<figure id="attachment_396221" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2211px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-396221"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8dc3e293"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/6f9b2b7ef2ab0c12942c8d3b1bb1d6a0-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-396221" class="wp-caption-text">At the time, Johnny &amp; Associates&#8217; President Keiko Fujishima (right), SMILE-UP. President Noriyuki Higashiyama (center), and Kazuya Inohara (&#8217;23).</figcaption></figure>
The October 20th broadcast of NHK Special “Johnny Kitagawa: The Real Image of the Idol Empire” has sparked a significant controversy by addressing the sexual abuse allegations against the late Johnny Kitagawa.  
The former Johnny &amp; Associates agency has been dissolved in the wake of these issues, and the operations are now split into two entities: “Smile-Up” (SMILE Corp.), a compensation company led by Noriyuki Higashiyama, and “Start Entertainment” (STARTO Corp.), which handles talent management.
A portion of the responsibility for the sexual abuse issues lies with the media, which had long treated Johnny &amp; Associates as a taboo subject. 
The program, as a public broadcaster, examined the behind-the-scenes aspects of the Johnny&#8217;s scandal, investigating how the situation unfolded. It focused not only on Johnny Kitagawa but also on his late sister, Mary Kitagawa, who effectively controlled the agency, shedding light on the distorted industry structure.
<h2>The Compensation Director of Smile-Up, who exhibited a rude attitude</h2>
The most impactful part was the last seven minutes.
A scene was shown in which Sachiko, the sister of the late Ryo Nakaya, the first Johnny who became the origin of Johnny&#8217;s Entertainment, was seeking compensation from Smile Corporation. Sachiko, unaware that she was being filmed by NHK&#8217;s camera, was speaking to a male representative, the head of the compensation department at Smile Corporation. In response to Sachiko&#8217;s request for an apology from President Higashiyama of Smile Up.
&#8220;Why does Higashiyama have to be at the apology meeting? I don&#8217;t understand,&#8221; he said.  
&#8220;If it were &#8216;Merry should apologize&#8217; or &#8216;Johnny should apologize,&#8217; I could understand that, but Higashiyama is not the perpetrator, after all.&#8221;
He said that,  
and then, in the program, it was narrated that Higashiyama later met with Sachiko and apologized for Johnny’s sexual misconduct.
&#8220;The male head of the department responded in a consistently rude manner, showing no sincerity. It&#8217;s no wonder this sparked outrage online. You can also sense the resolve of NHK to air this,&#8221; said a sports newspaper reporter.
NHK&#8217;s big-name former employee was also shown no mercy.
The program conducted a direct interview with Hisao Wakaizumi, a former NHK director who is currently an advisor at STARTO Corporation.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="When we directly interviewed one of NHK's big-name alumni who had a close relationship with Johnny's, he told us the following"></div>
&#8220;Why me? And we&#8217;re supposed to be on the same side!&#8221; he said.
Wakaizumi voiced his confusion  
Wakaizumi graduated from the University of Tokyo and joined NHK, where he built a career in the drama department. He was behind hit productions like the historical drama “Fūrinkazan” and the morning dramas “Honmamon” and “Teruteru Kazoku” Later, he served as the Director of the Production Division, where he played a key role in fostering the close relationship between Johnny&#8217;s Entertainment and NHK. (TV industry insider)
In 2020, he became an NHK director, a position equivalent to an executive at a private company. After stepping down in 2022, he became an advisor to Johnny&#8217;s Entertainment.
<h2>Not only in talent booking, but also in handling troubles, he made his presence felt.</h2>
&#8220;Wakaizumi wasn&#8217;t just influential with Johnny&#8217;s; he had strong ties with many other talent agencies as well. Within the network, there were many who relied on him, thinking, &#8216;If we get Wakaizumi involved, we can sort this out.&#8217; Not only did he handle talent bookings, but whenever there were any issues or troubles at the agencies, Wakaizumi would step in and smoothly resolve them. From the production side, there’s no doubt he was someone very reliable. However, it was surprising when he suddenly became an advisor to Johnny’s Entertainment after his retirement. Even though they had a close relationship, it was quite unusual for someone who had served as a director to &#8216;descend&#8217; into a role at a talent agency.&#8221; (NHK insider)
Although NHK is a public broadcaster, it is not a government agency, so there are no restrictions on amakudari (the practice of high-ranking officials taking post-retirement positions in private companies). Nevertheless, Wakaizumi&#8217;s move to Johnny&#8217;s Entertainment was still a topic of conversation within the network at the time.
As the main segment of the “N-Spec” program ended, the screen displayed.
October 16, 2024 – NHK announced that it would now allow talent affiliated with *Start Entertainment* to appear on its programs.
The words appeared on the screen, followed by a statement from the network explaining the reasons behind the decision, which was displayed silently.  
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This was in stark contrast to the content of the program, and it could only be seen as ironic. A sports newspaper reporter spoke with surprise, commenting:
&#8220;It&#8217;s no surprise that the broadcast aired just as NHK and ‘Starto Corporation’ were finally thawing their relationship. It&#8217;s remarkable that they aired it at all. If you look at it differently, it seems like there’s a difference in perspective between the NHK News Department and the Entertainment Division. There&#8217;s even been reporting that popular group Snow Man is tentatively scheduled to appear at this year’s year-end ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen’ (Red and White Song Battle). The News Department might have put a halt to that.” 
NHK is funded by the public’s television license fees, which sets it apart from commercial broadcasters that are driven by advertising revenue and TV ratings.  
From the perspective of NHK&#8217;s News Department, there might be a sense of guilt for the way they ignored the excessive favoritism towards Johnny&#8217;s Entertainment, especially when it came to overlooking the sexual abuse issues. This could explain the direct, no favoritism approach in their investigation into the former NHK bigwig.  
Now that the time for announcing the Kohaku participants is approaching, this report has suddenly thrown everything into turmoil.

 Kazuhiko NAKAMURA

 The October 20 broadcast of the "NHK Special" on the late Janney Kitagawa's sexual assault is causing a stir, despite the fact that NHK had just announced in October that it would resume using STARTO's talent. ......

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