J-Pop Talent Manager Johnny Kitagawa Accused of Being a Pedophile
Founder of Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, Johnny Kitagawa, passed away at the age of 87 in 2019. He developed J-pop’s biggest names including SMAP, Kinki Kids, Arashi, King & Prince. Due to his legendary influence on the industry, Johnny’s predatory behavior was not reported by the Japanese media until after his death. In BBC’s new documentary, former victims accused Johnny for being a pedophile and had sexually harassed his male artistes, with rumors starting as early as 1960.
In BBC’s Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop , journalist Mobeen Azhar interviewed a victim, known under the alias Hayashi. When he was 15, Hiyashi was chosen to join Johnny & Associates. Initially, Johnny appeared to be attentive and warm but revealed his disturbing motives one week later. Johnny invited Hayashi to his home and told the teen to shower while trying to take off his shirt and pants. Hayashi immediately refused, but was scared when Johnny remained silent and the atmosphere was tense. Remaining fully clothed, Johnny gave Hayashi a bath, treating him like a doll. Johnny’s actions became more demanding and forced Hayashi to perform oral sex on him.
Recalling the events, Hayashi became very emotional and had to halt the interview. He felt the situation was very odd at the time, but other trainees were not surprised and urged Hayashi to take advantage of the opportunity to grow his entertainment career. Many people chose to endure and remain silent to become idols.
Okamoto Kauan, who joined Johnny’s agency when he was 15 was also assaulted by the former CEO. He forced Kauan to sleep on the same bed and would touch his entire body before initiating oral sex. Kauan said there were two beds in the room, with one extra large bed for “giving love” to minors, and another bed for purely sleeping. Kauan said that he has video evidence, and claimed that he and King & Prince‘s Sho Hirano were on the same bed with Johnny in one incident.
Another victim, Ryu, shared that he joined Johnny’s agency in 2002 as a backup dancer for 10 years. He went to Johnny’s home to eat and shower. As he was returning to his bedroom, Johnny said, “You’ve been too busy, let me give you a massage.” He started massaging Ryu’s shoulders, but his hands made its way down his body slowly. Ryu felt that this was odd and requested that he stop. Johnny immediately apologized and went back to his room. At the time Ryu was 16, and Johnny was at least 70 years old. Surprisingly, Ryu did not dislike Johnny, “I still believe that we got a lot of love, so this was not a big problem for me and I’m able to talk about it while smiling.”
The documentary revealed there were many other 13 and 14-year-old male victims who were sexually assaulted by Johnny. One shared that his parents were sleeping in the room next door while he was being assaulted. It was implied that many parents knew of Johnny’s pedophiliac tendencies, but still decided to leave their children with him in hopes of furthering their idol careers.
Source: [1]
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
And the award for least surprising news goes to…?
Seriously, who didn’t think he was a pedo and used his powers to abuse minors?
Dont many know so? He is one of the biggest scum in the Japan Entertainment industry…and there are of course lots more. He held many artists hostage… Japan law do not protect such victims and many politician are funded by such scums.
Anyway, I pray he really rot in hell…
@Hohliu Johnny Kitagawa already died in 2019, but the Japanese media was largely silent over his predatory behavior until he passed away.
Yes.. even thru he passed away afew years… those deeds are now being allowed to be exposed by media… I guess Sho Hirano leaving Johnny & Associates last Nov is a wise decision.
@jaynestars
So he is already rolling in hell.
@Hohliu
Justice has been served, at least for the part of him rolling in hell. His victims, however, will never see justice, and the sentences he got are an insult to those he violated. There are so many more scumbags like him who prey on these young, innocent victims who only want a start to their career.
I’m glad this is getting revealed to the public. When there are these scandals coming out, it keeps predators on their toes. I feel bad for all the artists who have been SA’s by this dirty old man.
an open secret that makes me wonder why it took so long to see the light. there is no free lunch and not hard to figure out even if the news never broke. They spend so much money to invest in a newbie and everyone wants to be a idol, which one would get picked?
@m0m0
Exactly my thoughts. This is not just happening to the young, naive actors and singers It is happening to the older men and women by producers, directors and managers/agents. They manipulate, brainwash, control and abuse these women and men, abd children in every way possible. This is sad, and what is even more heartbreaking is they get away with it
Very sad indeed. Considered themselves lucky if they actually made it big. There are more people who didn’t make it but still sold their souls.
It’s so appalling that one of the victims didn’t see molestation as a problem and ‘smiled’ it off as love, and some of the parents gave higher priority to idol training while dismissing the assaults.