Changing a company name does not alter the social responsibility of a firm where serious human rights violations were committed.

Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc., commonly known as Johnny's, has announced it is reorganizing itself in the wake of decades of sexual abuse of entertainers by its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa. The current company will become a firm dedicated to providing compensation and relief for victims, and change its name to "SMILE-UP."

A new company will separately be established for managing entertainers, and it will sign individual agent contracts with them. It was announced that former Johnny's President Julie Keiko Fujishima, a member of the entertainment agency's founding family, will not invest in the new company or be involved in its management.

Johnny's acknowledged the sexual abuse for the first time in a news conference on Sept. 7. But criticism erupted over the firm's decision at the time to retain its name -- coming from the perpetrator of the abuse -- and to keep Fujishima as a representative director retaining 100% of the firm's shares.

The company should have effectively disbanded at that point and made a new start. The agency's new president, Noriyuki Higashiyama, himself a Johnny's entertainer, acknowledged that the firm had been "inward-looking," but we cannot brush aside the fact that it lacked awareness of the issues.



The first tasks the reorganized firm should tackle are providing compensation and relief for victims. A committee set up for the relief of victims confirmed that 325 people were seeking compensation as of the end of September. The company should confront each person sincerely, and swiftly respond to them.

A report by a special team set up to prevent further abuse pointed out inaction by the entertainment agency and a power structure within the firm that caused the damage to lie hidden beneath the surface. The new company must break away from the distorted form of control that existed under its founder, and establish highly transparent governance.

A third-party lawyer has been appointed as chief compliance officer at the firm to handle legal issues. A system in which the human rights of entertainers are respected should be set in place.

Johnny's says it will solicit ideas from members of its fan club for the new company's name, but a stance of forcing responsibility onto fans could be labeled insincere.

The latest policy change by the agency was largely influenced by companies' moves to review their use of Johnny's entertainers in advertising, and NHK and commercial broadcasters pointing out that the agency's efforts were inadequate.

Companies with which the agency has dealings and broadcasters are required to monitor compensation and improvements in the human rights situation under the new system and respond firmly.