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An image uploaded on Twitter of a BTS member wearing a shirt showing a photograph of an exploding atomic bomb. (Twitter website)
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“Enraged” citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki clash with views of fans
Controversy is raging in Japan after the cancellation of a scheduled Japanese TV program appearance by the group BTS when it was learned one of its members had publicly worn a T-shirt showing a photograph of an exploding atomic bomb. Most Japanese media and internet users described the shirt as “excessive” and “hard to ignore,” recalling the tragic history of Japan suffering two atomic bombings. “When I saw the Genbaku Dome [a peace memorial built at the site of the bomb-damaged former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall] in Hiroshima, I sensed the weight of history,” wrote one Japanese Twitter user. “[The atomic bomb] is not an issue unique to the US, Japan, and Korea. It’s something that relates to all humanity, and it’s not something you should be joking about with a T-shirt,” the user continued. Residents in and from the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the atomic bombs were dropped, tweeted that they were “enraged.” “It’s upsetting that they seem to be treating us like idiots,” one wrote. Others suggested the cancellation was excessive or cautioned against too much denunciation. “Please change this provincial climate in mainstream Japanese culture [that led to the cancellation],” tweeted music journalist Koremasa Uno. Freelance journalist Daisuke Tsuda wrote, “It’s frightening that the response from politicians and the mass media has been unanimous [condemnation of BTS].” Fans also expressed their disappointed. Business Insider reported one fan in their twenties as saying, “The media only plays up the people who are making a stink online. The feelings of fans aren’t reported.” On Nov. 8, TV Asahi cancelled an appearance by BTS on the show “Music Station” because of the T-shirt episode. The sports/entertainment magazine Sponichi Annex also reported that other networks had cancelled their plans for appearances. According to the magazine, NHK deferred its plans to request that BTS appear on its New Year’s Eve special “Kōhaku Uta Gassen.” The furor over the “A-bomb T-shirt” has also tied in with objections with Japan to a recent South Korean Supreme Court ruling ordering compensation for forced labor conscription. The clip showing BTS member Jimin wearing a T-shirt with a photo of the atomic bomb blast first went public in July 2017. At the time, it drew no attention in Japan. The T-shirt first emerged as an issue amid growing right-wing condemnation of South Korea in the wake of the Oct. 30 Supreme Court decision. Big Hit Entertainment, which manages BTS, said the group’s “Love Yourself” dome tour is expected to go ahead in Japan on Nov. 13 despite the recent flap. BTS is scheduled to perform on Nov. 13–14 at Tokyo Dome, Kyocera Dome Osaka, Nagoya Dome, and Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome. The agency has not stated its position on the cancelled Japanese TV appearance. BTS departed South Korea on Nov. 10 via Gimpo International Airport. S. Koreans speak out on insensitivity of shirt Apart from criticisms of the Japanese networks’ cancellation decisions, some South Koreans have spoken out about the T-shirt worn by Jimin dealing insensitively with a tragic event. “Japan should rightly be criticized for shirking its responsibilities as a perpetrator of war crimes, and the Japanese networks for bowing to right-winters and cancelling the [BTS] appearance, but there is also the element of the T-shirt uncritically depicting a massacre with a nuclear weapon,” said social critic Park Gwon-il. Cultural critic Kim Seon-yeong said, “The fact that Japan is only taking issue now with a T-shirt photograph from one year ago deserves criticism along the same lines of its emphasis on being victimized by atomic bombs without reflecting on its status as an instigator of war.” At the same time, Kim noted, “It is problematic for a tragic image of war to be indiscriminately used for a T-shirt design.” By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
