Former J-pop Star Kauan Okamoto Accuses Maestro Johnny Kitagawa Of Harassment At Penthouse

Illustration (Photo: anniespratt/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Former J-pop star Kauan Okamoto admitted to having been sexually harassed by Japanese music producer Johnny Kitagawa. Johnny Kitagawa died in 2019. Okamoto admitted that the harassment he received reached 20 times when he was 15 years old from 2012-2016. Okamoto believes as many as 100 boys have been harassed. The location of abuse at Kitagawa's HEAD in Tokyo. Japanese-Brazil singer and songwriter who is now 26 years old said Kitagawa would come to his bed at night and take off his clothes before oral sex on him. Okamoto pretended to fall asleep when the abuse occurred. "(Kitagawa) has never explicitly said that if you can't stand (harassment), you won't succeed," he told reporters. "But Johnny's favorite first choice will work," Okamoto said as quoted by bbc.com, Thursday, April 13. Kitagawa denied all accusations during his life and never faced charges. A BBC documentary in March detailed allegations from several victims. Okamoto said he was forced to speak up after the BBC released the documentary Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop. Some whistleblowers told the BBC that they were worried their career would be disadvantaged if they rejected Kitagawa. In Japan, he is seen as one of the most influential figures in the music industry. When he died in 2019 at the age of 87, his legacy as the cultural architect of the J-pop idol was widely celebrated in the country. But his allegations of sexual exploitation have been ignored for decades. He was selected to join Johnny's Jr group in 2012 - which is a talent collection of male idols in training at the Kitagawa agency, Johnny & Associates. Okamoto said he found out at least 100 boys were staying at Kitagawa's house and he believed they had all been harassed. On Wednesday Johnny & Associates issued a statement after a press conference Okamato said the company was working to "strengthen our governance system". It did not discuss Okamato's accusations or make other references to his founders. The agency remains the best male talent manager and production company in Japan. It has produced several of the country's biggest boy bands, such as SMAP and Arashi. The allegation that Kitagawa treated and abused minors sexually has existed since 1999, when local magazine Shukan Bunshun published accounts of six former idols. However, most Japanese media did not cover the allegations - sparking accusations over the years to cover up the industry. This silence persisted even when Kitagawa lost the lawsuit he filed against the magazine, with the court ruling that Shukan Bunshun had sufficient reasons to publish the allegations of sexual assault. In his press conference, Okamoto said he was not considering taking legal action against Johnny & Associates. Instead, he expressed his hope that telling his story would inspire more victims to speak. "I hope everyone will come forward because it is an outrageous number of victims," he told reporters on Wednesday. "I believe that what he did to me, committed sexual acts when I was 15 years old, and what he did to other boys was wrong." He said he was forced to speak up after the BBC documentary was released last month. He first detailed his allegations against Shukan Bunshun on April 5, and he was invited to speak at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo on Wednesday. "Japanese media are very reluctant to cover this issue, but [I've heard] of foreign media, such as the BBC, may report it," he said.