A Pokemon card game event planned for Saturday at a controversial shrine to the war dead in Japan was canceled and the Pokemon Company apologized for posting an event notice on its website following China’s response, as tensions between the two sides rose.
Yasukuni Shrine honors Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. (AFP)Yasukuni Shrine honors Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Countries that were targets of Japanese aggression, particularly China and Korea, saw temple visits as a sign of Japan’s lack of remorse for its wartime past.
The event drew strong reactions from Chinese state media, with editorials citing angry comments trending on social media. China’s social media environment is highly censored, and the government has a large role in what topics are allowed to trend.
“Brands that ignore history and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will eventually be abandoned by the market,” the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, said on its Weibo. “Relevant enterprises must take social responsibility and not lighten the heavy weight of history in the name of entertainment.”
The Pokemon Company, a subsidiary of Japanese game maker Nintendo, issued an apology in both Japanese and Chinese, saying the event was privately planned for children by a certified Pokemon card player, but the information was shared on the company’s official website.
“This was an event that should not have been held to begin with,” the company said, adding that the notification was shared on its website “in error due to our lack of understanding”. The event has been canceled and its information has been removed from the website, it said.
The company, citing its ethos of “connecting the world with Pokemon”, promises to be considerate of everyone.
Japan has faced rising tensions with China after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi commented in November that Japan could become involved if China took military action against Taiwan, a self-governing island Beijing claims as its own. An angry China has imposed economic and diplomatic retaliation.
Takaichi was a regular Yasukuni, though he had not prayed at the shrine since taking over in October.
