A team of experts investigating alleged sexual abuse by late musical mogul Johnny Kitagawa delivered a scathing report Tuesday, urging Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima to step down after the family-run business left the issue unaddressed for decades.

The third-party team of experts, appointed by the talent agency in late May, interviewed 41 people for the report and concluded that Johnny Kitagawa started sexually abusing boys in the 1950s, and then at his agency from the 1970s to the 2010s.

The team is comprised of three experts: former prosecutor-general Makoto Hayashi; psychiatrist Nozomu Asukai; and child trauma specialist Azusa Saito, along with six lawyers from law firm Anderson Mori & Tomotsune to help with the investigation.

“Johnny & Associates did not take appropriate actions, such as investigating whether the sexual abuse (allegations) against Johnny (Kitagawa) were true or not” despite various news reports and court cases, the report said. “Johnny & Associates had a serious problem of lacking governance.”

To scrap what it has and start afresh, the talent agency, which has been producing smash-hit boy bands in Japan’s entertainment industry for decades, needs to replace its president, the report said.

“This will allow it to prevent one of the biggest reasons behind the lack of corporate governance at Johnny & Associates which is the negative effect that came from a family-run business,” the report said.

The report claimed that Julie Keiko must have known around the time she was appointed as a director, yet did nothing about the issue, thus neglecting her duty.

“Overall, we found the statement (by Fujishima) that she ‘didn’t know’ at the time to be a lie,” Hayashi said, explaining how the experts came to such a conclusion after conducting hearings with both Fujishima and the victims.

The expert team pointed out that because Fujishima, who has been on the agency's board of directors since 1998 and became president in 2019, did not recognize that Kitagawa committed sexual abuse, it affected the mindset of its executives and workers, leading the firm to consider that “it had never happened.”

“It will be extremely difficult to change the mindset of its executives and members, and start over with Julie at the top of management,” the report said.

Weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported later Tuesday that Fujishima, said to be “emotionally distressed,” plans to step down, citing a source at Johnny & Associates.

A group of victims of the sexual abuse, however, released a statement on their website claiming that "they are not asking for (Fujishima's) resignation."

“We think it is unacceptable that she should resign to avoid responsibility,” said Junya Hiramoto, a representative of the victims’ group. The group also said they found it puzzling that the investigation team had advised resignation for Fujishima, but did not mention any responsibility from the agency's vice president Suguru Shirahase, who has also reportedly been aware of the abuse for some time. “We recognize that Mr. Shirahase, who is all-knowing, is the one most responsible for this,” Hiramoto said.

On Tuesday, the talent agency repeated its apology for causing “great concerns” on the issue, and said it plans to hold a news conference at a later date to address its response to the report.

The report also urges the talent agency to appoint a chief compliance officer, and reinforce corporate governance, including setting up an internal audit division, a system to promote whistleblowers, and place “advocates” who can speak out on behalf of those who can’t.

The investigation team advised the company to admit to the allegations and apologize sincerely as well as communicate with victims and grant them financial compensation.

While the victims’ association expressed their appreciation for the report which “exceeded (their) expectations,” they believe it would be difficult for Johnny & Associates to accept a one-sided suggestion from the investigation team. The group offered their own victim relief proposal to both the investigation team and the talent agency.

“I hope that a 'system' for providing relief and compensation to the victims where both the responsible party and the affected party are involved can be established,” Hiramoto said.

In May, Fujishima, who is also Kitagawa’s niece, issued a public apology on the agency’s website, claiming that she was not aware of the abuse.

Those allegations started garnering both domestic and international attention after the BBC aired a documentary on the topic in March. Since then, several former members of Johnny & Associates have come forward with accusations.

Although the accusations go back decades — all the way to the 1950s — Kitagawa was never charged with any crime. He died in 2019 at the age of 87.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights announced the result of its two-week investigation on human rights misconduct by businesses and addressed the sexual abuse allegations relating to the entertainment mogul, saying they were “deeply alarming” and involved “several hundreds of the company’s talents.”

To prevent the recurrence of such crimes, the government has also taken measures to strengthen measures against sexual assault by announcing the establishment of a hotline for male victims of sexual assault of all ages in late July and revising the Penal Code pertaining to sex crimes.