How Japanese media companies enabled Johnny’s abuse

How Japanese media companies enabled Johnny’s abuse

Philip Brasor — Read time: 5 minutes

How Japanese media companies enabled Johnny’s abuse

Codependent relationship between media companies and the talent agency ensured a code of silence

As the mainstream media in Japan finally discusses the systematic sexual abuse of young male stars by the late idol impresario Johnny Kitagawa, it seems obvious that news outlets and the companies that own them should accept some of the blame.

The abuse was subjected to international scrutiny when the British Broadcasting Corporation aired “Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop” in March. This in-depth documentary on Kitagawa was subsequently fortified by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, which held a news conference in April for one of the young men who says he was a victim of that abuse.

In actuality, Kitagawa’s alleged transgressions have been an open secret for decades, but because Japan’s media companies are so reliant on agencies like Johnny & Associates for talent, the news organizations controlled by these companies avoided the topic for fear of being blacklisted. It took outside actors to force the matter into the open, where domestic news couldn’t avoid it.

Foreign media outlets have broken a number of major stories describing systematic problems in Japan, from sumo’s close connection to underworld elements to long-running governance issues at Olympus, but Kitagawa’s crimes remained covered up, specifically due to the nature of the media landscape in Japan. That aspect of the case is one that mainstream news outlets may not want to talk about. Instead, they’re focusing on the crimes themselves and what the government and the entertainment industry needs to do to prevent such abuse in the future.

The BBC documentary makers were clear that they didn’t dig up the dirt on Johnny’s by themselves and credited the core reporting to the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun, which has always been a thorn in Johnny’s side. In the tabloid press, the symbiotic relationship between talent agencies like Johnny’s and media companies has been a hot topic for years but because tabloids are, by definition, not always reliable, such charges never had much staying power unless they were also picked up by the mainstream press.

So interdependence was the key, though it didn’t really become a money-making machine until the 1990s and the rise of SMAP, Johnny’s most emblematic boy band. As with most Johnny’s acts since the ‘60s, SMAP’s musical and terpsichorean talents were debatable. However, they were soon deployed to television in the form of talent for talk and variety shows. Through the force of their personalities and the ability of Johnny’s to keep each member in the public consciousness on a near-constant basis, the group conquered the media with an appeal that had nothing to do with music (though, of course, they sold millions of records and concert tickets). The result was a sea change in how entertainment was packaged.

Johnny’s charges were also hot properties for advertising purposes, so their appearances in the media were extremely lucrative for everyone involved. Advertisers would readily buy time on TV shows where Johnny’s talent appeared. It was the same for dramatic programs, where Johnny’s members appeared as actors, regardless of whether they could act.

Other agencies supplied the media with cross-platform talent as well, but what made SMAP unique was how they grew out of their nominally idol phase and into middle age. They continued leveraging their popularity in areas that idols didn’t usually trade in. In the past, once a singing idol, whether male or female, hit their mid 20s, they started to fade because they were limited to a business that requires a supply of young, fresh faces.

But SMAP — and, subsequently, every other Johnny’s act — continued to get work into their 40s. In turn, the media landscape, in particular television, adapted to their needs. In fact, Japanese TV thought it couldn’t survive without them.

If the definition of a celebrity is being famous for being famous, SMAP had the market cornered. In 2011, to celebrate the group’s 20th year in show business, they were profiled by public broadcaster NHK’s documentary series “The Professional,” which each week looked closely at some person notable for their dedication to a craft or business endeavor.

On the surface, it was an odd choice, since the professionalism that NHK was celebrating with regard to SMAP was not linked to any provable abilities (SMAP’s leader, Masahiro Nakai, has always disparaged his own singing and dancing in public). Instead, the documentary focused on their identification as idols, which had evolved with them since their debut. The show essentially interrogated their status as celebrities, a category of work that NHK asserted had its own skills set.

The by-product of this kind of approach was an effective cheapening of media product. Since the ‘80s, talk and variety shows where the talent was the key component became the norm for television programming. Production costs went into securing stars, especially comedians, whose peculiar talents obviated hiring writers or even coming up with interesting ideas. Advertisers would hire these talents to shill for them, so their use was mutually beneficial for all.

This system was not new, but Kitagawa ingeniously manipulated it to his advantage, and other agencies followed suit. In doing so, Kitagawa demanded media players stay in line with regard to the male stars he represented, and they did. This continued even as TV lost its sway and attraction, partly because of the advent of the internet but also due to the dumbing-down effect this synergy had on TV programming.

The bottom line was audience share, even if the overall audience itself was migrating elsewhere. Producers remained focused on securing popular talent whose sole purpose was to attract viewers. Content was still secondary.

This deeply rooted codependency explains how the Japanese media failed to confront Kitagawa’s alleged crimes: Media companies had become addicted to Johnny’s idols. Now that the talent has the means to escape the Johnny & Associates system, perhaps the power dynamic will shift.

Ultimately, the news outlets that failed to investigate accusations against Kitagawa are complicit, but television production companies and advertising agencies will also need to look in the mirror and acknowledge their roles as enablers.

Philip Brasor is the Asia correspondent for Pollstar. He wrote regularly about media for The Japan Times from 1995 to 2021.

The codependency of Japan’s media companies and Johnny Kitagawa’s powerful talent agency is ultimately what allowed accusations of sexual abuse to go unreported. | GETTY IMAGES / JAPAN TIMES COLLAGE