The cancellation of an appearance by BTS on a Japanese TV show has caught the attention of the world and uncovered still festering wounds between Japan and Korea. CNN, Billboard, BBC, The Guardian, Reuters, and Vox have all published articles related to the event analyzing the history that BTS member Jimin’s t-shirt seemed to highlight.

On Thursday TV Asahi’s program “Music Station” decided to cancel the boy group’s appearance which was set to take place the next  day. Big Hit Entertainment broke the news to BTS’ Japanese fan club of the cancellation afterward.

On the same day, “Music Station” posted a notice on their homepage explaining the reason for the cancellation. “Previously, a BTS member wore a t-shirt that caused a stir and was covered by the media, and we reached out to BigHit about the incident,” it said. However, ultimately the program “decided not to have BTS participate.”

The shirt in question is a white short-sleeve t-shirt that includes the sentence “PATRIOTISM OURHISTORY (sic) LIBERATION KOREA” multiple times on the back with two pictures. One depicts the United State’s 1945 atomic bomb drop on Nagasaki, Japan that killed around 70,000 to 146,000 people. The other is of Koreans celebrating their independence on August 15, 1945. Member Jimin was pictured in the shirt, and the image began circulating in October although he wore the shirt in 2017 during a world tour.

The impact from the incident has gotten missed responses with some questioning the relevancy if the t-shirt given that Jimin wore it last year. On fan with the surname Kang (31) said that it was because “Japan’s music industry has declined while K-pop has gained popularity” with BTS being the reason. Japan currently has the second largest music industry in the world behind the U.S., with South Korea ranking eighth as of 2017.

Others have speculated that BTS’ is being used by right-wing conservatives in Japan to instigate anti-Korean sentiments. However, Japanese netizens and fans of the group have agreed that “BTS should have given more thought to Japanese fans,” finding the fashion choice an insulting. At the same time, other fans of the group have started to used the hashtag #LiberationTshirtNotBombTshirt to circulate a post on social media attempting to explain the meaning of the shirt.

Meanwhile, BTS is expected to continue with their planned tour of Japan later this month.

 

 

Original articles (1)(2)

Translated by O.C

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