Outrage After ‘Disgusting’ Nazi-Themed Bar Opened Up
Published
A Nazi-themed bar with staff dressed in SS uniforms serving swastika-branded champagne has caused outrage.
A new bar that opened last Sunday in Osaka, Japan has been quickly closed down after launching with a Nazi theme, prompting a furious response.
Promotional material for the launch of the ‘Unfair Club’ showed staff dressed as SS officers and featured pictures that showed bottles decorated with swastikas.
Per the Mirror, bosses of the ‘Unfair Club’ thought having their staff ‘cosplay’ as members of the SS would be popular with their target audience.
As a host bar, the staff are supposed to be attractive to customers and interact with them as part of the experience, with the ‘Unfair Club’ reportedly aiming to build a customer base of women.
The decision to dress staff as Nazis and use swastikas for decorating was met with fury, and the bar was closed down by Tuesday with parent company Host x Host giving a statement apologising for their ‘lack of knowledge and awareness’.
Many hit out at the decision to use Nazi uniforms and symbols, including UK based antisemitism watchdog Campaign Against Antisemitism, who called it ‘disgusting’.
A spokesperson for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organisation, questioned why anyone would think a bar dressing staff up as the SS was at all acceptable. They said, ‘Japanese women are supposed to be attracted to men dressed up as SS Nazi murderers?
‘This is a vile desecration of the memory of six million Jews, Anne Frank and victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Where is Japanese outrage?’
This is not the first time Japanese firms have caused outrage for using Nazi imagery as ‘cosplay’.
Speaking to DW, political science professor Hiromi Murakami blamed ‘a lack of education and understanding’ for causing ‘ignorance among young people’ in Japan.
She explained, ‘It’s a little distant from the mindset of many Japanese people, whereas in Europe what happened is constantly visible and a reminder.
‘To far too many people, they see clothing or designs from that time and they think it’s “cool”.’
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org/talk
