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U.N. group begins probe of alleged Japan talent agency sex abuse
Visit brings global scrutiny to accusations in the entertainment industry
A TV screen in Tokyo broadcasts a report on the death of Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Japanese talent agency
Johnny & Associates, on July 10, 2019. © Kyodo
ALICE FRENCH, Nikkei staff writer
July 24, 2023 14:04 JST
TOKYO -- Experts from a United Nations working group arrived in Japan on Monday to begin their review of the country's business and human rights record, which will include an investigation into multiple accusations of child sexual abuse against the late Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Japan's biggest talent agency.
The Working Group on Business and Human Rights traveled to the country at the government's invitation, and their investigation brings international scrutiny to an issue of major domestic interest in Japan while highlighting questions of how Kitagawa managed to operate with impunity for decades.
The group's visit follows a string of allegations by former J-pop idols and trainees, some of whom claim Kitagawa assaulted them as many as 40 times during their time at his agency, Johnny and Associates, commonly known as Johnny's. Some victims were in elementary school at the time of the alleged abuse.
The U.N. working group, founded in 2011, consists of five human rights experts and operates as part of the U.N. Human Rights Council's Special Procedures. It is mandated to visit two countries per year.
According to the group's website, its first Japan trip -- from July 24 to Aug. 4 -- will involve discussions with government officials, businesses and civil society groups on a range of human rights concerns related to business and workplace settings. Kyodo News Agency has reported that the group will meet with Kitagawa's alleged victims.
Anonymous allegations of sexual assault against Kitagawa first appeared in the Japanese magazine Shukan Bunshun in the 1990s, but the issue remained largely unreported by mainstream media and overlooked by J-pop fans until this year.
Since Kitagawa founded the agency in 1962, it has propelled some of Japan's most well-known male idol groups, including SMAP and Sexy Zone, to stardom. The recent claims of abuse, prompted by the release of a BBC documentary in March, span from the 1950s to 2016, three years before Kitagawa died at age 87.
Former Johnny's idols, from left, Kauan Okamoto, Yasushi Hashida and Akimasa Nihongi present a petition calling for a revision of Japan's child abuse law to ruling and opposition parties on June 5. © Kyodo
A representative for the working group declined Nikkei Asia's request for comment on the contents of its investigation, but said that the purpose of the visit was to "promote responsible business conduct" in line with the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The principles require businesses to provide "access to effective remedy" for victims of human rights abuses.
The group's findings will be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in June 2024, where other member states will make recommendations on how Japan can improve human rights in the workplace.
Fans and alleged victims of Kitagawa have criticized Johnny and Associates for failing to provide sufficient support to those affected by the scandal. The agency's president, Kitagawa's niece, Julie Keiko Fujishima, issued a statement in May offering her "deepest apologies" to the victims and saying the company had established an internal "compliance committee" to investigate the allegations.
Human rights experts have cast doubt on the efficacy of the committee. "I do not think the [compliance committee] is sufficient for a case of this severity," Sakon Kuramoto, a lawyer specializing in business and human rights, told reporters on July 21. "This sort of problem really requires an independent investigation."
Rights advocates hope that the U.N. visit will spur Japanese companies to implement measures to prevent future abuses. "We are hopeful that the working group will make concrete recommendations to both the Japanese government and the private sector" on "rigorous human rights due diligence" and "remediating harms," Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch, told Nikkei Asia.
In response to the Kitagawa scandal, Japan's government agency for children and families has held three meetings since June 13 seeking to bolster measures to prevent child sexual exploitation. The country's child abuse prevention law currently only covers abuse by parents or guardians, not employers or third parties.
Masanobu Ogura, cabinet minister for child-related policies, told reporters last month that he was "proceeding with discussions with a sense of urgency."
Having never heard of this UN Working Group before, I don't have a lot of confidence in its ability to counter the abuse of children in Japan, but I sincerely hope they will be very effective.
I'm very encouraged by the Japanese government for having the humility and the courage to confront this issue. I wish they had done it while Kitigawa was still alive, but he probably had too much influence to allow that to happen.
Ex-network investigative journalist pleads guilty to
child sexual abuse material charges
FILE - This image provided by the Alexandria (Va.) Sheriff’s Office, shows James Gordon Meek in his booking photo on Jan. 31, 2023, in Alexandria, Va. Meek, a former investigative journalist for ABC News pleaded guilty Friday, July 21, 2023 to federal child pornography charges.
(Alexandria Sheriff’s Office via AP)
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY MATTHEW BARAKAT
Published 8:57 AM PDT, July 21, 2023
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former investigative journalist for ABC News pleaded guilty Friday to federal child sexual abuse material charges.
James Gordon Meek, 53, of Arlington, Virginia, admitted during a plea hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria that he illegally possessed and transported images of child sexual abuse. He covered national security issues for the network until he resigned last year.
Court papers indicate the investigation began when the FBI received a tip from Dropbox about videos showing the sexual abuse of children in an account associated with Meek.
As part of a plea agreement, Meek admitted he used an iPhone to exchange the illicit materials, including a video showing the sexual abuse of an infant, during a chat session with two other individuals.
An FBI affidavit indicates that agents founds dozens of child sexual abuse images and videos when they searched Meek’s home last year, going back to at least 2014.
The affidavit says evidence was also seized showing Meek used Snapchat and other apps to pressure minors into sending him sexually explicit images, and that Meek sometimes portrayed himself as a girl in some of those communications. Those allegations are not explicitly referenced in his plea deal.
Meek’s lawyer had unsuccessfully argued that the evidence was obtained illegally and should have been tossed out. The plea deal preserves Meek’s right to pursue an appeal to have the evidence dismissed.
Failing a successful appeal on the search-and-seizure issue, Meek will be sentenced in September and faces up to 40 years in prison, though a maximum sentence is unlikely. One of the charges carries a five-year mandatory minimum.
Meek joined ABC News’ Washington bureau as an investigative producer in 2013. He previously worked for the New York Daily News and also served as senior counterterrorism adviser and investigator for the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security.
Meek’s abrupt resignation and the FBI search of his home prompted erroneous speculation last year that he had been targeted for his work as a journalist.
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