HORRIFIC

J-Pop Agency Boss Resigns After Admitting Founder’s Abuse of Minors

It comes after an investigation found Johnny Kitagawa abused hundreds of boys and young men.

The head of Japan’s leading pop talent agency announced her resignation on Thursday after admitting for the first time the horrific sexual abuse committed by the agency’s founder. Julie Keiko Fujishima stepped down from her role at Johnny and Associates and made a public apology to the victims of her uncle Johnny Kitagawa. Kitagawa, who died at 87 in 2019 without ever facing charges, abused hundreds of boys and young men over the course of six decades during his time at the head of the boyband agency, an independent investigation found last week. “These problems were caused by my uncle, and, as his niece, I want to take responsibility for them,” Fujishima said, adding that the company would try to offer compensation to her uncle’s victims.