Higashiyama Noriyuki (東山紀之), president of the former Johnny & Associates, will retire, and attorney Yamada Masayuki (山田将之) will concurrently serve as president. The company has also announced that it will change its name to SMILE―UP.
The former Johnny & Associates, now SMILE―UP., announced on the afternoon of the 28th that Higashiyama Noriyuki (東山紀之) would retire as president. The new president will be attorney Yamada Masayuki (山田将之), who is scheduled to concurrently assume the position effective 1 October. The company said that part of its management structure would change accordingly.
At a press conference, Higashiyama said that situations requiring legal procedures and professional judgment would increase in its future compensation operations, and stated that its policy of providing relief to victims would remain unchanged.
The sexual abuse allegations involving founder Johnny Kitagawa (ジャニー喜多川) have been cited as the background to the abuse issue. In 2023, President Fujishima Julie Keiko (藤島ジュリー景子) retired, and the company subsequently changed its name to SMILE―UP.
Attention is focused on the company’s future measures to prevent recurrence and restore trust following the personnel and company-name changes.