Scoop! The Shocking Reason Why Noriyuki Higashiyama Cannot be the President of the New Company, as Revealed by Yoshihiko Inohara on the “In-House Bulletin Board

As president of Smile Up, Higashiyama has decided to devote himself to dialogue and compensation for the victims.

Initially, he was going to be in charge of the new company as well, but compensation was more difficult than he expected, and he decided to make up his mind to face the situation properly. I am truly grateful that you have decided to retire as well and devote yourself to this project, even though you have a family to support.
I hope everyone will pray that the compensation will go ahead without incident.

On October 31, Vice President Yoshihiko Inohara (47) announced on the company’s Internet bulletin board that Higashiyama had declined the appointment as president of the new agency and would concentrate on compensation as president of “SMILE-UP. The company’s vice president, Akihiko Inohara (47), announced on the company’s Internet bulletin board that Higashiyama had declined to become president of the new company.

Higashiyama, who will be taking time off from his starring roles on stage to meet with the victims on a daily basis starting in September, will be rebuilding the former Johnny’s’s office out of his control.

Following the press conference by the former Johnny’s office, NHK and other TV stations, as well as companies that had used talents from the former Johnny’s office in commercials and other media, temporarily reviewed their transactions. In addition, they have stated that they will not use any new talent from the former agency unless they can confirm that “SMILE-UP.” and the new agency have completely parted ways.

If Higashiyama serves as president of both companies, it will not appear that ‘SMILE-UP.’ and the new company have parted ways. Therefore, there was talk of making Kohei Takenaka, a former Sony Music employee and advisor to the former Johnny’s, the president of the new agent company. However, for Takenaka, there was no need to become president now. It would be safer for him not to be in the center of the fray and continue to serve as an advisor to Johnny’s as he has in the past.

On October 24, “SMILE-UP.” was rocked by the news that Kazuya Ninomiya (40), who had been the office’s top earner for 27 years, decided to leave the company.

While many talents have yet to decide whether to leave the company completely or sign an agent contract or an exclusive contract, the departure of Ninomiya, who is the leader of the younger generation, is a considerable blow to the new company.

I think Sho Sakurai (41) is also firming up his intention to leave, as I have heard that NTV has promised him the anchor of “news zero”, the continued hosting of “Best Artist 2023”, and the production of a sequel to the drama “Daihyoin Sukyo” on the condition that he leaves “SMILE-UP. (A person related to a commercial TV station)