Johnny & Associates to Change Name to Smile-Up. (Update 2)

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Johnny & Associates President Noriyuki Higashiyama speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday.

Johnny & Associates Inc. will change its name to Smile-Up. on Oct. 17 to focus on compensating victims sexually abused by the late former President Johnny Kitagawa, President Noriyuki Higashiyama said Monday.

A new company will be established to manage entertainers, he added.

Kitagawa died in 2019.