A powerful Japanese entertainment company tarnished by sexual assault allegations against its late founder appointed one of its stars as its new president on Thursday after the previous chief resigned and apologised for the abuse young clients suffered over decades.
Julie Keiko Fujishima announced she was stepping down as president of Johnny & Associates, the talent agency founded by her late uncle, Johnny Kitagawa.
She said the alleged sex abuse had really happened and that she would stay on the company’s board to see through a victim compensation programme.
“This is what my uncle committed, and, as a niece, I want to take responsibility,” she said.
Noriyuki Higashiyama, a member of boy band Shonentai, said he is retiring as an actor and singer to become the new president of Johnny & Associates, a role that will include overseeing compensation for men who were assaulted as children.
“A horrendous crime has been committed,” he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel, bowing deeply several times with Ms Fujishima.
“It will take time to win back trust, and I am putting my life on the line for this effort.”
A new company structure, which will include an outside compliance officer, will be announced next month, Ms Fujishima said.
At one point, she choked back tears, stressing the achievements of the singers and dancers that the talent agency known as Johnny’s represented and promoted.
“I only feel deep gratitude to all the fans,” she said.
Mr Kitagawa had been so powerful that she, and many others, had kept silent, she added.
During Thursday’s news conference, Mr Higashiyama immediately fielded questions about allegations that he had engaged in bullying or sexually abusing other Johnny’s boys.
“Maybe I did it, maybe I didn’t,” he said.
He acknowledged that he tended to be strict with younger performers but said he simply could not remember, because he may have done things as a teenager and in his 20s that he would not do now, at the age of 56.
The news conference was the first since several people came forward this year, alleging they were sexually assaulted by Mr Kitagawa.
Mr Kitagawa was behind dozens of popular boy bands in Japan, starting in the 1960s. He died in 2019 and was never charged.
A three-month investigation by a special team set up by the company announced that the long-rumoured allegations were fact.
The men who have come forward say Mr Kitagawa raped, fondled and abused them at his luxury mansion in Tokyo, as well as other places, such as his car and overseas hotels, while performing as dancers and singers.
Many of the victims were members of a backing group called Johnny’s Jr, who danced and sang behind bigger stars.
One man who came forward recently said he was routinely molested when Mr Kitagawa had yet to found his company. He was just eight years old.
Nine men have formed a group demanding an apology and financial compensation from Johnny’s. They say they were raped by Mr Kitagawa when they were minors.
They said they are pleased the company has apologised and promised compensation, but some have reservations, while others said Mr Higashiyama has not told the whole truth.
“The wounds in my heart will not heal,” Yukihiro Oshima told reporters. “But I feel a little better.”
Mr Higashiyama denied he was a victim. He said Mr Kitagawa had been like a father to him, while denouncing his acts as “the most pathetic in the history of humankind”.
When he found out what Mr Kitagawa had done, he felt as though he had lost everything, he recalled.
“Whether I am qualified to take on this job, you be the judge,” he said.
Separately, Guinness World Records said it has stripped Mr Kitagawa of all the records he had held, such as number one hits, in accordance with to its policy towards “criminals”.
