The abrupt cancellations of several Japanese music events in Shanghai – one of them midway through a song – have sparked criticism among fans, with some calling the moves “rude” and “extreme”.
Maki Otsuki was halfway through the theme of hit anime One Piece on Friday when the lights and music went off, after which she was rushed off stage by two crew members.
On Saturday, pop star Ayumi Hamasaki performed to an empty 14,000-seat stadium after organisers axed her concert in Shanghai, citing “force majeure”.
This spate of cancellations come as diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo fester over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan.
While responding to a question in parliament last month, Takaichi, known to be a vocal critic of China and its activities in the region, suggested that Tokyo could take military action if Beijing attacked Taiwan.
Beijing views self-governed Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to “reunite” with it.
Both sides have since lodged protests against each other, and the rift has also affected daily living in both countries.
Otsuki’s management attributed the interruption of her performance on Friday to “unavoidable circumstances”.
“Other than the performance being cancelled, there were no particular problems, and the local staff were very kind and helpful,” it wrote in a separate statement on Monday, in which it declined interviews on the matter.
Her performance was part of a three-day music festival in Shanghai, for which subsequent events were also called off after “comprehensively taking into consideration various factors”, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.
The BBC has reached out to Japanese entertainment company Bandai Namco, who is one of the organisers of the festival.
Asked about the incident at a daily media conference on Monday, a spokesperson from Beijing’s foreign ministry told reporters: “I suggest you chat with the Chinese organisers.”
Some of Otsuki’s fans have made a meme comparing the shutting down of her performance with the shocking removal of China’s former leader Hu Jintao during a Communist Party meeting in October 2022. The meme went viral on social media, over the weekend, with some saying Ms Otsuki was given “the Hu Jintao treatment”.
On social media, some accused the Chinese authorities of taking away its own people’s freedom to enjoy culture, in its attempts to sanction Japan. “What’s the point of turning the spearhead toward its own citizens?” read an X post written in Japanese.
“Don’t you care about the audience – they are after all Chinese, right?” wrote a user on China’s X-like platform Weibo.
George Glass, the United States’ ambassador to Japan, joined the conversation online. “It’s truly regrettable that there are people who can’t feel the power of music,” he wrote in an X post which also included a link to Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.
“Maki-san, Don’t Stop Believin’—keep holding on to your convictions!” he wrote.
However the incident also fanned nationalist sentiments on Chinese social media, with some asking why the event was allowed in the first place given the diplomatic row.
“How could the event have gone on at a time when the whole nation is angry with Japan?” a Weibo user wrote.
Hamasaki, who was in Shanghai as part of her Asia tour, said she was suddenly asked on Friday to cancel her concert.
The pop icon went ahead to perform to 14,000 empty seats as part of her appreciation for the “people in the company, the Chinese staff, and the large Japanese family that fought through this tour” she wrote on Instagram.
“I still strongly believe that entertainment should be a bridge that connects people, and I want to be on the side of creating that bridge,” she wrote.
Two weeks ago, Chinese state media announced that the releases of at least two popular Japanese anime films will be postponed amid the diplomatic row.
