Source: Universal People
Author: Chen Jiali Yu Bing
Kitagawa passed away on July 9, 2019.
The news almost caused a sensation in the entire Japanese entertainment industry, and the memorial lasted for nearly two months.
The 88-year-old man, who had no children in his life, received a grand funeral after his death. Countless boys participated in the vigil and farewell ceremony, allowing him to "end the curtain of his life surrounded by the children he loved".
Who is Kitagawa ?
He was once hailed by the media as the "father of idols" in Japan. Janis Studios (referred to as 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. This is the transcript of his "glorious and great life".
・When Kitagawa died, the news made headlines.
However, more than three years after his death, the question of "who is Kitagawa again?" has returned to people's faces.
On March 7, 2023, the BBC launched a blockbuster documentary in an attempt to "return the heroic character to its original form".
In the film, titled "Predator: The Secret Scandal of Japanese Pop," the former boys come forward to expose the other side of Kitagawa — an old satyr who has sexually abused countless boys for more than 30 years.
"No one refused him"
"He is God, a god." The BBC film begins with a passer-by on the streets of Tokyo commenting on Kitagawa .
Reporter Moby introduced that Kitagawa is indeed a legend and has an important position in the Japanese entertainment industry, so much so that even if he is riddled with sex scandals, the Japanese media chooses to remain silent because of fear of his influence. Even if he has passed away for more than 3 years, it is still difficult for relevant reports to "break through".
・Preview of the broadcast of the documentary.
Morby began conducting field research in Tokyo last year, interviewing several JR (trainees who did not debut in the J family) to depict another unknown portrait of Kitagawa from their accounts.
Victim A wore a mask large enough to cover most of his face and looked to be in his forties. He recalled that he was only 15 years old when he sent his resume to the J family, and his first impression of Kitagawa was "kind and considerate", but the follow-up was completely unexpected.
A week later, he was invited to live in a high-end apartment in Kitagawa . That place was called the "dormitory" and many boys spent the night there.
"Mr. Kitagawa told me to take a bath. 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 bathtub by him and washed all over my body like a doll. ”
Victim A said that he was cleansed by Kitagawa like a doll.
"Does that count as sex for a 15-year-old? Isn't it a little out of line? Moby asked.
A paused for a moment, looked away, and choked up: "When I went into the bathroom, I thought the other boys knew..."
A said that after taking a bath, Kitagawa massaged him while watching TV. "It's a massage rather than touching me, and it lasts until dawn."
After that night, Kitagawa often asked A to take a bath in the "dormitory", and his behavior became more and more bold. Other boys told A that if he didn't put up with it, he couldn't debut, and "no one refused him."
・Kitagawa "dormitory" for boys.
Victim B spent years in J's house and saw that the youngest victim was only 12 years old. In his memory, there was only one person who explicitly rejected Kitagawa and chose to flee.
B says most Japanese parents are aware of Kitagawa proclivities but still choose to send their children to work. Even when one of them, JR, was sexually assaulted by Kitagawa and his parents slept next door.
This isn't the first time Kitagawa has been involved in a sex scandal. There have long been rumors about his sexual assault on his male artists.
In 1999, Japan's "Bunchun Weekly" magazine quoted a number of victims as saying that 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. And when the "hand of sin" reaches out to one person, others sleep next to them, waiting for their next turn.
Sometimes, Kitagawa would throw 50,000 yen (1 yen about 0.05 yuan) into the boys' quilts afterwards as "compensation."
Moby approached the two reporters who reported on the incident at the time at Wenchun Weekly. "More than ten years after the incident, those boys have long grown up, but when they talk about those things, they still can't help crying and even tremble." One of the journalists said.
As a fearsome Japanese gossip magazine, "Bunchun Weekly" has won many difficult "bones", but when it meets Kitagawa , it can be regarded as kicking a nail.
The reporters said the report angered the J family, who have since been seen as "the most dangerous people" and their careers nearly ruined.
Not only that, Kitagawa took Bunchun Weekly to court, claiming that it had damaged his reputation. Although the Tokyo High Court ruled that the testimony of the 10 victims was true, no subsequent judicial proceedings were initiated.
Until Kitagawa died, he was not punished by law for the rest of his life.
"Empire" was built
Kitagawa approached the entertainment industry by chance. He was born in Los Angeles, USA, the father of a Buddhist monk who opened a monastery in the United States.
In 1950, a generation of Japanese singers Miku Skylark went to the United States to hold a performance. Because there was no venue for Japanese artists to perform in the United States at that time, they chose Kitagawa family's temple, and 19-year-old Kitagawa became the singer's accompanying interpreter.
That close contact with the stage made Kitagawa yearn for an acting career.
In the early 60s, under the influence of American culture, baseball became popular in Japan. Kitagawa returned to Japan to form a baseball team named after his English name "Janis", mostly young boys. This was the predecessor of the J family.
One rainy day, Kitagawa and the children took shelter in the rain at the cinema. It just so happened that "West Side Story" was being released, and Kitagawa was extremely shocked after watching it. In addition to being moved, he also thought, why not create a boys' group that can sing and dance?
The first boy group was established, consisting of 4 beautiful men. Because there were no video materials or dance teachers at that time, the boys learned to dance while watching movies in the cinema. Soon, this group of singing and dancing and affinity boys had their own fans.
Whenever the children perform, Kitagawa always watches the audience's reaction offstage. He found that the boys who accompanied the dance were also very popular, so he began to deliberately train some children as companion dancers, which became "Little Janis".
"Little Janis" is a boys' group of about 200 people all year round, and most of the members are between the ages of eight and seventeen or eighteen. They receive a full set of basic skills including singing, dancing, acting, hosting, lyrics, composition, flips, and fighting. Most of the idol groups that came out of "Little Janis" were successful.
·“ Little Janis" group.
In the late 80s of last century, the J family gained a firm foothold and successively launched groups such as SMAP, Kid, Arashi, Taki and Tsubasa, almost monopolizing the Japanese idol boy group market. And the popularity of SMAP member Takuya Kimura has put the J family on the throne of Japan's top firm.
In 1997, Janis paid 2.726 billion yen in taxes, making him Japan's veritable number one entertainment agency.
Countless "little Janis" came to enter the firm, looking forward to reaching the pinnacle of life. At the same time, they also signed a "deed of sale".
The J family's management of artists is extremely strict:
According to the regulations, they cannot take photos with fans, sign autographs for fans, accept gifts from fans, and open social accounts privately.
Before the release of the record, no matter how many commercials, TV series and hosting jobs they received, no matter how popular they were, they were not officially debuted, and they could only receive a fixed salary every month, and they could only take a cut after their official debut.
The BBC documentary describes the J family as an "empire", and Kitagawa is the king here, holding "the power of life and death". If Kitagawa does not clapp, no matter how good a group is, it will not be able to debut.
When Kitagawa died, countless stars publicly mourned him.
"Still in love with him"
The "behind-the-scenes king" of the Japanese idol empire is mired in a sex scandal, and after the BBC released a trailer, Western media predicted that it was enough to "set off an earthquake in the Japanese entertainment industry."
As a result, after the documentary aired, the effect was mediocre.
A friend who has lived and worked in Japan for many years told Global People that the Japanese reaction to the documentary is a bit weak. Originally, she and her friends expected this to be a "blockbuster", but even the most gossip show did not take this revelation as a headline.
"This reaction is actually not surprising, the problem of Kitagawa has long been rumored, familiar people have heard about it, and they are well aware of the interests behind it." Luan Dianwu, a professor at Musashino University in Japan, told the "Global People" reporter.
First of all, the J family said nothing in the Japanese entertainment industry. Luan Dianwu said that its sphere of influence not only exists at the level of artists, but also extends to newspapers, radio, television and other media circles. The stars cultivated by the J family, all major media want to take advantage of the situation, rely on traffic to make money, and the interests are equal.
Second, Luan said that Japan's cultural background allowed Kitagawa to acquiesce in his actions. The male culture of Japanese society has a long history, and the Japanese bushido and monastic groups have injected more spiritual connotations into the male culture. In this cultural atmosphere, some people will think that what Kitagawa did is just an intimate act, which does not rise to the severity of sexual assault and abuse.
In the Japanese entertainment industry, there is a widespread phenomenon of the so-called "pillow business", that is, newcomers rely on dedication of flesh to win opportunities for advancement. "As long as you enter the Japanese show business, there will be seniors who will tell you this rule." Luan Dianwu said.
From a legal point of view, the age of sexual consent in Japan is 13 years old, and boys have the right to "independent consent", which creates obstacles to the characterization of cases. Moreover, Japan's definition of "rape" at the time was limited to between men and women, and the law was amended in 2017.
A reporter from Bunchun Weekly once mentioned that after some victims recounted their experiences of assault, they were asked what retribution they hoped Kitagawa would receive, but some people said that they "hoped that he would live a long life." Some victims said they "still love him." This mentality of some victims makes Kitagawa even more difficult to define.
One victim said in an interview that he "still loves him to this day."
Zhang Yingren, a freelance journalist who has lived in Japan for a long time, told Global People that in the more than three years since Kitagawa died, almost no media focused on his "criminal facts" that year: "In the Japanese mind, death means that everything is over, and the water flows." There is no such thing as China's so-called 10,000 years of stinking history."
Zhang Ying said that this incident reflects the exchange of power and interests between the J family and the media, and the "unspoken rules" are deeply rooted. "It is extremely difficult to change an ordinary rule in Japan, in addition to the accident of thinking and consciousness, there are many red tapes, not to mention the 'unspoken rules'."
The Hollywood entertainment magazine Variety expressed doubts: In Europe, the perennial sexual abuse of boys by the founder of an organization must be a headline.
But in Japan, quietly.
Column editor-in-chief: Zhao Hanlu Text editor: Lu Xiaochuan Title image source: Visual China Photo editor: Yong Kai
Source: Author: Jintai Huanhuan