<figure id="attachment_370086" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-370086" style="width: 5448px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d5b01ab7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/04/fe743d84d17c666274ea5f50fc9f2779.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-370086" class="wp-caption-text">Noriyuki Higashiyama, president of SMILE, interviewed by BBC</figcaption></figure>
 It seems that progress is being made steadily, but&#8230;
 SMILE-UP. (formerly Johnny&#8217;s) has updated its special website for compensation for damages, reporting on the status of compensation for the sexual assault by the late Johnny Kitagawa. The site states
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 The Victims&#8217; Relief Committee has contacted those who have been confirmed to have been sexually assaulted individually with the details of their compensation,&#8221; the site explains.
 The site explains that Currently, there are 981 people who have reported to the compensation desk, of which 434 have been notified of the details of their compensation. Of these, 434 have been notified of the compensation details, 377 have agreed to the details, and 354 have been paid compensation.
 On the other hand
 We have notified 93 people who have concluded that neither their enrollment in our company nor the damage to their property can be verified that we will not compensate them.
 The company stated, &#8220;As of today, we have informed &#8217;93 people&#8217; that we will not compensate them. In other words, approximately 10% of the 981 people who reported the damage were not eligible for compensation.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 Noriyuki Higashiyama, the president of SMILE, spoke about the communication between the declarants and SMILE. In an independent interview by the BBC recently, he said
 In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Higashiyama said, &#8220;In fact, there are some people who don&#8217;t get along with us, and there are also people who come here just for the fun of it.&#8221;
 He then went on to say, &#8220;There are people who don&#8217;t get along with us,
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Behind the &quot;flushing out&quot; of false declarants: ......"></div>
I have heard from many victims that they would like to have the untruths reported to the authorities. We also have to take into account the financial implications.
 In an interview, he also revealed that he has been focusing on exposing &#8220;liars&#8221; in response to requests from victims.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 Slander has also become a problem. In October of last year, a member of &#8220;Johnny&#8217;s Sexual Assault Association&#8221; passed away, and the bashing continues to this day. When Higashiyama was asked about slander in an interview with the BBC, he replied
 What constitutes slander?
 and &#8220;What constitutes slander?
 I think there is freedom of speech. I am not advocating slander, and sometimes I think that is probably the right opinion of the person who is slandering me. So I think it is very difficult to decide where to draw the line between slander and libel.
 He added, &#8220;I think it is very difficult to draw a line between slander and libel. This answer, which seemed to equate &#8220;freedom of speech&#8221; with &#8220;slander,&#8221; drew a flood of criticism. The quality of the top management of the compensation company is being questioned.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 SMILE is a company that aims to provide relief to all victims, and once that is done, the company will be dismantled. Koji Nagawatari, a member of the &#8220;Association of Parties&#8221; who has been pursuing a series of sexual assault issues and a former Johnny&#8217;s Jr. member, also seems to have recently completed his discussions with the company, stating through his SNS
 He reported on his SNS page, &#8220;All communication with Smile Up is over.
 He reported via his social networking service, &#8220;All communication with Smile Up is over.
 But my heart has not healed in any way. It&#8217;s rather painful.
 I&#8217;m in pain,&#8221; he wrote.
 However, some people think that SMILE&#8217;s eagerness to announce and expose the fact leads to the slander of the real victims. In fact, in November, a member of the &#8220;Association of the Parties&#8221; was forced to commit suicide due to the slander. SMILE has not yet reached the point where it can provide real relief to the victims, not only financially but also mentally,&#8221; said a TV station official.
 There are many people, such as former ninja Yasunobu Shiga, who do not agree to SMILE&#8217;s compensation negotiations at present. If this is the case, it is impossible to &#8220;bail out everyone,&#8221; and SMILE Inc. will have to exist until a certain point in time. It seems that the road is still far and steep.

 Kazuhiko Nakamura

 In a sequel to his program accusing Janie Kitagawa of sexual assault, Noriyuki Higashiyama, president of SMILE-UP, gave an interview to the BBC. However, the content of the interview has been the subject of controversy on the Internet and elsewhere. ......

Noriyuki Higashiyama, who has been criticized for his &#8220;freedom of speech even in the case of slander,&#8221; is eager to expose &#8220;liars&#8221; and &#8220;the raison d&#8217;être of SMILE.

Noriyuki Higashiyama, who has been criticized for his “freedom of speech even in the case of slander,” is eager to expose “liars” and “the raison d’être of SMILE.

Access Ranking