By Francis Tang and Satoshi Sugiyama
TOKYO (Reuters) -&nbsp;Japan's&nbsp;top&nbsp;talent&nbsp;agency&nbsp;Johnny &amp; Associates said on Monday it would split into two entities - one devoted to compensating victims of&nbsp;sexual&nbsp;abuse&nbsp;by its late founder, adding that 325 people so far have sought&nbsp;damages.
The&nbsp;agency&nbsp;will also be changing its name, disassociating itself from its founder Johnny Kitagawa.
The&nbsp;agency, which represents only male entertainers, last month admitted that Kitagawa, who died in 2019, had&nbsp;abused hundreds of boys and young men&nbsp;seeking stardom going back to at least the 1970s. Kitagawa's niece Julie K. Fujishima last month resigned as&nbsp;agency&nbsp;president, apologising and promising reform and compensation.
New president Noriyuki Higashiyama said the&nbsp;agency, commonly known as Johnny's, would change its name to "Smile-Up" and focus exclusively on compensating Kitagawa's victims before being&nbsp;dissolved.
A separate company would be spun off to take&nbsp;over&nbsp;the&nbsp;talent&nbsp;management business, renewing contracts with those individuals or groups wishing to stay, he told a briefing. Its new name will be chosen by fans of its entertainers.
The first media reports of Kitagawa's&nbsp;abuse&nbsp;were carried by local tabloid Shukan Bunshun in 1999, but the&nbsp;scandal&nbsp;blew wide open this year as more victims came forward&nbsp;after&nbsp;a report by the BBC in March.
Following the&nbsp;agency's acknowledgement of the&nbsp;abuse&nbsp;last month, dozens of major companies have said they would end their contracts with its entertainers.
In a statement by Fujishima read out in her absence, the former chief executive, who owns 100% of the&nbsp;agency, said it was her duty as Kitagawa's kin to put an end to Johnny &amp; Associates.
"I want to remove all traces of Johnny Kitagawa from this world," her statement said.
&nbsp;
(Reporting by Francis Tang and Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Edwina Gibbs)

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Japan's top talent agency to dissolve after sex abuse scandal; over 300 seek damages