Chinese retailer Miniso apologises for styling itself as a Japanese brand in light of growing tensions

Popular for its budgeted goods, Chinese retailer Miniso used Japanese influence to promote itself but with a wave of nationalism fuelled by geopolitical tensions over Taiwan, that is changing. The brand issued a formal apology, promising to remove Japanese elements from its design.

The chief designer for the Guangzhou-based company is Japanese, as are the characters on its shopping bags and its marketing language. This, it said in a statement on its official Weibo account on Thursday, was “wrong”, according to Bloomberg.

“We used wrong brand positioning and marketing campaigns during the early days,” the statement read. “We feel regret and guilt.” The seller of cheap household goods revealed that it has been working on replacing the Japanese elements in its items since 2019. This includes re-designing the logo and shopping bags to change the characters to Mandarin ones in over 3,000 local outlets, said the statement. It also promised to more closely police exports.

The turnaround came after an Instagram post ignited an outcry when it described a cheongsam-wearing (a dress of southern Chinese origin) toy as a Japanese geisha posted by Miniso’s Spanish unit. It issued an apology then as well but pressure has grown as the China-Japan relationship has only deteriorated due to political events.

China called off a face-to-face meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart over a statement expressing concern about Beijing’s “threatening actions” around Taiwan. Japan has linked its stability to Taiwan’s national security, which makes China uncomfortable as it considers the latter part of its territory.