Johnny & Associates

**Johnny & Associates** (, _janīzu jimusho_ in Japanese) is a well-known talent agent in Japan. The company was established in 1963 by Johnny Kitagawa. It accepts and trains talented boys and promotes their debuts to the entertainment industry. Although Johnny & Associates once accepted female idol candidates in 1980s, it now only takes boys as its candidates.

## History

Starting with group name "Johnnys" in 1962, Johnny & Associates has debuted over 20 groups so far. It has currently more than 10 groups actively participating in the entertainment industry. The most famous groups of today include SMAP (since 1991), TOKIO (1994), V6 (1996), Kinki Kids (1997), Arashi (1999), Tackey and Tsubasa (2001), NewS (2003), Kanjani∞ (2005), KAT-TUN (2006), and Hey! Say! JUMP (2007). Johnny & Associates has been introducing a new idol group almost every other year, and in 2009, Nakayama Yuma with B.I. Shadow made its debut in June.

### Overview

Kitagawa created Johnny & Associates in the early 1960s. It has been shown that Kitagawa had sexually assaulted many of the boys since the early days of the company. If the boys agreed to the sexual attempts by Kitagawa , they were able to perform for the company. If they refused, they were refused the ability to perform.

In civil trials held in the 1970s, obscene acts were suggested but the boys denied anything was happening. .It was said the that people had been accused of harm or had almost been harmed. Some former members of the group (Koji Kita(北公次), Junya Hiramoto(平本淳也)) published books that included information about boys being raped. In 1999, the magazine _Shukan Bunshun_ reported about people claiming there was sexual abuse by Kitagawa.

With the exception of _Shukan Bunshun,_ no other Japanese media covered this subject.  Law enforcement in Japan also took no actions.

During this time, it was known that an employee of Johnny & Associates had often had oral sex with some of the boys. Sexual assault at the office was being seen as the norm.

Johnny Kitagawa died in 2019 without being arrested or charged with any crime.

In 2022. Kauan Okamoto(カウアン・オカモト) appeared on GaaSyy's Youtube channel.

Okamoto had belonged to Johnny & Associates. He talked about how he was a victim of assault while he was at Johnny's.

On March 7, 2023, the British broadcaster BBC broadcasted a documentary titled _Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop_. This is about sexual assault by Kitagawa.

On April 12, 2023, Kauan Okamoto held a press conference. He said that from the time started working at Johnny's Entertainment, at the age of 15,  until he left the company, he was abused  twenty times by Kitagawa. After this press conference, NHK reported on the abuse on April 13. This was the first television report on Kitagawa's sexual assault by a Japanese media. It was only broadcast for two minutes at 4 p.m. At that time of day, there were very few people watching television.

People from the United Nations Human Rights Council came to Japan in late July 2023. They investigated the situation from late July 2023 until early August 2023. On August 4, 2023, They said that there was boys rape at Johnny & Associates. They also said that the Japanese media had said nothing about this for decades.,

### Cause

Johnny & Associates were a powerful part of the Japanese entertainment industry for a long time. The company had been pressuring the media to report positively on the company, the performers and Kitagawa, They were not to report negatively.

Johnny & Associates was a typical family-run company. From 1980 until Kitagawa's death in 2019, Kitagawa and his sister Mary Kitagawa(メリー喜多川) each owned half the stock of the company.  Because they were the only shareholders, there was no one to comment about how the company was run. When Kitagawa died, Mary Kitagawa's daughter, Julie Keiko Fujishima(藤島ジュリー景子), became president of the company.  She gained both her mother and her uncles shares. . She could have investigated Kitagawa's actions  but chose not to.

### Reaction and influence

- On September 7, 2023, Johnny & Associates held a press conference. Julie Keiko Fujishima, president of the company, took responsibility. She also retired as president, Noriyuki Higashiyama, a Johnny's talent, became president. Fujishima remained as representative director. She no longer runs th company does hold all the stocks in the company. The company has said that it will not change the name, Johnny & Associates.
- Some companies that use Johnny & Associates talents in their commercials have said they will no longer do this. These include Tokio Marine Nichido, Japan Airlines and Asahi Group Holdings.
- After press conference  for Johnny & Associates, NHK and five major commercial networks of Japan said that they will still use Johnny & Associates talents. They included Nippon TV, TV Asahi, TBS, TV Tokyo and Fuji Television.
- At the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Japan's ambassadors are Johnny & Associates talents. France has criticized the use of Johnny & Associates talent.
- Among Johnny's fans, there were comments such as "If you're a fan, you know this fact" and "That's what the entertainment world is like", acknowledging child rape and denying reporting it. And, they attacked on social media against Kauan Okamoto, who talked about to boys rape.

## Related pages

- Child sexual abuse
- Child grooming
- Victim blaming