International intervention uncovering male sexual abuse in J-Pop

It’s been almost a half year since the BBC released the documentary “Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-pop” in March 2023 to expose sexual abuse committed by the late Johnny Kitagawa. He was the founder of the talent agency “Jonny and Associates*,” the largest agency in Japan, which trains and promotes groups of male idols.

*Jonny and Associates will change its name to SMILE-UP. as of October 17, 2023.

What the foreign media can do that Japanese media can’t

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「ALL Johnnys’ Jr. 2023 わっしょいCAMP! in Dome」#わっしょいCAMPなう#ジャニーズJr
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会場でも配信でもSNSでも‼︎
一緒に盛り上がってくださりありがとうございました✨

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わっしょい！✌?✌?
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— ジャニーズJr.公式 (@Johnnys_Jr_info) July 16, 2023

In 1999, the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun became the first major Japanese media outlet to publish 14 articles on Kitagawa’s sexual abuse, targeting young boys in training, but the Japanese mainstream media and the music industry have continued to cover it up. Why? They all knew the economic and social impact would be too significant if they fought against Jonny and Associates. Therefore, nobody else was willing to expose the most enormous and darkest scandal until BBC finally stepped into the taboo in 2023.

Kitagawa’s death in 2019 prompted the BBC to launch an investigation into sexual abuse. It was when the #Metoo movement and various cases of sexual assault that were mostly conducted by people with power in society were reported worldwide. The BBC decided to start researching Kitagawa’s case by taking advantage of the fact that they, the foreign media, don’t have ties with Japanese companies.

While some people talked about the documentary mainly on SNS after the BBC released the documentary, Japanese major media still kept silent, and no media covered the topic extensively except for Shukan Bunshun, who has followed this case for almost twenty years.

One victim’s accusation moved a huge mountain of silence

It was Kauan Okamoto, one of the victims of the sexual assault, who broke the corporation’s silence by holding a press conference at the Foreign Correspondent Club in Japan this April. He was a former member of Johnny’s Junior, a group of minor boys, and he was sexually abused for four years by the late Kitagawa. In fact, before he held the press conference he described his shocking experience in the articles of Shukan Bunshun in March, using his real name and his face for the first time, which again didn’t trigger the media’s coverage of the topic.

He decided to have a press conference because he believed the international media would cover the topic which hasn’t been widely covered in mainstream media in Japan. As a result, the scandal was deemed a serious case of human rights violations by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights: the working group marked its first visit to Japan for research purposes on not only sexual abuse by the late Kitagawa but also various human rights violation cases in the Japanese business field from July to August 2023.

The UN working group reveals human rights violations in Japan

The working group expressed four significant concerns and statements in its end of mission statement:

1. It concerned about the “transparency and legitimacy” of Johnny and Associates’ internal investigation into the allegations and implored the company to provide “clear and predictable timeframes” for the investigation.
2. It stated that the Japanese government has a “primary duty to protect human rights.”
3. It revealed the late Kitagawa’s victims could number in the hundreds.
4. It made reference to the fact that media companies in Japan were “implicated in covering up the scandal for decades” and the country’s media and entertainment fosters the “culture of impunity” surrounding sexual abuse and harassment.

Although the final report on Japan will be presented in June 2024, the working group has succeeded in improving the situation toward sufficient victim relief and a transparent investigation of Johnny and Associates.

However, the Japanese government has ignored the concrete recommendations by the UN several times in the past because it believes the recommendations are not legally binding. As a matter of fact, on August 7, three days after the working group held a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said “The views of the working group are not the views of the UN or the UN Human Rights Council and are not legally binding on our country.”

Is the myth “Japan doesn’t change without external pressure” true?

However, it doesn’t mean that international powers knuckled under the deepest culture of impunity in Japan. Private sector companies have already taken measures to show their support for human rights, and the Japanese haven’t lost their curiosity and keep looking for more details, and moreover, the awareness of “sexual abuse against men” finally increased in a society where the majority hasn’t yet taken the issue seriously.

Japan has been said for a long time to be a country that never changes without external pressure. In many cases, prosecuting or addressing issues domestically can be challenging, especially when English is not the official language or when influential powers attempt to cover up these problems. The extent of progress in Japan remains uncertain, but the influence of foreign powers is still significant, as they are the ones who have sparked substantial debates in Japan.

Ideally, all issues could be resolved internally, but I hope that victims of human rights violations will remember that they have the international community on their side. Together, we can create a society where people can help each other beyond national borders.