The sudden cancellation of several Japanese music events in Shanghai – one of them mid-song – sparked criticism among fans, with some calling the move ‘disrespectful’ and ‘extreme’.
Maki Otsuki was rushed off stage by two production crew members after the lights and music were turned off midway through the hit anime One Piece theme on Friday.
On Saturday, pop star Ayumi Hamasaki performed in an empty 14,000-seat stadium after organizers canceled a Shanghai concert citing “force majeure.”
The cancellation comes as diplomatic tensions between China and Japan have increased due to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks regarding Taiwan.
Prime Minister Takaichi, known as a strong critic of China and its activities in the region, suggested last month that Japan could take military action if China attacks Taiwan.
China views self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to “unify” Taiwan.
Afterwards, both sides staged protests against each other, and the conflict affected daily life in both countries.
Otsuki’s management said Friday that the suspension of the show was an “unavoidable situation.”
“Other than the cancellation of the performance, there were no particular problems, and the local staff were very friendly and cooperative,” the agency said in a separate statement on Monday.
Her performance was part of a three-day music festival in Shanghai, which was later canceled “after comprehensive consideration of various factors,” according to Japan’s Kyodo News.
The BBC contacted Japanese entertainment company Bandai Namco, one of the festival’s organisers.
Some of Otsuki’s fans created memes comparing her performance hiatus to the shocking elimination of China’s former leader Hu Jintao during a Communist Party conference in October 2022. The meme went viral on social media over the weekend, with some saying Otsuki was getting the “Hu Jintao treatment.”
Some social media outlets criticized the Chinese authorities for depriving their citizens of their freedom to enjoy culture in order to impose sanctions on Japan. “What good is it to turn the vanguard against your own people?” Read the X post written in Japanese.
“Don’t worry about the audience. They are Chinese after all, right?” A user posted on China’s X-shaped platform Weibo.
George Glass, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined the online conversation. “It’s such a shame that there are people who don’t feel the power of music,” he wrote in an X post that included a link to Journey’s Don’ Stop Believin’.
“Maki, don’t stop believing. Keep believing!” he wrote
But the incident also fueled nationalist sentiment on Chinese social media, with some questioning why the event was allowed in the first place given the diplomatic row.
“How could something like this happen in a situation where the entire nation is angry with Japan?” a Weibo user wrote.
Hamasaki, who was visiting Shanghai as part of an Asian tour, said she was suddenly asked to cancel the concert on Friday.
The pop icon performed to 14,000 empty seats as a thank you to “my company family, Chinese staff, and extended Japanese family who joined me on this tour,” she posted on Instagram.
“I still strongly believe that entertainment should be a bridge that connects people, and I want to be on the side of building that bridge,” she wrote.
Two weeks ago, Chinese state media announced that the releases of at least two popular Japanese animation films would be delayed due to diplomatic conflict.
