News Johnny Kitagawa: Japan’s J-pop predator

[thomas]

The BBC on Johnny Kitagawa, the former kingpin of J-pop who has churned out male pop stars and boy bands for over six decades. Despite having sexually preyed on his protégés who went through the Johnny & Associates machine, he is still revered by many four years after his passing.

This is a disturbing account of sexual abuse and exploitation.

Japan’s J-pop predator - exposed for abuse but still revered

How did the high priest of Japanese pop, Johnny Kitagawa, exploit teenage boys with impunity for so long?

www.bbc.com

 

[Lothor]

The reporting of his death on the commercial TV channels was sickening. His behaviour was widely known in the media, yet there was day after day of 'mourning' when he died. I don't think I've ever seen such revolting sycophancy in my life.

 

[Majestic]

Its as if the country (well, most of it, anyway) just shrugged their shoulders and said, "well, that's showbiz" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And worse, there seemed to be no end of boys and their families who were willing to accept the allegations, and head off to Johnny's to try to be an idol anyway. I thought the article did a good job of nailing this aspect.
But still, no-one dares speak a bad word about the mysterious Johnny himself. It has echoes of the Harvey Weinstein case in the US, but once it was clear that the allegations against Harvey were true, the press went on the attack. In Japan, the allegations against Johnny were proven to be true, but there was no attack, except from a couple of outlets. He's still treated like a lovable, naughty old uncle by the entertainment establishment.
It's a huge, weird, yawning cultural chasm.

 

[Majestic]

This is getting some traction on Twitter. It's been popping up on my feed all day. I was reminded on Twitter that this story kind of parallels the Jimmy Savile case in the UK. Not exactly, but it walks in a similar trajectory. One key difference is that after Jimmy Savile's death, the gloves came off and Jimmy was righty pilloried as a sex predator, and today his name is trash. Whereas in Japan, the omerta surrounding Johnny Kitagawa remains firm, and people still speak of him in respectful tones.

I guess this BBC special is airing in Japan this month.

Between this, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk being an absolute scumbag, it was a busy day on social media.

 

[thomas]

Today, in a press conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, one former sexual victim of Kitazawa came forward: a former teen idol said he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Johnny Kitagawa, the founder of Japan's biggest boyband empire, in a rare public allegation against the late mogul.

I'm curious to see if this will be mentioned in the news tonight.

Japanese-Brazilian singer Okamoto said he was molested by Kitagawa "15 to 20" times during his four-year stint in the agency until 2016, starting when he was just 15 years old. He is one of the first people to publicly address Kitagawa's long-alleged history of sexual abuse against young boys, a controversy that resurfaced after a recent BBC documentary. "I hope other victims will also come forward, all of them," said Okamoto, who believes most of the "100 to 200" young recruits he worked with at the agency were similarly assaulted by Kitagawa. "I also want the agency's top management, and Johnny himself if he were here today, to acknowledge what took place and make sure such things won't happen again."

Former teen idol alleges sex abuse by Japan music mogul

A former teen idol on Wednesday said he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Johnny Kitagawa, the founder of Japan's biggest boyband empire, in a rare public allegation against the late mogul.Allegations of child abuse and sexual exploitation have surrounded Kitagawa for years, but accusers have...

news.yahoo.com

 

[Majestic]

It's a very slow-moving train wreck. Just last night I watched a a program about Kansai Johnny's, and of course no hint of scandal. I mean, the idols, or would-be idols, aren't to blame, but the way this guy gets a big collective shrug of the shoulders is...interesting.

 

[thomas]

No reports on TV yesterday. Today's online editions of Yahoo News, MSN, Sanyo, Asahi, Nikkei, Mainichi, and several smaller news aggregators did pick it up.

「ジャニーズ事務所は身動きが取れなくなっている」ジャニー喜多川氏の性的虐待疑惑という重すぎる負の遺産（プレジデントオンライン） - Yahoo!ニュース

イギリスの公共放送・BBCや『週刊文春』がジャニー喜多川氏によるジャニーズ事務所所属タレントへの性加害を報じたが、新聞やテレビはこの問題に沈黙を貫いたままだ。エンターテインメントに詳しいジャーナリス

news.yahoo.co.jp

ジャニー喜多川氏の性加害を証言 元ジャニーズJr.の会見でNHKが質問 視聴者の関心は今後の報道に

元ジャニーズ「性的被害受けた」　カウアン・オカモトさんが会見：山陽新聞デジタル｜さんデジ

　ジャニーズＪｒ．として活動していた歌手のカウアン・オカモトさん（２６）が１２日、東京都内の日本外国特派員協会で記者会見し、ジャニーズ事務所に所属当時、ジャニー喜多川前社長（２０１９年死去）から「１２...

www.sanyonews.jp

「ジャニーさんから性被害」元ジャニーズJr.会見　「未遂」証言も：朝日新聞デジタル

　日本の男性アイドル界を牽引（けんいん）してきたジャニーズ事務所の創業者、ジャニー喜多川氏（2019年死去）から性被害を受けていたと、元ジャニーズJr.の男性が12日、東京都内の日本外国特派員協会で記…

www.asahi.com

「ジャニー喜多川氏から性的被害」　元ジャニーズJr.歌手が会見 | 毎日新聞

　ジャニーズJr.として活動していた歌手のカウアン・オカモトさん（26）が12日、東京都内の日本外国特派員協会で記者会見し、ジャニーズ事務所に所属当時、ジャニー喜多川前社長（2019年死去）から「12～16年に15～20回ほど性的被害を受けた」と主張した。

mainichi.jp

「前社長から性的被害」　元ジャニーズ所属歌手会見…（写真=共同） - 日本経済新聞

ジャニーズJr.として活動していた歌手のカウアン・オカモトさん（26）が12日、東京都内の日本外国特派員協会で記者会見し、ジャニーズ事務所に所属当時、ジャニー喜多川前社長（2019年死去）から「12〜16年に15〜20回ほど性的被害を受けた」と主張した

www.nikkei.com

 

[Lothor]

That's good - If organisations as big as Mainichi and Nikkei are reporting this, then the story is getting to be too big for NHK et al. to ignore. I can imagine there is a lot of discussion in TV channel boardrooms at the moment on whether to report this, and if so, how. People living in Japan with a social media account might want to report one of the above stories to add to the momentum.

 

[nice gaijin]

Is it just perceived as being too uncomfortable for people to adjust their perception of someone they grew up thinking was a "good guy" in some sense?

I mean, as far as I could tell, everyone knew the ジャニーズ term and it was synonymous with these J-pop idols, but I never even realized there was an actual Johnny (I originally thought it was "Journeys" or just some nonsense brand name when I first heard it back around 2005).

When it came out after his death that Jimmy Savile was a child predator, he was excoriated and publicly denounced. Statues of him were torn down, and I think they stopped circulating his shows. He was the face of children's TV and philanthropy in the UK as far as I knew, and they burned him in effigy when his crimes were finally exposed. That's like if Mr. Rogers was credibly accused of committing terrible crimes; it would be hard to accept but when irrefutable evidence is presented you have to reframe your relationship with the celebrity you thought you knew.

Kitagawa isn't exactly the "face" of J-pop in that he wasn't a beloved artist himself... he's more like Harvey Weinstein: well-known and powerful in his industry, but although his name was attached to a lot of successful and beloved intellectual properties, no one considered them to be the real genius behind wholly responsible for this much-loved movie or band or song. Or maybe they did, and that's why people are having such a hard time with this new truth. But finally, after years of getting away with it, Weinstein is getting his just desserts while he's still alive; Johnny made it all the way to his grave without having to experience the shame and embarrassment of facing justice.

Maybe a bit of it comes from a sense of guilt by association; if we accept that the guy we liked before we found out he is/was actually a terrible person, that somehow indicts us... People have a really hard time separating their appreciation for an artist's work from their personal life. For most people who had no idea what was going on, it's just a matter of ignorance; for those who willingly ignored or buried stories in order to protect a monster, they're complicit in his crimes and there's still a chance for someone to face the music.

 

[mdchachi]

Is there any risk of getting sued for defamation? Or now that he's dead, not really a concern?

 

[Majestic]

I think the risk is losing access to all the pop stars that came/come from this system. So the media outlets self-select out of this story.
Or, if they do report on it, it's pitched as "look at what the BBC is saying".

There's also a heavy atmosphere of victim-blaming that happens in these cases, and it certainly comes from the strong sense of shame and collective guilt - that any dirty laundry that is brought out in the open brings shame on the person that is unable to keep it a secret. It allows people to say, "sure what Johnny did was wrong, but those boys knew what they were getting into", or "Johnny was a scumbag, but those boys all profited from him so how dare they stab Johnny in the back like this".

 

[Lothor]

Is it just perceived as being too uncomfortable for people to adjust their perception of someone they grew up thinking was a "good guy" in some sense?

I mean, as far as I could tell, everyone knew the ジャニーズ term and it was synonymous with these J-pop idols, but I never even realized there was an actual Johnny (I originally thought it was "Journeys" or just some nonsense brand name when I first heard it back around 2005).

When it came out after his death that Jimmy Savile was a child predator, he was excoriated and publicly denounced. Statues of him were torn down, and I think they stopped circulating his shows. He was the face of children's TV and philanthropy in the UK as far as I knew, and they burned him in effigy when his crimes were finally exposed. That's like if Mr. Rogers was credibly accused of committing terrible crimes; it would be hard to accept but when irrefutable evidence is presented you have to reframe your relationship with the celebrity you thought you knew.

Kitagawa isn't exactly the "face" of J-pop in that he wasn't a beloved artist himself... he's more like Harvey Weinstein: well-known and powerful in his industry, but although his name was attached to a lot of successful and beloved intellectual properties, no one considered them to be the real genius behind wholly responsible for this much-loved movie or band or song. Or maybe they did, and that's why people are having such a hard time with this new truth. But finally, after years of getting away with it, Weinstein is getting his just desserts while he's still alive; Johnny made it all the way to his grave without having to experience the shame and embarrassment of facing justice.

Maybe a bit of it comes from a sense of guilt by association; if we accept that the guy we liked before we found out he is/was actually a terrible person, that somehow indicts us... People have a really hard time separating their appreciation for an artist's work from their personal life. For most people who had no idea what was going on, it's just a matter of ignorance; for those who willingly ignored or buried stories in order to protect a monster, they're complicit in his crimes and there's still a chance for someone to face the music.

A couple of quick points. I'm British and grew up with watching Jim'll Fix It on TV every Saturday evening, and he even came on stage and introduced Genesis when I saw them live in Leeds (his hometown) in 1992! Your description on how he was seen as 'the face of children's TV and philanthropy in the UK' was spot on.

Regarding how 'beloved' Kitagawa was - I think he was considered the genius behind it all and was much loved, or at pretended to be loved by the media (for the reasons that Majestic pointed out). When he died, there were features on his life and 'mourning' his passing day after day on the wide shows.

 

[nice gaijin]

A couple of quick points. I'm British and grew up with watching Jim'll Fix It on TV every Saturday evening, and he even came on stage and introduced Genesis when I saw them live in Leeds (his hometown) in 1992! Your description on how he was seen as 'the face of children's TV and philanthropy in the UK' was spot on.

Regarding how 'beloved' Kitagawa was - I think he was considered the genius behind it all and was much loved, or at pretended to be loved by the media (for the reasons that Majestic pointed out). When he died, there were features on his life and 'mourning' his passing day after day on the wide shows.

You're British? I'm going to have to start reading your posts in another accent!

 

[Grandpa Frank]

For a mere $10 US a month you can see our posts in "closed-captioning" or a sign language interpreter in the upper right corner of the post.

 

[nice gaijin]

View attachment 102210For a mere $10 US a month you can see our posts in "closed-captioning" or a sign language interpreter in the upper right corner of the post.

Sometimes on the Internet I feel like we need a tone translator...

So @Lothor, on a scale of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins to Mike Myers in Austin Powers to Mike Myers in Shrek, what voice would you like to have in my head?

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Most of the Facebook videos I watch haves voices like the old Alvin & the Chipmunk characters , LOL. We watch a lot of TV shows in Australia & New Zealand and have to have the CC to understand it.

 

[Lothor]

Sometimes on the Internet I feel like we need a tone translator...View attachment 102212

So @Lothor, on a scale of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins to Mike Myers in Austin Powers to Mike Myers in Shrek, what voice would you like to have in my head?

I've not got a particularly distinctive accent apart from it being British. How about 'villain with British accent in American movie'?

 

[Majestic]

How about 'villain with British accent in American movie'

That narrows the field down a bit.

 

[mdchachi]

I've not got a particularly distinctive accent apart from it being British. How about 'villain with British accent in American movie'?

James Corden it is then.

 

[Lothor]

James Corden it is then.

I don't sound like that at all. He's a southerner!
The first few minutes of this is quite close (I was brought up in Cheshire).

 

[mdchachi]

Somehow I had a feeling you might object to James Corden.

 

[Lothor]

Somehow I had a feeling you might object to James Corden.

Most vehemently!

 

[thomas]

Remarkably, the other day, Mainichi reported on the silence of the Japanese media, in particular the TV stations, regarding the recent BBC report and the FCCJ press conference. The article includes a rundown on Kitagawa's case against Shukan Bunshun which went all the way to the Supreme court which dismissed it.

I for one wouldn't mind if all those "tarentos", Johnny's and otherwise, disappeared from the screen.

Japan Political Pulse: Local media's silence on Johnny Kitagawa sex abuse speaks volumes - The Mainichi

The powerful Johnny & Associates Inc. talent agency and Japan's major media outlets maintained a long and uneasy silence about sexual abuses allegedly

mainichi.jp

 

[Majestic]

I guess Johnny's themselves are feeling some pressure, because I saw a story a couple of days ago on NHK where Johnny's Associates was conducting an review of these allegations and they were making some kind of commitment to their external partners that they would announce the findings and the measures they would take to stop abuse in the future. Of course, easy for them to do this now since the the person at the center of this has passed away. And yes it does have the same atmosphere of a police "internal investigation", where the cops habitually absolve themselves of any wrongdoing. But at least they were making the right noises.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Much like @nice gaijin I had heard the term but didn't really understand where it came from. It sounds like the Harvey Weinstein comparison is quite apt. Hopefully this actually does start a conversation that makes it less safe for people like him in the future. The fact that they're actually talking about it on NHK is a good start.