(Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO/Shutterstock)
Okamoto Kauan, a Japanese singer and former client of the Johnny & Associates agency, has accused the agency’s founder Johnny Kitagawa of sexually abusing him and other boys.
Kitagawa, who passed away at 87 in 2019, was responsible for launching and promoting some of Japan’s most famous male idol groups, including SMAP, Arashi, and Kinki Kids.
Okamoto made the allegations during a Tokyo press conference, stating that Kitagawa abused him around “15 to 20 times” during his four-year tenure at the agency, starting in 2012 when he was 15 years old.
Okamoto claimed that Kitagawa invited boys to his Tokyo penthouse and performed sexual acts on them while they were staying over.
He estimated that between 100 to 200 boys stayed at Kitagawa’s penthouse, and few escaped his advances.
Although rumours and allegations of abuse had followed Kitagawa for decades, he was never charged with a crime.
Despite Okamoto’s accusations, Johnny & Associates has yet to respond to the allegations. The BBC documentary “Predator” brought renewed interest to Kitagawa’s alleged abusive behaviour.
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