Johnny Kitagawa the number one power in the Japanese idol industry set off a world-class cyber earthquake yesterday, three years after his death.
First, Kitagawa as the godfather of East Asian pop culture who influenced an era, his reputation and status need not even be discussed.
The Janis Office (nicknamed "J Family") founded by him created the original trainee system, and successfully created generations of idols and groups such as Arashi, Takuya Kimura, Hideaki Takizawa, Tomohisa Yamashita, Ryo Nishikito, and Ryosuke Yamada.
Second, the BBC documentary "Predator: The Secret Scandal of Japanese Pop Music" was broadcast on March 7 this year, which knocked a short return button on Kitagawa 's glorious and great life resume:
Who is Kitagawa ?
He is (most likely) a gay, a juvenile lover, a pedophile, and, a rapist.
The facts are coming to the surface in 2022.
In November 2022, the artist "Okamoto Kauan", who was preparing to debut under Janis, appeared in the live broadcast room of Japanese parliamentarian Yoshikazu Higashitani, and was sexually assaulted by Kitagawa since he blew up at the age of 15.
Zoom Live clearly documented "Okamoto Kauan's" accusations against Kitagawa .
I have been asked to sleep in Kitagawa room many times. Kitagawa would touch my whole body and thighs, and force me to perform oral sex on them. He forced me to go through the whole process before letting me leave, otherwise I would have to serve Kitagawa until he fell asleep.
I have a video to prove it's true.
The accusation caused quite a stir in Japan at the time, but major media outlets, including television media, were secretive about reporting on the Kitagawa scandal.
This isn't the first time Kitagawa has been involved in a sex scandal. Previously, there have been rumors that Kitagawa continues to sexually assault his own underage artists, but they have never been confirmed.
For example, in 1988, Kitakoji, a former member of Four Leaves, published "Hikari GENJIへ", which nakedly described Kitagawa sexually abusing underage artists; In 1996, Junya Hiramoto published "Shōnen Ai のkan", which recorded his 5-year trainee life in Janis, mentioning a series of artists who were sexually assaulted by Kitagawa .
These clouds of sexual assault suspicions that surround "Kitagawa " but never go away have given BBC reporters clues and direction for investigation.
On February 27, 2023, after breaking through many difficulties, the BBC released a preview on its official website, announcing that it will broadcast a special feature lasting nearly 1 hour "Predator: The Secret Scandal of Japanese Pop Music" on March 7.
The program introduction column specifically pointed out that Kitagawa is indeed a legendary figure with great influence in the Japanese entertainment industry. So much so that even though he is riddled with sex scandals, the Japanese media seem to be silent because of fear of his status, and even if he has passed away more than three years ago, he still does not dare to report the relevant news.
Eventually, BBC reporter Mobe Azhar conducted a field investigation in Tokyo, Japan, which was made into a documentary. Four male victims were interviewed about their experiences of being sexually assaulted by Kitagawa . The earliest one dates back more than 30 years.
The victims' accounts were surprisingly consistent.
When it happened, they were usually teenagers, just entering Janis Studio, hoping for a good future.
They were told to meet with Kitagawa in the "dormitory" room to discuss the stage or other work arrangements, but when they arrived, they were surprised to find Kitagawa making strange requests, such as massaging the boys, watching them bathe and even perform oral sex. If the boy refuses, he will be driven to the corner of the stage the next day, and there is no possibility of debuting.
Kitagawa "Dormitory" for Boys
One of the victims described in detail Kitagawa the methods of sexually assaulting underage entertainers.
Mr. Johnny told me to take a shower. When he wanted to help me take off my pants, I told him I could take them off myself. But he was silent, and it scared me. Then I was taken off my pants, panties and socks by him. Then I was put in the bathroom by him and washed by him like a doll.
After walking out of the bathroom, the other boys said that if you don't stand it, you can't be famous. And then. Mr. Johnny told me, you better sleep, are you sleepy? He watched TV and massaged me until morning. It was more of touching me than a massage, and I remember this going on until dawn.
After that night, Kitagawa often called him to the dormitory for a bath and forced him to perform oral sex.
The victims alleged that in the high-end apartment known as the "dormitory", the boys on the other side of Kitagawa Dirty Bed were replaced one after another.
The BBC interviewed the Wenchun Weekly reporter and learned that the boys would be asked to sleep one by one on the tatami mats in the dormitory. At night, Kitagawa would get under the covers and molest the boys one by one, while the other children pretended to sleep.
A similar claim was confirmed in a 1999 report by Wenchun Weekly. Sometimes, Kitagawa would drop 50,000 yen (about 2,534 yuan) under their quilts as "compensation" after sexually assaulting boys.
An article published in Wenchun Weekly also clearly records the victim's memories of being violated:
Mr. Johnny would call me. He would invite me to the dormitory for dinner. Then he would ask me why I didn't sleep. When I went to bed, he also walked into my room. Mr. Johny went to bed. He touched my genitals. He painted something slimy. At first, he put his fingers in, then his penis.
It hurts, it hurts.
The allegation exposed Kitagawa heinous sexual assault.
After the emergence of the Internet, the keywords related to Kitagawa on Twitter also pointed to "sex offender" and "teenage love".
But everything soon calmed down again, and until the death of Kitagawa on July 9, 2019, he did not face the law for the rest of his life.
After Kitagawa was exposed by the BBC for decades of sexual assault, the question most puzzled by the public was: Why can these victims remain silent? Why has it been rarely reported by the media before?
In the accounts of victims, the inequality of power is an important reason for their silence.
A program on TV Tokyo once revealed the staggering number of resumes Janis receives each year: "30,000 letters a month, and nearly 400,000 letters a year." At most, you can even receive 1.5 million letters."
Young children come here to become part of the Janis family.
Every year, Janis selects 200 candidates from these resumes, basically maintaining the pace of debuting a new group in two to three years, and the competition is quite fierce. These children are like diamonds selected from many stones and honed to become superheroes on stage.
According to media statistics, as of 2019, there are only 45 debut idol groups created by Kitagawa with a total of 166 people.
And every debut artist is personally finalized by Kitagawa himself, and Janis is the one he created.
In addition to sexual assault, former Janis debut artist Junya Hiramoto mentioned after quitting the club that Kitagawa would inject estrogen into underage boys who joined the club, so that their secondary sexual characteristics, hair and voice remained in a juvenile state, which was more in line with the aesthetics of Japanese popular culture.
According to the BBC investigation, his misconduct was already an open secret within Kitagawa company, but no one publicly questioned him.
Janis & Associates strictly restricts the dissemination of portraits, interviews and other materials of artists and staff members in the club.
When the BBC reporter went to interview the new president of Janis Studio, he was coldly rejected by the company's senior management. The urging did not stop, the company's top management did not respond, did not allow other employees to be interviewed, and even asked the security guard to ask the reporter to hand over the filmed materials.
As described in the American drama "Morning News", a culture of silence has developed throughout the company, and bystanders have become more or less accomplices of Kitagawa .
The question is, why did Kitagawa have such a strong deterrent and control after his death?
Because accomplices do not exist only within Kitagawa company. In the Douban book review of the book "Secrets, Sex and Spectacle", netizens @mint tea summarized the main points of the author, pointing out that Japanese-style scandals have a strong organizational and collective nature, less motivation for personal profit, and greater motivation for "family ugliness must not be exposed". Therefore, once a scandal breaks out, it is often the responsibility of the organization, such as a collective apology, a resignation at the top, etc.
Under this strong culture of collective consciousness, there are very few internal and external whistleblowing in Japan. "Whistleblowers" receive less legal protection in Japan, but they will be regarded as organizational traitors and will be fiercely criticized by public opinion, and the end is not optimistic.
Hangki Maeda, who was once a member of the popular group "7 MEN" in Janis, exposed Kitagawa sexual assault on Twitter after leaving the club, and received thousands of insults and curses. Fans accused him of "rubbing the heat" and "don't delay the great future of 7 MEN"...
Maeda's reasons for withdrawing when he withdrew in October 2018
Japan's collective consciousness is also reflected in media channels. The Japanese media have an unspoken rule that in order to maintain a long-term source of information, it is necessary to have good relations with the organizations being reported, resulting in a situation where the reporting is uniform and scandals are rarely exposed.
In the 1999 Bunchun Weekly story about Kitagawa sexual abuse, the authors of "Secrets, Sex and Spectacle" found that after seeing the report, Kitagawa quickly launched a lawsuit and mobilized his network in various industries, including lawyers, government legislators, and police agency officials.
The head of the Ministry of Health said that since Kitagawa is not a parent or guardian, the act is not child abuse by definition. If Kitagawa did commit these acts, he could be prosecuted for "obscene acts" under the Child Welfare Act, but there is currently no evidence to confirm the allegations.
A Japanese National Police Agency official told the media that the police warned Kitagawa not to let minors smoke and drink, but did not warn them of sexual assault.
As a result, Kitagawa successfully disappeared from the headlines of the big media the next day, and the New York Times reported the case in a big way.
At the same time, Kitagawa is also protected by Japanese law.
Before Japan's 2017 revision of the Sexual Crimes Law, Article 177 of the Criminal Code clearly stipulated that the victims of rape were limited to women, and that rape was limited to sexual intercourse in the narrow sense.
Therefore, Kitagawa did not directly regulate the Japanese criminal law at that time. Japan's Child Welfare Law, which can fill gaps in criminal law, has ambiguous provisions, and its implementation is even more lenient, even a bit of "no complaint".
And even if the loopholes in Japanese law are filled, the victims who dare to stand up and shout are still very few.
On December 18, 2019, Shiori Ito, known as "Japan's first Metoo", won the lawsuit, holding a "win" sign outside the courtroom, her eyes were red and swollen to announce the good news to everyone, "It's been too long, it's really been too long, but little by little like this is a big change." According to a Japanese survey, only about 4.3% of victims of sexual assault in Japan choose to report to the police.
Therefore, from his own company to the whole of Japan, from the legal industry to the judicial system, from media giants to fan groups, it has become Kitagawa umbrella. The whole system protected him and allowed him to have nothing to worry about. "The reason why he is so arrogant is because he was allowed. Although I have always thought that Japan is a very good country, maybe this is not the case at all." One victim once said this.
A more complex and paradoxical fact is that the victim's parents were also accomplices in his sexual abuse of the child.
According to the BBC, one victim mentioned that most parents know what kind of person Kitagawa is, but despite this, some parents will tell their children: "In order to become famous, you have to raise your ass to Mr. Kitagawa ."
There was even a report in which a boy's parents invited Kitagawa to their home and let the child sleep in the same room as Kitagawa . That night, Kitagawa forced the boy to give him oral sex, while the boy's parents slept next door, indifferent.
The process of climbing up was too painful, and it gradually changed the perception of the entire Japanese society.
For example, the boy who joined Janis shortly before Kitagawa died and later quit the club to become a cowherd told reporters that his wish is to have a smooth star path, so he will not refuse Kitagawa request, and even now, he will accept it without hesitation.
"I think our lives have changed the moment we enter the firm." Another victim told the BBC, "But for the famous people, there are still thanks to Mr. Johny, there are endless thanks."
Many other victims said they "loved" Kitagawa .
A boy who was sexually assaulted at the age of 16 said that Kitagawa was a very good person and that he helped himself a lot, "In fact, I loved him, and this love continues to this day."
How similar the dark years experienced by sexual assault victims are.
After being violated, Fang Siqi thought, to love the teacher. Only by loving him will it not be so hard. Hong Kong gymnast Lu Liyao who was violated still celebrates her coach's birthday every year. The boy who was violated by Kitagawa said in court against him: "I love Grandpa Ki, and I wish Grandpa Ki a long life."
On July 9, 2019, Kitagawa died of subarachnoid hemorrhage at the age of 87, and his secret may never be known to the world.
Kitagawa held a farewell memorial service at Tokyo Dome, and the memorial service was divided into two parts, the upper and the next, and about 3,500 artists related to him participated in the morning memorial service, while more than 88,000 ordinary people participated in the afternoon memorial service.
Everywhere in Japan, he was treated like a great man and a hero.
Japanese idol Hitoshi Akasai shared a memorial song on Twitter, "Johnny" From JIN AKANISHI, written to recall the last time he chatted with Kitagawa and wrote in the lyrics:
Will you go? Will you stay?
I love too hard to let you go.
Sing along with the sound of love,
Call you forever hear my love.
"Johnny-san, who loves so many children and is also loved." A Japanese netizen なっつ created a set of manga in memory of Kitagawa and it was widely circulated on Twitter.
"You've let so many girls have their own stars." Chinese Weibo netizen @Tianguiyuanbiscuit posted such a sentence after Kitagawa passed away, without mentioning any name but received more than 10,000 retweets, and many people said when retweeting: "Thank you."
These thanks, these loves, are all addressed to Kitagawa .
So, who is Kitagawa Kawatawa?
At the beginning of the BBC documentary, a passer-by on the streets of Tokyo replied:
He is God and He is a god.
Variety, Hollywood's top entertainment magazine, reported:
An authoritarian who abused thousands of boys all year round.
Perhaps this is the true face of Kitagawa .
How much glory the national heroes of this country have attained, how many desires, fame, interests and powers, and how many young people have brought hope and light.
As the other side of him, a "meat grinder" that devours the lives and dreams of underage boys, correspondingly how ugly, bloodthirsty and cruel it is.
Design/Vision: Strong