Photo/Illutration Noriyuki Higashiyama, right, president of Johnny & Associates Inc., listens to a reporter’s question in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Oct. 2 as other officials are about to leave the room. (Takeshi Iwashita)

In just half a month since Johnny & Associates Inc. established an external committee for victim relief, 325 people have sought compensation over the sexual abuse committed by agency founder Johnny Kitagawa.

Although it’s uncertain if all of them will be recognized as victims, the number underscores the severity of the problem.

Obviously, the talent agency could not continue to manage and train performers under the name of its sexual predator founder.

And it’s only natural for the agency to focus on compensating the victims and to eventually cease operations.

But are the right people in the right positions for the agency’s new direction?

Noriyuki Higashiyama will serve as president of both the agency, which will be renamed “Smile-Up,” and a new company dedicated to managing the performers.

Julie Keiko Fujishima, Kitagawa’s niece who stepped down as agency president over the sex abuse scandal, continues to hold all shares of the agency. Won’t her continued power affect the agency’s fresh start?

And can Higashiyama, who is considered Kitagawa’s treasured protege, truly break away from him?

Higashiyama himself has also been dogged by harassment complaints.

Although the agency said at a news conference on Oct. 2 that it would not siphon off profits from music and video rights, no specific measures for its finances were announced.

The fate of the agency’s vast assets, including its fan clubs and real estate holdings, remains unclear.

The agency also failed to adequately explain where the funds for victims’ compensation would come from.

Kitagawa died in 2019 at age 87 without being held accountable for his actions.

But the agency remains reluctant to uncover the full extent of his sexual abuses, and it has avoided any proactive disclosure of information.

Even at the news conference, the agency abruptly ended the session while reporters were still asking questions.

The agency, now facing an overhaul and a new start, will have to provide explanations about its future. But the shadow of the agency’s old-fashioned practices still looms large.

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