<figure id="attachment_358750" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3464px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-358750"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cd57ed17"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/d469065a27208f8bb17623b1127a6b4e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-358750" class="wp-caption-text">Junya Hiramoto (right) announces his resignation as president of the &#8220;Johnny&#8217;s Sexual Assault Association. On the left is Shimon Ishimaru, Vice Representative.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Perhaps it is the price he has to pay for the hard work he has put into his activities, but it seems that he is suffering more than he could have imagined.</span></p>
<p>On January 31, Junya Hiramoto, representative of the &#8220;Johnny&#8217;s Sexual Assault Association,&#8221; announced his resignation as representative and withdrawal from the association due to poor health.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The group had played a spearheading role in the former Johnny&#8217;s issue, but Hiramoto and others were criticized for inconsistencies in their words and actions, such as their participation in a farewell party for Mr. Kitagawa, and were labeled as &#8220;liars&#8221; and &#8220;money-grubbing. It is said that the stress caused by the slander, in addition to the panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder he had been suffering from for some time, pushed him beyond his limits both physically and mentally&#8221; (sports newspaper reporter).</span></p>
<p>The association has established a fund and asks for 3% of sales every year. They also asked to be included in &#8220;SMILE-UP.&#8221; and were further heavily criticized. At one time, SMILE-UP. was a major force as a victims&#8217; group, but it has lost its presence as a number of people have left the group. However, some of the victims said, &#8220;In the end, I wanted to know what the association was all about,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t know what the association wanted to accomplish in the end. However, there are some members who are grateful to Ms. Hiramoto for her efforts in pulling the group together until the United Nations conducted the hearings.</span></p>
<p>(A member of the association).</p>
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<p>Mr. Hiramoto has been fighting alone for more than 30 years, having accused the late Johnny Kitagawa of sexual abuse since the late 1980s and publishing his book &#8220;All About Johnny&#8217;s&#8221; in 1996. Last year, the BBC in the UK aired a program called &#8220;J-Pop Predators: The Hidden Scandals. A string of accusers followed, with former junior Cowan Okamoto making accusations under his own name. The Johnny&#8217;s office (now SMILE-UP.) then admitted sexual assault and apologized.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="I'm the one who's apologizing to an unarmed man..."></div>
<p>Although it was pointed out that the family business had increased the damage caused by Janie Kitagawa&#8217;s sexual assault, Hiramoto actually had a different reaction.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;Former president Julie held a press conference and admitted the sexual assault, but the reason she held an apology press conference was because her daughter told her, &#8216;Mom, you should apologize.&#8217; When Mr. Hiramoto heard about this, he said, &#8216;People say it&#8217;s not right because it&#8217;s a family business, but we were able to move it because we are a family. I was moved when I heard this story.</span></p>
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<p>Mr. Hiramoto is a classmate of President Noriyuki Higashiyama and an old friend. When Mr. Hiramoto saw President Higashiyama take the stand at the press conference, he said, &#8220;He&#8217;s apologizing so much,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He also said, &#8220;He apologized so much, and I can&#8217;t attack someone who is unarmed and apologizing.</span></p>
<p>He also said, &#8220;I can&#8217;t attack a man who is apologizing like that and unarmed and apologetic.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> There were members who thought that if Johnny&#8217;s was gone, they would not get compensation, and others who said, &#8216;Let&#8217;s crush them.&#8217; Mr. Hiramoto was desperately trying to strike a balance between the moderate and hard-line factions. As a result, a rift developed with members who felt strongly about punishment, and the association split.</span></p>
<p>The presence of his friends must have been reassuring to Mr. Hiramoto, who had been fighting alone for many years, but he may have been heartbroken when those members left one after another.</p>
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 Kyodo News

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