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Karin Kaneko

The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.

PODCAST / deep dive

Sep 14, 2023

Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?

Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.

JAPAN / Society

Sep 14, 2023

Johnny's says it will work for free as firms cut ties over scandal

The talent agency says it will not receive management fees for advertisements and television appearances by performers for a year.

JAPAN / Society

Sep 8, 2023

Kauan Okamoto finds some closure after recognition of Kitagawa abuse

“I felt a bit better. There’s nothing more I want to say to Johnny & Associates,” Okamoto said.

Julie Keiko Fujishima (right), who stepped down as Johnny & Associates president on Tuesday, and new President Noriyuki Higashiyama give a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.

JAPAN / Society

Sep 7, 2023

Johnny's replaces president as it admits to abuse by late founder

The replacement comes on the heels of a scathing third-party report, which recommended that Julie Keiko Fujishima resign as president.

JAPAN / Society

Sep 1, 2023

China banned seafood from Japan. Some tourists are eating it in Tokyo.

Travelers from China seem largely unfazed despite the ban, with many local seafood restaurants seeing little impact so far.

JAPAN / Society

Aug 30, 2023

Media respond to report on sexual abuse at Johnny and Associates

The committee said Japan's mainstream media chose to ignore Kitagawa’s sexual abuse in order to maintain access to Johnny & Associates' talent pool.

JAPAN / Society

Aug 29, 2023

Expert team reports on decades of sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa

The team urged Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima to step down after the family-run business left the issue unaddressed for decades.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Aug 16, 2023

Woman and parents sent to prosecutors over Sapporo hotel murder

Authorities believe that Runa Tamura was the only one present at the crime scene, while her parents are suspected of being accomplices.

JAPAN

Aug 14, 2023

Japan braces for another typhoon as trains and flights canceled

Typhoon Lan is poised to make landfall in central Japan on Tuesday, with the storm set to bring a month’s worth of rain in just a few days.

JAPAN / Society

Aug 9, 2023

Japan prefectures drift away from posting disaster warnings on X

A growing number of prefectures have stopped posting disaster warnings on the platform due to limits on the number of free posts allowed.

JAPAN / Society

Aug 4, 2023

U.N. experts criticize Johnny’s sex abuse investigation

The experts called on the government to do more to investigate decades of suspected abuse against male idols by Johnny Kitagawa.

JAPAN / Society

Aug 2, 2023

Sushi chain drops suit against teen over prank video

“The customer has admitted his responsibility and we have reached a settlement with reasonable details that are acceptable to us,” a spokesperson said.

JAPAN

Aug 1, 2023

July in Japan saw second-highest number of days over 35 C for the month

Temperatures above 35 C were recorded at 2,435 locations, with climate change and El Nino contributing to scorching heat.

Pedestrians outside a Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district in April

BUSINESS / Companies

Jul 31, 2023

Seven & I struggles to sell slumping Sogo & Seibu department stores

The holdup is centered around the flagship Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, with the local government expressing rare opposition.

The population of Japanese nationals fell 801,000 in 2022 from a year earlier to 122,423,038, marking the largest drop since the survey began in 1968, government data showed Wednesday.

JAPAN / Society

Jul 26, 2023

Number of Japanese drops in all 47 prefectures for first time as foreign population surges

As of Jan. 1, Japan's population, including foreign residents, stood at 125,416,877, down around 511,000 from a year earlier.

A group of individuals that allege sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa was first established on June 26.

JAPAN

Jul 24, 2023

U.N. experts to probe Johnny Kitagawa's alleged abuse in Japan

The group will gather its findings and present a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in June next year.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Jul 20, 2023

Mother in Osaka arrested for starving daughter and claiming insurance money

Investigators believe Kasumi Nawata regularly starved her daughter, hospitalizing her 43 times for a total of 332 days since spring 2018.

JAPAN

Jul 14, 2023

Iconic dragon painting at Sensoji Temple peels off ceiling

Visitors to Tokyo's Sensoji Temple were left in shock as an iconic dragon painting on the ceiling of the main hall peeled off and was left hanging above their heads.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Jul 14, 2023

Man sentenced to 19-year prison term for stabbings and arson on Tokyo train

In delivering the ruling, the presiding judge said that the defendant had made extensive preparations in order to “kill as many people as possible.”

JAPAN

Jul 14, 2023

Iconic dragon painting at Sensoji Temple peels off ceiling

The painting had been scheduled for restoration this fall to address decades of deterioration.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

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