Japan ‘One Piece’ singer stopped mid-performance as Japan-China relations sour

Japanese “One Piece” singer Maki Otsuki was forced to halt her performance on stage in Shanghai, her management said, one of the latest events hit by a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.

Otsuki, known for the theme song of the popular anime, had been slated to perform for two days from Friday at the Bandai Namco Festival 2025 in the Chinese city.

However, she “had to abruptly halt her performance due to unavoidable circumstances” on Friday “even though she was in the middle of performing”, her management posted on her official website on Saturday.

It was the latest event hit in a spate of cancellations of cultural events involving Asia’s two biggest economies.

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have soured this month after remarks by the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggesting Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to take the democratic island, reacted furiously to Takaichi’s remarks, summoning Tokyo’s ambassador and advising Chinese citizens against travel to Japan.

The Bandai Namco Festival 2025 was scheduled through Sunday, but the organisers announced on the Chinese social media platform WeChat that the whole event would be cancelled after “comprehensively taking into consideration various factors”, Kyodo News reported.

Popular Japanese girl idol group Momoiro Clover Z, who were due to perform at the same event Saturday, were also affected, it said.

Other artists and shows that have been forced to call off performances in China include pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki and jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara, Kyodo said.

“I still strongly believe that entertainment should be a bridge that connects us, and that I should be the creator of that bridge,” Hamasaki posted on her Instagram after the cancellation of her Shanghai tour announced on Friday, just a day before her scheduled performance.