Japanese singer Maki Otsuki appears on stage at a concert hall in Shanghai, China. Suenan the first few months of memories, One of the most popular themes in popular anime one piece. On the back appears an image of a calm sea, touched by the orange rays of the setting sun. Start singing. He held out the microphone to the audience, which is the voice of the choir. Suddenly the room becomes dark and the music stops. “¿Eh?”, shouted several aides.
Return the light. Two people, apparently members of the organization, talk to Otsuki. The 52-year-old translator, looking confused and with her mouth open, listens to her instructions and leaves within a few seconds. Through the loudspeaker, a voice in Chinese tells you that the concert has been cancelled. Video of the moment quickly spread on social media networks (Chinese and Western), with many users interpreting the boycott as a gesture laden with political connotations.
The Otsuki case adds to a series of cancellations that have intensified in recent weeks, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi, an ultra-conservative, confirmed on November 7 in a parliamentary response that a potential military attack by China against Taiwan could pose an “existential threat” to her country, which would justify the deployment of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. This comment indicates a move away from the strategy of ambiguity that Tokyo has followed for years regarding how to respond to any action by the Chinese military in the region.
China considers Taiwan (the island to which Nationalist forces were exiled after losing the civil war in 1949) an integral part of its territory and claims that reunification is “inevitable.” Although the Communist Party has never exercised actual authority over it, Beijing does not rule out using force to achieve this “historic and legal achievement,” in President Xi Jinping’s own words.
Takaichi, a nationalist politician and staunch defender of a more powerful Japan, has avoided backing down, despite increasing demands from Chinese authorities that he do so. For now, he only specified that his words were “hypothetical,” but since they were spoken about the relations between Tokyo and Beijing, they had been spoken freely.
China has responded to the controversial attack with economic retaliation and a threat to go further. It has told its citizens to avoid traveling or studying in Japan – canceling 12 airline routes citing “low demand” – banned the import of fish and seafood from the country, froze several official dialogue channels, halted the release of at least four Japanese films, and paralyzed exchange programs between school groups.
The tense political climate has ended up permeating the cultural sphere. Otsuki’s performance was suspended last week at the Bandai Namco Carnival, a cultural festival OtakuThis coincided with the announcement of the cancellation of Japanese pop music era Ayumi Hamasaki’s concert, which was scheduled to be celebrated the next day, also in Shanghai. “This morning we were quickly summoned and received an order to cancel the show,” IU herself wrote (as she announced to her fans) on Instagram. “I can’t believe we have to unpack this scenario without having the opportunity to see and discuss in person with over 14,000 people.” Technical assistance (His followers) who came from China, Japan and other countries. “I feel a lot,” he added.
However, the Japanese pop star decided to sing “from the first song to the last” in front of an abandoned stadium as an expression of gratitude “to the 200 people from the company, the Chinese character and the large Japanese family who worked so hard to accommodate this tour,” he wrote on his networks, sharing several photos from the show without an audience. Many fans have been listening to his music since then, according to comments on the networks.
On Xiaohongshu and Weibo – China-based platforms have similar functions to Instagram and
Since mid-November, more than a decade of concerts by Japanese artists in China’s largest cities have been cancelled. Among the most famous cases, the famous jazz musician Yoshio Suzuki, who was flagged down during a sound test in Beijing by two plainclothes police officers, stands out, and the singer Kokiya, who was also stopped at the last minute, while his followers waited in line for the venue doors to open.
Industry sources confirmed to EL PAÍS that concert halls across China have received warnings not to announce future concerts by Japanese singers. You are also warned that planned performances may be cancelled.