A Tokyo company whose gentle characters have charmed children across the world found itself caught in a quarrel between two nations that remember the war differently. Sanrio, owner of Hello Kitty, withdrew from its tie-up with the Japanese spy drama Vivant after Chinese state media and social media users objected to scenes of Chinese agents torturing Japanese intelligence officers, which they read as a slander echoing Japan's own wartime cruelties. The retreat comes at a moment when Beijing and Tokyo are already estranged, and when China has become a market worth a great deal to the company. I
Hello Kitty Owner Sanrio Drops Japanese Spy Drama Vivant After Chinese Backlash
A Tokyo company whose gentle characters have charmed children across the world found itself caught in a quarrel between two nations that remember the war differently. Sanrio, owner of Hello Kitty, withdrew from its tie-up with the Japanese spy drama Vivant after Chinese state media and social media users objected to scenes of Chinese agents torturing Japanese intelligence officers, which they read as a slander echoing Japan's own wartime cruelties. The retreat comes at a moment when Beijing and Tokyo are already estranged, and when China has become a market worth a great deal to the company. It shows how a story about invented spies can become a matter of national memory, and how a brand built on kindness must now weigh its warmth against the politics of a region still living with its history.
On Weibo, Sanrio posted an apology and announced that it was ending its commercial ties with Vivant, a spy thriller made by the Japanese broadcaster TBS. After internal review, the company said the drama contained elements that conflicted with its core values. The show, in which Masato Sakai plays a salaryman drawn into international crime and espionage, had passed without controversy in its first season. Its second season is what caused the trouble.
The storm arrived this week, when Chinese state media attacked the new season for portraying Chinese agents as ruthlessly violent. In one episode broadcast on 4 October, an agent cuts off the fingers of a Japanese intelligence officer and stabs him in the abdomen. State media called this a deliberate smear against Beijing, and the state-run Global Times went further, saying the methods recalled the torture that Japanese troops inflicted on Chinese civilians during the second world war. Chinese social media users joined in.
Sanrio's statement did not mention the scenes. It spoke instead of care, connection and harmony, and promised to strengthen its review of future projects. My Melody and Cinnamoroll had appeared in Vivant merchandise, and that association is now gone.
The stakes are large. China is one of Sanrio's most important overseas markets, where it earned 781m yuan in the first half of this year, up more than 40 percent. The quarrel also lands amid strained relations between Beijing and Tokyo, worsened since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about Taiwan last November. Days earlier, several Chinese brands had dropped the footballer Kylian Mbappé over a joke about Mao Zedong. Whether Sanrio's tighter review holds, and whether other partners of Vivant follow its lead, remains to be seen.
On Weibo, the Chinese social media platform, Sanrio posted an apology and said it was cutting its commercial ties to a Japanese television drama. The company behind Hello Kitty said that after review it had concluded the show, Vivant, contained elements inconsistent with its core values.
Vivant is a spy thriller produced by the Japanese network TBS. In its second season, Masato Sakai plays a salaryman pulled into a web of international crime and espionage. The first season, set in a fictional central Asian country, drew no controversy.
The trouble began this week, when Chinese state media attacked the new season's portrayal of Chinese agents. They objected to scenes in which the agents use what the coverage called ruthless violence to torture members of a secret unit of Japan's self-defence forces. In the episode broadcast on 4 October, a Chinese agent cuts off the fingers of a Japanese intelligence officer and stabs him in the abdomen. State media called the depiction a deliberate smear against Beijing.
The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, went further. It said the acts shown bear striking similarities to the torture inflicted on Chinese nationals by invading Japanese troops during the second world war. In its words, the drama distorts the truth by attributing those atrocities to modern Chinese characters. Chinese social media users joined the condemnation.
Sanrio's statement did not address the specific scenes. It said the company has always used its characters to convey values such as care and connection, and remains committed to fostering harmony among all people. It added that it takes the feedback very seriously and will strengthen its review processes for all future collaborative projects. Two of its characters, My Melody and Cinnamoroll, had appeared in Vivant-themed merchandise.
The commercial stakes are considerable. China is a crucial overseas market for the Tokyo-based company. According to Chinese media, Sanrio earned 781m yuan (about $117m) there in the first half of this year, an increase of more than 40% on the same period a year earlier.
The political backdrop is tense. Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have been increasingly fractious since November last year, when Japan's conservative prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, told MPs that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could lead to deployment of Japan's self-defence forces if it posed an existential threat to Japan. That set off a diplomatic row. Earlier this month Takaichi said she had recorded episodes of Vivant and hoped to watch them over the year-end and new year holidays.
The Sanrio episode follows a similar case days earlier. Several Chinese brands dropped the French footballer Kylian Mbappé after he jokingly called Mao Zedong a dictator. The Real Madrid forward, nicknamed the dictator for his influence on the game, later apologised for what he called his ill-judged remarks. What to watch now is how Sanrio applies its promised tighter review to future partnerships, and whether other companies tied to Vivant face similar pressure.
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