The family of a man who said he had been sexually abused by the late founder of the talent agency formerly known as Johnny & Associates issued a statement on Tuesday through their lawyer.
The family says they have still not come to terms with the sudden departure of their loved one and remain in a daze, without a sense of reality.
They say the man phoned the talent agency in May to report that he had been sexually abused by the late Johnny Kitagawa in 1995. The agency told him it would check his resume and promised to call back, but after more than five months he had still not heard from it.
The family say that despite the trauma of the sexual abuse he faced as a minor, he spoke out again because he wanted to make a better society for young people. But the agency did nothing, and the man's anxiety and suffering grew.
The family says he also asked the agency to address the problem of online slander. But the agency only called for it to stop at a news conference, and failed to take specific steps.
They say the man had been complaining why it was only the victims who had to shoulder the burden, when the agency should be taking action. Compounded by the recurring trauma of sexual abuse, the man's psychological stress increased.
They say that in the end, he decided to take his own life, leaving his family behind without achieving what he set out to do.
The lawyer says the family will seek a sincere and proper response from the talent agency, which is now called Smile-Up.