Fans explained the controversy over Miyawaki Sakura’s birthday ads, “No Rising Sun Flag design, just a comic concept” but Korean netizens got angrier
The controversy over the birthday ads for Miyawaki Sakura that has a design of the Rising Sun Flag has not cooled down yet.
The controversial electronic billboard to celebrate Miyawaki Sakura’s birthday was put on display at the Samseong subway station today (March 1st Independence Movement Day). The electronic ad showed a picture of Sakura edited to the background that has the Rising Sun Flag design.
Netizens took photos of the electronic display and posted them on online communities, saying, “Can they do this on the March 1st Independence Movement Day? Isn’t this too much?”. Many Internet users also expressed their frustration in their comments. Miyawaki Sakura debuted as a Korean idol in girl group IZ*ONE, which was formed through the program “Produce 48”.
Regarding Miyawaki Sakura, netizens reacted, “She is famous for being a right-winger of Japan”, adding, “Her fans purposely put up an electronic display with the design of the Rising Sun Flag for a Japanese idol even though they know what the March 1st Independence Movement Day means in Korea, this is so unacceptable”
Upon receiving negative reactions, a fan account of Sakura on Twiter, which seems to belong to fans who ordered the electronic display installment, explained, “Since the design concept is a comic book page, we used a comic spray element. Thank you for informing me about this. In the first hour of receiving reports from everyone, I urgently contacted the ads provider and changed it. Thank you”.
Together with the explanation, they posted a sample of the radial rays element in comics, claiming that the electronic display has nothing in relation to the Rising Sun Flag design because the color was not red.
Nevertheless, harsh criticism continued. Amidst the confusion, Sakura’s fans issued another article explaining the situation that the electronic display cannot be replaced because it is currently in the middle of Korean’s public holiday. In particular, they stated, “Since it is the public holiday in Korea right now, we are hurriedly trying to find and replace the ads construction team. We will work with them when the subway managers go to work again. We’re are still keeping up with the situation. Thank you for reminding us”.
Even after the explanations were posted, netizens’ anger has not cooled down. They continued to pour out criticisms, saying, “Do you think we’re idiots? There is no comic concept like this”, “Comic concept? You guys are too disgraceful”, “Such a bad explanation”, “Why don’t you try doing this in China?”, “An electronic display of a Japanese idol with a design of the Rising Sun Flag was put on right in the March 1st Independence Movement Day”, emphasizing the meaning of the March 1st Independence Movement Day.
