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And Finally Artist News
Justin Bieber offends with Japanese war shrine photo
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 24 April 2014
Justin Bieber’s gone and got himself in a bit of hot water again. No, he’s not broken any laws. This is more like when people were offended that he suggested that Anne Frank might have been a Belieber if only she was born in another time and not murdered by the Nazis. Except this time he’s offended the entire populations of China and South Korea.
Travelling through Japan, Bieber posted a picture of himself outside the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, which commemorates Japanese soldiers who died in various conflicts. It was originally built in 1869 to honour soldiers who were killed during the Boshin War. Its foundation during a period when Japan was expanding its empire, plus the fact that it has subsequently grown to include further war dead, including some convicted war criminals, has made it somewhat controversial in neighbouring countries that were often on the other side of the fighting.
Bieber, not knowing any of this history, simply posted a message under his photo saying, “Thank you for your blessings”.
As controversy about the picture spread, Bieber deleted the original shot and posted a screengrab of a Time report on his faux pas, saying: “While in Japan I asked my driver to pull over [after] I saw a beautiful shrine. I was mislead to think the shrines were only a place of prayer. To anyone I have offended I am extremely sorry. I love you China and I love you Japan”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said during his weekly press briefing that he was unaware of the incident, but added: “I hope that this Canadian singer after visiting the Yasukuni shrine can have a clear understanding of Japan’s history of invasion and militarism and of the source of Japan’s militarism”.
To be fair, it’s a very complex issue, and Justin has a lot of court appearances coming up, so I’m going to go ahead and assume that he hasn’t read up on it further. But if it helps, here’s a classic video of him walking into a door.
