DHC, a large Japanese cosmetics company, has been exposed to racial discrimination. DHC Chairman Yoshida Yoshida used words insulting Koreans in Japan in an article on the company’s official online store, which immediately attracted a lot of criticism. The topic of boycotting DHC products also appeared on Twitter on the 16th.
In fact, DHC and its chairman have long been “stigmatized” on the issue of discrimination. Yoshida also made “insult to Korea” many years ago. The group’s “DHC TV Station” frequently mocks Chinese and Koreans.
According to the Asahi Shimbun report on December 16, DHC Chairman Yoshida Yoshida published articles with discriminatory content on the company’s official online store.
This article originally boasted about the functions of its health care products, but suddenly mentioned its competitor Suntory. Yoshida wrote, “The advertising artists used by Suntory are basically Korean-Japanese. That’s why they were called by netizens. It’s’Chontory’ (チョントリー)”.
The term “Chon (チョン)” is a derogatory term for Koreans in Japan and is widely regarded as discriminatory. Yoshida put the word Chon together with the second half of the Suntory brand name “tory” in an attempt to demean competitors.
Turning the conversation around, Yoshida said, “DHC not only uses’purebred ‘ artists, but also pure Japanese companies in all aspects. ” In the Japanese context, “pure 粋な” means “pure, thoroughbred”.
“The Asahi Shimbun” asked DHC “the intention of publishing this article”, but the answer was “there is nothing special (need to) answer.”
According to a report from Buzzfeed Japan, as early as 2016, Yoshida Yoshida, chairman of DHC, referred to Koreans in Japan as “fake Japanese” (seemingly non-Japanese) in the “Company Profile” content on the company’s official website. Inferior, counterfeit, derogatory. At that time, the DHC website stated that “They have obviously been naturalized as Japanese, and they always talk bad about Japan and form cliques. They are simply’fake Japanese’.”
It is worth mentioning that DHC Group also has a “DHC TV Station” (DHCTV), and the “Director” is also Yoshida Yoshiaki. This channel frequently invites right-wingers to make “insult to China” and “insult to South Korea” remarks. Even in Japan, it has been criticized a lot.
In August last year, the program guest lied to say that “the Koreans cannot literalize Chinese characters, and the Japanese have unified Korean.” They also said that “South Korea itself is a country where anti-Japanese sentiment is quickly rising and cooling down quickly, so just wait and see the changes. “
Two days later, DHC South Korea spokesperson Jeong Roumei directly terminated the contract with DHC.
The so-called “talk show” of this TV station will often broadcast remarks that distort Chinese history and belittle China. For example, the guest made a false claim that “the Nanjing Massacre is a perfect lie.” He also mocked “the digital currency of the People’s Bank of China is money for children.”
After Yoshida’s “insult to Korea” article was exposed this time, there was a large number of comments in the comment section of Korean media reports, not to use Japanese cosmetics and boycott Japanese products. There are also angry South Korean netizens who said, “It’s not a pure Japanese, but a pure monkey. Don’t speak well.”
