Japanese singer Maki Otsuki stops performing midway after row in China

The sudden cancellation of several Japanese music events in Shanghai – including one mid-song – sparked criticism from fans, with some calling the move “rude” and “extreme”.

Otsuki Maki’s topic is already halfway through Popular Anime One Piece On Friday, the lights and music went out and she was kicked off the stage by two staff members.

Pop star Ayumi Hamasaki performed in an empty 14,000-seat stadium on Saturday after organizers canceled her Shanghai concert, citing “force majeure.”

This series was canceled because Diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about Taiwan caused an uproar.

Gao, known as an outspoken critic of China and its activities in the region, said last month that Tokyo might take military action if Beijing attacks Taiwan.

Beijing considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to “unify” it.

Since then, both sides have protested against each other, and the differences have affected daily life in both countries.

Otsuki’s management attributed the disruption to her Friday performance to “unavoidable circumstances.”

“Other than the cancellation of the show, there were no particular issues and the local staff were very friendly and helpful,” the company wrote in a separate statement on Monday, in which it declined to be interviewed for this story.

According to Kyodo News, her performance was part of a three-day music festival in Shanghai, and subsequent events were canceled after “comprehensive consideration of various factors.”

The BBC has contacted Japanese entertainment company Bandai Namco, one of the organizers of the festival.

Some fans of Otsuki made a meme comparing her performance stop to shocking removal Speech by former Chinese leader Hu Jintao at a Communist Party meeting in October 2022. The meme went viral on social media over the weekend, with some saying Ms Otsuki was receiving the “Hu Jintao treatment”.

Some people on social media accused the Chinese authorities of trying to sanction Japan and depriving its people of the freedom to enjoy culture. “What’s the point of turning on one’s own citizens?” read one of X’s posts written in Japanese.

“Don’t you care about the audience — they are Chinese after all, right?” one user wrote on China’s X-like platform Weibo.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass also joined the conversation online. “It’s a real shame that some people can’t feel the power of music,” he wrote in the X post, which also included a link to Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.

“Maki-kun, don’t stop believing – keep holding on to your beliefs!” he wrote.

However, the incident also stoked nationalist sentiment on Chinese social media, with some questioning why the event was allowed in the first place given the diplomatic spat.

“How could this happen when the whole country is angry at Japan?” one Weibo user wrote.

Ayumi Hamasaki, who is participating in an Asian tour in Shanghai, said she was suddenly asked to cancel her concert on Friday.

The pop icon continued to perform in front of 14,000 empty seats, writing on Instagram as part of her gratitude to “the company employees, Chinese employees, and the Japanese family who worked hard on this tour.”

“I still 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 the release of at least two popular Japanese anime movies will be postponed in a diplomatic dispute.