Japan’s WEGO fashion brand is latest firm to feel force of Chinese consumer backlash
Por Alyssa Chen — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement China-Japan relations China Diplomacy Japan’s WEGO fashion brand is latest firm to feel force of Chinese consumer backlash
WEGO scrapped a collaboration with an anime and manga franchise that triggered controversy with a perceived reference to wartime atrocities
3 -MIN READ 3 -MIN Listen
Alyssa Chen Published: 6:55pm, 13 Sep 2026
Japanese fashion brand WEGO has scrapped a plan to launch a new range in collaboration with the hit anime and manga franchise My Hero Academia after it triggered an angry backlash from Chinese consumers.
The Tokyo-based company triggered an outcry on Chinese social media after announcing it would release an exclusive range of My Hero Academia-themed clothing.
The franchise was widely condemned in China over a 2020 controversy about a character that conducted lethal human experiments – a topic which evoked memories of the notorious wartime Unit 731, responsible for the deaths of thousands of mainly Chinese prisoners .
The character’s name, Maruta Shiga, added fuel to the fire, because maruta (or log) was a derisive name given to the subjects of the unit’s human experiments. Some social media users also suggested that the surname Shiga was a reference to the scientist Kiyoshi Shiga, who has a bacterium named after him.
The proposed launch date for the line – 18 September, the 95th anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident , which served as the pretext for Japan’s invasion of China – further inflamed tensions.
The furore underscores the persistent grass-roots acrimony over Japan’s imperial history that continues to sour relations between the two countries.
Advertisement Select Voice Select Speed 0.8x 0.9x 1.0x 1.1x 1.2x 1.5x 1.75x 00:00 00:00 1x AI-generated voice
