It comes days after Chinese sponsors dropped soccer celebrity Kylian Mbappe over feedback calling communist chief Mao Zedong a “dictator”, for which the Real Madrid ahead later apologised.
In one episode of “Vivant”, a drama with a large viewers in Japan, a Chinese-affiliated organisation had been depicted torturing a member of the Japanese navy’s unofficial spy unit.
“We have recently received feedback from various quarters regarding the collaborative merchandise with the Japanese television drama VIVANT,” Sanrio stated in an announcement.
“We sincerely apologise for any concern this may have caused.”
The venture “contains expressions that are inconsistent with the Sanrio Group’s corporate philosophy”, it stated.
Sanrio stated it had “decided to cease this collaboration, as well as all subsequent projects and promotional campaigns”.
Hello Kitty and different cute Sanrio characters had been depicted as characters from “Vivant” — at the moment in its second season — in a variety of novelty merchandise objects.
Before the apology, Chinese state media outlet the Global Times had accused the present of “smearing China”, saying it had “sparked shock and fierce backlash on social media”.
The collection displays the “anti-China narrative of the current conservative Japanese right-wing administration, catering to the trend of right-wing extremism in Japanese society”, it stated.
Long-frosty ties between the international locations have worsened since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged final yr that Japan may intervene militarily in any battle over Taiwan.
Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to convey it below management in the future.
‘Beauty and goodness’
The drama “is a completely fictional entertainment work”, non-public broadcaster TBS, which created “Vivant”, stated in an announcement to AFP.
“There is absolutely no intention to deliver messages that disparage any particular nation or hurt public sentiment,” it stated.
The community’s president instructed Japanese media that TBS “does not in any way take a position that foments conflict between nations or condones the use of force or violence”.
Comments posted on Chinese social media platform Weibo earlier than Sanrio’s announcement had angrily criticised the merchandise tie-up.
“Sanrio, you are a brand for conveying a message of beauty and goodness, why have you got involved with this?” one submit stated.
“It’s disappointing,” learn one other. “The founder has long taken part in various anti-war activities, and Sanrio was originally founded on the ideals of stopping war and cherishing peace.”
Chinese overseas ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun echoed the complaints at an everyday news briefing on Thursday, following Sanrio’s assertion.
“This television drama once again reveals the persistent existence inside Japan of a force that seeks to use cultural products to vilify and smear China and spread anti-Chinese sentiment,” he stated.
“This should raise alarm amongst the international community and enlightened individuals within Japan.”
The furore follows comparable ire from the nation over Mbappe’s feedback.
Real Madrid apologised to Beijing on Wednesday after their French star striker apparently joked about Chinese former chief Mao, sparking a social media storm that noticed Spanish soccer yanked off Chinese state TV.
Mocking Mao — blamed by historians for thousands and thousands of deaths — is taboo in China.
In a clip of a video interview with French present “The Bridge” — since taken down — Mbappe talked about being amused by an web meme of his face photoshopped onto “some guy, think he’s a Chinese dictator”.
Mbappe issued his personal apology on Tuesday, saying: “My comment was ill-judged and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world.”
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Originally printed on France24