A group of men who say they were sexually abused by a Japanese boy band producer have expressed hope the company will provide financial compensation and introduce measures to prevent a recurrence.

They say producer Johnny Kitagawa sexually preyed on young dancers and singers for decades, having them stay at his luxury home, handing them cash and leveraging promises of potential fame. The company, Johnny & Associates, is a powerful force in Japan's entertainment industry.

The men said at a news conference Monday that they have been ignored for decades by the company, Japanese society and mainstream media.

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Company Chief Executive Julie Keiko Fujishima released a brief statement on YouTube in May about the accusations but has not appeared before reporters. The company has set a news conference for Thursday.

"We want Julie to apologize, as the chief executive and company owner," said Shimon Ishimaru, one of nine men who have formed a group demanding an apology and compensation from the company. "For a company behind this big a crime to do nothing is unimaginable."

Johnny’s, as the company is known, is family-run and not publicly listed. Kitagawa, Fujishima’s uncle, died in 2019 and was never charged.

A special investigative team set up by the Tokyo-based company recently spoke to 23 accusers, but has said the total will likely balloon to at least several hundred people. The team also recommended Fujishima resign.

Junya Hiramoto, another member of Ishimaru’s group, said they hope to set an example for others who have suffered.

"Our wounds never fade," Hiramoto said. "Do you think we aren’t still hurting? Do you think we can forget? Do you know what it’s like for us to come forward like this, filled with shame?"

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Over the years, persistent allegations against Kitagawa have generally been dismissed as malicious rumors. Mainstream media stayed silent.

The U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights has urged the Japanese government to act to make sure that Johnny's provides an apology and compensation and that government oversight of businesses be improved.

It was only after a BBC documentary about Kitagawa aired this year that the scandal again became a topic of scrutiny.

Another accuser, Kauan Okamoto, spoke at the Foreign Correspondents Club in April, saying he trusted foreign media more than Japanese media. Okamoto, like many others who have come forward, was part of a backup boys’ group called Johnny’s Jr.

The Associated Press does not usually identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but Kitagawa’s recent accusers decided to be named publicly in news accounts.

Hong Kong’s government will have to set up a new legal framework to recognize same-sex marriage registered overseas, its top court ruled Tuesday, ending a five-year legal battle. The decision is the latest in a series of cases in recent years that have pushed the city towards accepting the LGBTQ+ community.

In the landmark court ruling, a majority of the judges at the city's Court of Final Appeal declared the government is in violation of its obligation to legally recognize same-sex partnerships and would have to do so to dispel "any sense that they belong to an inferior class of persons whose relationship is undeserving of recognition." The court gave the government two years to comply or submit a new rule.

Same-sex couples in Hong Kong need "access to an alternative legal framework in order to meet basic social requirements," Justice Patrick Keane wrote in a decision also signed by Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, and Justices Roberto Ribeiro, Joseph Fok, and Johnson Lam. 

The justices added: "The absence of legal recognition of their relationship is apt to disrupt and demean their private lives together in ways that constitute arbitrary interference."

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Currently, Hong Kong only recognizes same-sex marriage for select purposes including taxation, civil service benefits and dependent visas. Most of these concessions were recently adopted as Hong Kong, which officially operates as a special administrative state under Chinese rule, has seen a growing social acceptance of same-sex marriage.

The case was prompted by Jimmy Sham, a prominent activist in the city, who married his husband in New York in 2013. Sham has repeatedly requested a judicial review of Hong Kong's laws pertaining to same-sex marriage, most of which have failed. 

In 2018, he began arguing Hong Kong’s refusal to accept same-sex marriage legitimized by a foreign government was in violation of the constitutional right to equality. The lower courts had dismissed his challenges.

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Sham, a 36-year-old former convenor of Civil Human Rights Front, has been in custody since March 2021 following a protest where nearly 50 people were charged under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

Esther Leung, the campaign manager of the Hong Kong Marriage Equality group, called the decision a "major step forward" but said, "it falls short of what is really at stake in this case: full inclusion in marriage," according to Reuters.

The court’s ruling was only a partial win for Sham as the justices unanimously dismissed his appeal on other grounds. They also reaffirmed Hong Kong's mini-constitution, called the Basic Law, only formally recognized heterosexual marriage.

The ruling will likely have a major impact on the city’s social acceptance of LGBTQ+ relationships.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.