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Japanese girl band's Nazi-esque outfits draw fire

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fek

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ZJqpoxm.jpg


A popular Japanese girl band set up by an executive board member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organising committee has been criticised for giving a Halloween concert in costumes modelled on Nazi Waffen-SS uniforms.

Keyakizaka46, a spin-off of the phenomenally popular AKB48 J-pop stable formed by Yasushi Akimoto, donned black military-style costumes similar to those worn by the paramilitary wing of Hitler’s Nazi party. Publicity photos showed members wearing peaked caps featuring a bird insignia that resembles the Parteiadler eagle emblem of the Nazis.

Twitter user @batayanF3 wrote: “Just because you didn’t know or because you don’t praise Nazis doesn’t mean you can do this kind of thing. It’s unforgivable considering how influential they are as talents.” Another, @buppii21, suggested the members of the group, aged from 15 to 21, should read the Diary of Anne Frank.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...arks-anger-with-nazi-style-halloween-costumes




Simon Wiesenthal Center Urges Producer and Sony Music to Apologize over the use of Nazi-themed Costumes by Japanese Girls Group, “Keyakizaka46”

“We are calling on Sony Music and the group’s producer, Yasushi Akimoto to apologize for this inappropriate and deeply offensive presentation,” charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “Watching young teens on the stage and in the audience dancing in Nazi-style uniforms causes great distress to the victims of the Nazi genocide.”
http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=8776547&ct=14928375




“We express our heartfelt apology for causing offense ... because of our lack of understanding,” Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) said in a statement posted on its website. “We take the incident seriously and will make efforts to prevent a recurrence of a similar incident in the future.”

Sony Music spokesman Yasuyuki Oshio said there had been no intention to link the performance to Nazism.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/japanes...-nazi-outfits-wiesenthal-center-sony-apology/



Here's the group first single Silent Majority:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDaKPPmDSIE
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I always question this type of stuff because think about how many people went along with this and didn't protest or explain what the issue would be. So nobody there took a World History class? Nobody?!
 
I always question this type of stuff because think about how many people went along with this and didn't protest or explain what the issue would be. So nobody there took a World History class? Nobody?!

What kind of WW2 history do they teach in Japan anyway?
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
A lot of fashion can trace roots to military wear but yeah, those hats were a bad idea.

I don't know, I'm not really shocked. Japan seems like it has a careless attitude towards Nazis.
 
I always question this type of stuff because think about how many people went along with this and didn't protest or explain what the issue would be. So nobody there took a World History class? Nobody?!

In a production like this I'd think you'd have to be the right person bringing up the issue for it to have any effect. Rando stage hand or secretary saying it's a bad idea isn't going to be enough to get them the change everything.
 
Wearing outfits and shit inspired by the nazis seems like a slightly reocurring thing in jrock and some visual kei bands. I noticed it first when a bandmember of my favourite band wore a gothic SS outfit in a MV from the 90's which got me really confusd. googled around and apparently ww2 germany stuff doesnt have the same stigma there because of the goverments whitewashing of ww2 history in school. Rocking nazi looking outfits seems to have been a phase of being "edgy" or some dumb shit. Not defending this at all, but i definetly think the japanese goverment's downplay of the atrocities and their own part in that might have fueled shit like this.

Sorry if this all sounds anecdotal as fuck anf sourceless. I checked this stuff up like 4 years ago and reading this just reminded me.
 

Anony

Member
might as well ban all military uniforms in general, some group of people, race, religion somewhere will be triggered but the actions of a country
no one country is innocent of their military past or present and future
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
You sure they aren't just wearing clothes by this brand?

Every time I see someone wearing that shirt I do a double take to make sure it doesn't have a Swastika on it
Someone only told me about this recently and I'm shocked this is actually a thing. The bird leading into the circle and all is just, damn.
 

JordanN

Banned
might as well ban all military uniforms in general, some group of people, race, religion somewhere will be triggered but the actions of a country
no one country is innocent of their military past or present and future

You're ignoring that the Nazis launched a genocidal war that killed more humans than any other conflict.
 
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