United Nations human rights experts on Friday criticized the talent agency Johnny & Associates for for what they said was insufficient handling of sexual abuse allegations against its late founder, saying that “doubts persist about the transparency and legitimacy” of the third-party investigation team set up by the agency.
Two members of the five-member U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights were visiting Japan for two weeks through Friday to investigate wide-ranging human rights issues involving the nation’s businesses. They called on the government to do more to investigate decades of suspected abuse against male idols by Johnny Kitagawa, calling the allegations “deeply alarming.”
During their visit, the experts said they met with representatives of the talent agency, as well as members of Johnny’s Sexual Assault Victims Association, a group of former idols at the talent agency who allege they were abused by Kitagawa. The experts declined to say who they met with from the agency, or whether the representatives included Julie Keiko Fujishima, the niece of Kitagawa and the current president of the male-only talent agency.