J-Pop Agency founder Johnny Kitagawa’s alleged sexual abuse victim may die by suicide

A man who was a member of an association for victims of sexual abuse run by Johnny Kitagawa, the late founder of the Japanese boy band agency Johnny & Associates, has died in a possible suicide, local media reported.

The unnamed man was in his 40s and was found next to a suspected suicide note in the mountains of Minoo in Japan’s Osaka Prefecture in mid-October, the Kyodo news agency said. He claimed that he was sexually abused by Kitagawa.

A representative for the association previously said the group had faced a barrage of online abuse since its inception.

In early October, Johnny & Associates was renamed and split into two companies after the pop giant admitted that Kitagawa, who died in 2019 at the age of 87, sexually abused boys contracted to the agency over decades.

Also in October, it was revealed that an external victim support committee set up by the service had received reports from 478 people. The agency, which has renamed itself Smile-Up and focuses solely on identifying and compensating victims, said it would begin making payments in November.

Kitagawa, whose successful J-pop groups included Smap, Arashi and SixTones, was not charged with any of the charges. In late August, a team of investigators discovered that he began sexually abusing boys in the 1950s Japanese times reported.

Rumors of his exploits have been widespread over the years, but received renewed attention when the BBC aired a documentary about Kitagawa earlier this year. In the summer, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights said the allegations affected several hundred talents at the company.