URGENT: Head of Johnny’s talent agency to quit over abuse scandal: source

Julie Keiko Fujishima, president of Johnny & Associates Inc., one of Japan’s most prominent talent agencies, will step down amid allegations its late founder had sexually abused teenagers aspiring to become pop singers for decades, a source related to the matter said Thursday.

Noriyuki Higashiyama, 56, a veteran member of the agency, widely known as Johnny’s, will take over as president, the source said.

The decision comes just over a week after an external probe set up by the agency concluded that the firm had long concealed Johnny Kitagawa’s sexual abuse from the early 1970s through to the m...