A working group of the United Nations Human Rights Council is planning to look into sexual abuse claims against Johnny Kitagawa, the late founder of Johnny & Associates, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The Working Group on Business and Human Rights is expected to arrive in Japan between late July and early August and conduct interviews in Tokyo and Osaka with former members of the company who say they were abused by the pop mogul.
The allegations surrounding Johnny, who died in 2019, have garnered international attention after the BBC aired a documentary in March about the sex abuse scandal that included interviews with alleged victims, leading to other former talents of the company to come forward with their stories.
One of the alleged victims, Akimasa Nihongi, said he plans to cooperate with the investigation. “Japanese companies are required to stick to global standards amid a heightened awareness of human rights around the world. I hope the issue becomes more known by people including those abroad, rather than covered up and left unanswered as it is in Japan.”
The UN group is expected to also hold interviews with the Japanese government and businesses regarding human rights of the employed, and next July submit to the council a report that will include recommendations to Japan.
Following numerous reports of abuse, Johnny’s President Julie Fujishima publicly apologized for the scandal involving her uncle but stopped short of accepting the claims by people formerly represented by the company. Johnny & Associates set up an external special probe team to look into alleged sexual abuse by Johnny and create measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, but the company has been criticized for failing to hold a press conference following the claims.
EDIT: So apparently this is fake news.
Johnny Kitagawa coverage has largely been done with good journalistic practices, but media running with “the UN is investigating Johnnys” via anon sources is…errrr…
…and now an actual government official said that’s not accurate when asked about it https://t.co/aUUwdIS8Sg
— Patrick St. Michel (@mbmelodies) July 14, 2023
