Govt to Forgo Hearings on Alleged Sexual Abuse by Johnny Kitagawa

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:26 JST, July 15, 2023

A government council set up to discuss measures on preventing sexual abuse among children and young people will not hold hearings for former members of entertainment agency Johnny & Associates Inc. who claim to have been abused by the firm’s late founder, Johnny Kitagawa.

Masanobu Ogura, state minister for dealing with the low birth rate, made the announcement at a post-cabinet press conference on Friday.

The council has been holding talks since June. Ogura, who chairs the council, said the reason for forgoing the Johnny’s-related hearings was because “the council’s meetings were not aimed at dealing with particular cases at a specific firm.”