Tag - child

 
 

CHILD

Noriyuki Higashiyama (second from right), unveils Smile-Up as a new company name to replace Johnny's & Associates during a news conference in Tokyo in October.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 29, 2024
Smile-Up says two ex-Johnny's staffers were also sexual predators
The statement from Smile-Up, which is responsible for compensating victims, came after the BBC published an interview with its president.
Child consultation center workers and police officers hold a joint training session in Chiba Prefecture last November.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 28, 2024
Record high 122,806 suspected child abuse cases logged by police in 2023
A record 2,385 criminal investigations into child abuse cases were conducted by police in the year, up 9.4% from 2022, according to police agency data.
Children and teachers walk past an electronic screen displaying Japan's Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo on March 4.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 19, 2024
Japan OKs bill on background checks for work involving children
Once the bill becomes a law, employers will be able to screen prospective employees for past history of sex offenses via the Children and Families Agency.
Ai Fukuhara at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2024
Ai Fukuhara reaches custody settlement after abduction accusation
Although the physical custody of their son as well as their daughter will be with her ex-husband, the couple will continue to have joint custody over them.
The number of elementary school children who became victims of crimes through social media totaled a record 139 last year in Japan, National Police Agency data showed Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2024
Child victims of social media-related crimes on the rise in Japan
The number of victims has grown fivefold in the past decade.
Riho Fukuyama, 24, said that the emotional damage from the abuse by her father felt particularly significant when she was in university, where she took classes on child care. She experienced flashbacks whenever she did case studies that involved abuse.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 13, 2024
Woman discloses real name after seeking legal recourse over father's sex abuse
Riho Fukuyama, 24, hopes that by openly sharing her story, other victims of sexual abuse will feel empowered to speak out.
Kenichi Hosoya was taken to the Asakusa police station in Tokyo's Taito Ward on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2024
Tokyo police rearrest couple accused of filicide over killing sister
Police suspect a dispute over the family business was the motive for the murder.
Ayuko Kato, minister in charge of policies related to children, speaks during a Lower House budget committee session on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 28, 2024
Japan outlines bill for sex crime record checks by schools
Sex crime records would be checked for people applying to work and also for those who are already working.
Metropolitan Police Department investigators enter an apartment building in Tokyo's Taito Ward where Kenichi Hosoya lives with his family, in August.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 16, 2024
Tokyo couple sent to prosecutors as details of daughter's death emerge
The MPD is investigating the possibility that the suspects changed child care facilities frequently, fearing the abuse of Yoshiki Hosoya would be revealed.
Kenichi Hosoya leaves his apartment in Tokyo's Taito Ward on Wednesday after being arrested.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 15, 2024
Tokyo couple accused of poisoning daughter with illegally bought prescription drugs
On Thursday, investigators said that Kenichi Hosoya and his wife, Shiho, purchased olanzapine and antifreeze online prior to their daughter’s death.
Kenichi Hosoya leaves an apartment in Tokyo's Taito Ward on Wednesday after being arrested.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 14, 2024
Tokyo couple held after 4-year-old daughter dies of antifreeze poisoning
According to investigative sources, the couple is suspected of giving their daughter the substance sometime in March last year.
A woman who filed a suit claiming damages against her father but had her claim dismissed by the Hiroshima High Court in November has said she felt like she was being accused of making a complaint only when time had run out.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jan 22, 2024
Passage of time gets in the way for victims of child sexual abuse
The woman, in her 40s, deemed it unfair that the perpetrator gets away scot-free because of the statute of limitation.
Shimon Ishimaru, the deputy leader of a group of Johnny Kitagawa's sexual abuse victims, said dozens had come to the group for advice after being denied compensation.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 17, 2024
Johnny's abuse victims seek transparency on compensation criteria
Many are unable to prove past affiliations with the agency, with some alleging that the wrongdoings occurred before the signing of contracts.
Demonstrators hold signs protesting Jeffrey Epstein as he awaits arraignment in the Southern District of New York on charges of sex trafficking of minors in 2019. While Epstein died by suicide that same year in a Manhattan prison cell before he could stand trial, his crimes have continued to resonate across Wall Street.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 4, 2024
Confidential Jeffrey Epstein documents unsealed in New York
Many of the people whose names will be unsealed are already known to have associated with the disgraced financier, and some have been named in similar litigation as well.
Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco during a game in Kansas City in July.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 29, 2023
Wander Franco a no-show to answer complaint in Dominican Republic
At least two people have filed lawsuits against Franco amid probes into claims he had improper relationships with minors.
While Hayao Miyazaki’s return to filmmaking, “The Boy and the Heron,” did not attain the ¥10 billion milestone that the beloved animator’s movies had once routinely surpassed, it debuted at the top of the North American box office and became the first original anime film to lead the box office in the United States and Canada.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Dec 15, 2023
Japan’s auteurs and anime triumphed in 2023
From Hayao Miyazaki's “The Boy and the Heron” to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” the box-office hits kept coming.
Fans in Osaka take photos as the company formerly known as Johnny & Associates removes references to its founder. The agency announced its new name, Starto Entertainment, on Friday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 8, 2023
Johnny’s changes name to Starto Entertainment
The announcement signals a new chapter in the talent agency’s history as it scrubs references to its disgraced founder from its current structure.
The talent agency formerly known as Johnny & Associates announced it would change its name after acknowledging the long history of abuse company founder Johnny Kitagawa inflicted on young men. The news was followed by the removal of company signage bearing Kitagawa’s name.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Dec 2, 2023
The entertainment story of the year is long overdue
As entertainment heavyweights Johnny & Associates and Takarazuka Revue are hit by scandals, hope for reform emerges with changing attitudes toward abuse.
Ayuko Kato, minister in charge of child policies. A group of children of Jehovah’s Witnesses have submitted a report to the Child and Family Agency detailing sexual abuse.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 28, 2023
Children of Jehovah’s Witnesses submit report detailing sexual abuse
The report said that the most common perpetrators of sexual abuse were “rank-and-file witnesses” and “elders.”
The TBS headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward
JAPAN / Society
Nov 26, 2023
TBS had history of 'special treatment' with Johnny's, probe finds
The investigative committee interviewed 125 former and current TBS officials before releasing a report.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores