Smile-Up’s president announces he will step down

Smile-Up President Noriyuki Higashiyama has announced that he will step down on Wednesday with the expiry of his term, as the company continues to compensate victims of sexual abuse committed by its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa.

The leadership change comes three years after Kitagawa’s abuse of young performers was publicly acknowledged by his former talent agency, then known as Johnny & Associates.

Masayuki Yamada, a lawyer who serves as Smile-Up’s chief compliance officer, will succeed Higashiyama as president while retaining his current position.

At a news conference in Tokyo on Monday, Higashiyama said the leadership change reflects the company’s need for someone with expert knowledge of legal proceedings to lead its ongoing efforts to compensate victims of Kitagawa’s sexual abuse.

“This does not mean that we are bringing the victim compensation process to an end,” Higashiyama said. “Both the company and I have not changed our commitment to ensuring that every single victim receives the necessary compensation. Even after leaving my position as president, I want to continue addressing this issue personally.”

Julie Keiko Fujishima, Kitagawa’s niece and a representative director of Smile-Up, will remain in her position.

Johnny & Associates was once an entertainment powerhouse behind some of Japan’s biggest male idol groups and pop acts such as SMAP, Arashi and Hey! Say! Jump. Its founder was one of the most influential figures in Japanese entertainment before his death at 87 from a stroke in 2019.

Although the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun published a series detailing allegations of abuse and sexual assault by Kitagawa in 1999, it wasn’t until March 2023 that the talent agency became embroiled in a public scandal when the BBC released a documentary titled “Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop,” featuring former talents who said Kitagawa had abused them.

Months later, the agency acknowledged Kitagawa’s misconduct and announced that it would change its name to Smile-Up to sever ties with the founder and focus solely on compensating sexual abuse victims. In March 2024, Smile-Up disclosed that two former staff members of the defunct talent agency were also found to have committed sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, Johnny & Associates’ talent management business was made into a new firm called Starto Entertainment.

As of Monday, Smile-Up had received claims for damages from 1,047 people. While 578 had received compensation, 231 people were deemed ineligible for compensation and 226 people could not be contacted, the company said.