise company, which was dissolved final yr following the primary bombshell documentary from the BBC.

The variety of males who’ve come ahead to Smile-Up – Johnny & Associates’ successor firm – is now at 964, the doc will reveal, whereas airing an unique interview with Smile-Up CEO Noriyuki Higashiyama, a former actor.

Kitagawa died in 2019 aged 87 and was celebrated for his six-decade lengthy contribution to Japanese popular culture, however allegations of abuse emerged after his demise. His firm was dissolved after the BBC’s 2023 documentary and was changed by a brand new expertise company in addition to Smile-Up, an organization tasked with processing claims of abuse.

The doc will reveal, nonetheless, that Smile-Up has been criticized by survivors of abuse for having an opaque compensation course of and for not performing shortly sufficient. A lawyer representing survivors of Kitagawa’s abuse will described Smile-Up’s course of as being like “a black field scenario” to Azhar. The doc may even characteristic an interview with the spouse of a person who took his personal life after he went public along with his story.

Higashiyama will say: “I hope it is going to assist to fix their hearts, even just a bit. I think about that to be my function. My principal focus is to satisfy with survivors.”  He’ll admit that he has no formal coaching or expertise in counselling of serving to survivors of sexual abuse. 

The allegations previously years have rocked the world of Japanese pop. The corporate was dissolved late final yr throughout a dramatic press convention that featured Kitagawa’s niece, Julie Okay Fujishima, who introduced her resignation on the time following months of worldwide scrutiny and an unbiased investigation.

The BBC’s doc will air tonight.