Damilola Olawuyi, chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, told reporters on Friday that the death toll could reach several hundred and accused Japan’s mainstream media of remaining silent for decades about the alleged abuses.
Olawuyi and other experts have been in Japan since July 24 to discuss an agenda with authorities, human rights defenders, trade unions and companies, highlighting allegations by men who say they were sexually abused as children by Kitagawa, who was a powerful personality in Japan’s entertainment industry before his death in 2019. The head of Johnny & Associates, the talent agency founded by Kitagawa, apologized in May.
Olawuyi raised serious questions about the sincerity of Johnny & Associates’ response. He urged other entertainment industry stakeholders to conduct a “transparent and legitimate investigation with a clear timeline.”
Junya Hiramoto, one of the seven men who spoke to Olawuyi’s team, was moved to tears by the UN official’s words.
“I feel like our message was clearly conveyed,” he said. “They gave me a lot of courage.”
Pichamon Yeophantong, another UN group colleague who appeared with Olawuyi at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, urged the Japanese government to do more.
“This case emphasizes the need for the government, as the primary bearer of responsibility, to ensure transparent investigations of perpetrators and that victims receive effective remedies, whether in the form of an apology or financial compensation,” he said.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
