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BBC Releases Documentary on Allegations About Idol Industry Mogul Johnny Kitagawa

The BBC's documentary about the alleged sexual crimes of Johnny Kitagawa, the idol industry mogul who founded Talent Agency Johnny & Associates, is now available to British viewers on the BBC iPlayer platform.

In addition, BBC News ran the above six-minute report which includes material from the documentary and an interview with its creator and presenter, Mobeen Azhar. More information can be found in a text report on the BBC website.

The hour-long documentary is entitled, "Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-pop" and the broadcaster describes it as follows:

Johnny Kitagawa's legendary male-only talent agency trained young boys to become superstars. But for over 50 years, Japan has kept Kitagawa's dark secret – a long history of allegations of sexual abuse, made by boys in his agency. Even after the music mogul's death in 2019 the Japanese media remained largely silent. Why? Journalist Mobeen Azhar explores the suffocating reality of being a J-pop idol, the influence that Kitagawa had on the media and exposes the brutal consequences of turning a blind eye.

In the documentary, Azhar speaks to journalists who reported on Kitagawa's alleged sexual crimes in 1999 for the news magazine Shukan Bunshun.

The documentary highlights the lack of exposure that the Shukan Bunshun reports had in Japan, even though most of Shukan Bunshun's claims were ruled to be true in a libel suit at the Tokyo High Court, including the claim that Kitagawa had sexually abused minors.

Azhar also interviews four men who were selected as young boys for Kitagawa's agency. More than one of these men refuses to condemn the mogul's actions, even while they say that Kitagawa did indeed commit sex acts with minors. One of these interviewees says, "If (Kitagawa) really was a criminal or had committed a crime, he wouldn't have had all that support. But Japan accepted him and elevated his business to the top. That's how Japan is."

The documentary also shows Azhar's lack of success in interviewing anyone at Johnny & Associates, now run by Julie K. Fujishima, Kitagawa's niece.

Azhar ends the documentary with these comments: "A curtain is drawn when you mention Johnny Kitagawa. Even in death, he's protected. The boys he abused, now men, are left to make sense of what happened to them. There's been no reckoning and little acknowledgement that children must be protected, and that is the most shameful thing of all."

Kitagawa passed away in July 2019 due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage (form of stroke). He was 87.

Kitagawa was born in Los Angeles, and his family returned to Japan when he was very young. He later returned to America and spent some of his youth there. He taught English to orphans in the Korean War for the United States Army. Kitagawa returned to Japan again and founded Johnny & Associates in 1962 after establishing the male idol group Johnnys.

Johnny & Associates went on to establish and manage many male idol groups such as SMAP, Arashi, Tokio, KinKi Kids, V6, KAT-TUN, and Hey! Say! JUMP. The members of idol groups under the management of Johnny & Associates are collectively known as "Johnny's."

In addition, Kitagawa was a music producer and stage production director. He continued to produce musicals into his 80s. He held Guinness World Records for having the most No. 1 artists, the most No. 1 singles, and the most concerts produced by an individual.

Kitagawa faced allegations of sexual misconduct during his career. However, the accusations never resulted in formal criminal charges.