(Beijing = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Hyun-jung = A Japanese fashion brand collaborated with a Japanese animation, which was controversial in China for distorting history, and attempted to release related products in time for the outbreak of the Manchurian Incident, but faced strong backlash from Chinese netizens.
On the 13th, the Global Times, an English-language newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece People's Daily, reported that Japanese street fashion brand WEGO was planning to release clothing and related products in collaboration with the animation 'My Hero Academia', but stopped the collaboration as controversy grew.
'My Hero Academia', which was serialized in the Japanese comic magazine 'Weekly Shonen Jump', caused controversy in China in 2020 by introducing the villain character 'Shiga Maruta' (志賀丸太), who conducts human experiments.
'Maruta' originally means 'log', but it is also an expression used by Unit 731, a Japanese biological experiment unit, to refer to test subjects in the past. It was pointed out that 'Shiga' was also reminiscent of Japanese bacteriologist Kiyoshi Shiga.
Last February, the famous Japanese animation 'Detective Conan' announced a collaboration with 'My Hero Academia', but was boycotted and criticized at Comic Con (comics content fair) held in various parts of China.
The fact that Wego set the product release date as September 18th also sparked controversy.
September 18, 1931 is the date of the Manchurian Incident, when the Chinese Kwantung Army blew up the South Manchurian Railway tracks near Shenyang in northeastern China and initiated military action, blaming it on the Chinese army. In China, this day is defined as the day when Japan's invasion of China began in earnest.
As the controversy spread, Wego's Chinese subsidiary issued an apology on the night of the 11th, expressing regret that the Japanese headquarters had failed to conduct sufficient and careful checks in the process of planning collaboration for the local market.
The Japanese headquarters then announced that it had officially terminated the collaboration and deleted all related promotional materials.
The Chinese corporation also said, "The company has always attached great importance to the feelings of Chinese consumers and respected the common perceptions of Chinese society and the feelings of the people," and announced that it would improve the review process in the future.
However, criticism arose again as it was confirmed that the wording of the statement released in Japan was different from the apology announced in China.
Wego announced on its Japanese website that the reason for discontinuing sales of collaboration products was due to 'various circumstances' without providing a specific explanation.
Founded in Japan in 1994, Wego is expanding its overseas business and was scheduled to open its first flagship store in Shanghai, China on the 29th.
The Global Times pointed out that Chinese netizens are taking issue with the fact that Wego attempted to release controversial works and collaborative products on a historically sensitive date while actively targeting young Chinese consumers.
Relations between China and Japan have rapidly strained since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan's intervention in emergency situations in November last year, leading to growing conflict in areas such as culture and content, as well as politics and diplomacy.
