FRAGMENT director of music Tsushima Yoshiaki to donate the entire 860,000 yen they made through working with Johnny’s Jimusho

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Tsushima Yoshiaki, representative director of music company FRAGMENT, announced that he will donate the entire 860,000 yen he has earned through his work with Johnny’s Jimusho to organizations that support child abuse and poverty.

Tsushima wrote with the following statement as posted on X (formerly known as Twitter):

The issue of sexual assault by Johnny Kitagawa and its cover-up by Johnny’s office has come to light.
As a business partner and also in the music industry, I strongly feel that we need to face this matter and reflect on it.

Johnny’s Jimusho and our company have been working together irregularly for about 9 years since 2014.
Looking back at the past, the remaining operating income for our company is approximately 860,000 yen.
Although we may perform on TV and radio, we mainly receive compensation for touring bands and song arrangements.
(There are no royalties for lyrics, composition, or producers.)

If you answer the question “Did you work while knowing about this matter?”, you must say “I knew about it.” yeah.
I have never met Johnny Kitagawa during his lifetime, and of course I have never seen him commit sexual assault.
However, we were aware that many people had complained of damage in the past through the Internet and other means.
It’s not like I knew every detail because I was a close business partner, but it would be a complete lie to say that I didn’t know anything at all.

After watching this press conference, I thought about various things.
First of all, our company “played a part in the prosperity of a company that was built on sexual assault.”
And conversely, “Part of our company’s prosperity comes from sales from Johnny’s office.”
In addition, “Despite the fact that there were people complaining about the damage, they did not hesitate and prioritized profits.”
Whatever the reason, you need to face the fact.

You can’t ask the people involved at work, “Are the rumors true?” If you say that you thought it was just a rumor, you’ll end up running away, just like you did in the past.
If you hear rumors of bullying in your class, but don’t report it to anyone, you will end up being complicit.
Of course, if I was a child, I would have been unable to take such actions out of fear, but as an adult, I believe I should recognize that I was complicit in the incident.

Japan will update itself to become a society that prioritizes protecting children who cannot resist over their own interests and positions, and improves the structure of blindly siding with the strong and crushing the voices of the weak. We believe that what is necessary for this is for each person to have a sense of ownership.

Based on this thinking, I personally came to the conclusion that I cannot continue to make the gains I have made so far.
Therefore, I decided to donate all of the 860,000 yen I have earned so far to an organization that supports child abuse and poverty.
I don’t know the circumstances and situations of those involved in sexual assault or those who were complicit in it, and I think it’s up to each person how they reflect on their actions and apply them in the future.
In other words, this is my own judgment, and I am not encouraging others to do the same.

I would like to apologize here for ignoring the voices of those who have been affected for a long time and prioritizing profits.
I am very ashamed of my past self, who prioritized protecting myself.
I feel that we need to remind ourselves to recognize structures that thrive on sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, mind control, and grooming of children as a problem, and to take appropriate action.
I will also reflect on my own actions and keep this in mind to avoid becoming a perpetrator.

FRAGMENT Co., Ltd. (origami PRODUCTIONS / ASTERI ENTERTAINMENT)
Representative Director
Tsushima Yoshiaki

ージャニーズ事務所と弊社の関わりに関してー
私個人として、今回このような考えに至りました。https://t.co/yMwacOSrKD pic.twitter.com/qDgwuGaSZY

— Yoshi Tsushima (CEO of origami PRODUCTIONS/ASTERI) (@Yoshi_origami) September 12, 2023