Nagano, the illustrator behind the popular web comic “Chiikawa,” made a comment several years ago in which he referred to Taiwan as a “country”, which has been causing ripples both domestically and internationally since around April 2024.
Chiikawa'', which has an advanced media mix, is becoming increasingly popular in China as well, with a collaboration project being held in the same month with the miscellaneous goods chainMiso Yuhin”, known for its “MINISO” brand.
“Taiwan…it’s a nice country…”
What caused a stir was one frame of Nagano’s illustrated essay depicting his memories of a trip to Taiwan, in which he expressed, Taiwan...it's a nice country...''. The picture was originally published in Kodansha's youth manga magazine "D Morning" in 2018, and the illustrated essay was later published as a book. This scene is included in the bookMOGUMOGU Eating Walking Bear (1)” released in 2019.
In April 2024, this panel gained attention again and was widely spread on the Chinese social networking site Weibo. Concerning the expression of the word, there are voices that are speculating whether the word “country” refers to a region or not.
At the time the picture was announced, in 2018, Nagano visited Taiwan and while interacting with X users, he said, Taiwan was so much fun! When I was in Taiwan, I saw the message and said,There are people in this country who know bears.” …! I felt strange,” he also posted.
This too has been dug up in the same way as the picture, and over the past few years, users who appear to be from Greater China have asked, “Do you mean China, or do you think of Taiwan as an independent country?” “Taiwan is not an independent country. It’s a province of China.” “I love your chiikawa, but now many people in China are resisting chiikawa because you call Taiwan a country.” Do you support Taiwanese independence? That’s very important to Chinese fans.” There have been a lot of comments asking whether Nagano is a supporter of Taiwanese independence.
The series of moves has also caused concern among Japanese fans. In relation to the Japanese entertainment industry, in 2020 there was an uproar in which the words and actions of talents belonging to the major VTuber group Hololive were criticized by fans living in China, who accused them of treating Taiwan as an independent country. . Although the agency issued an apology in support of “one China,” and the person himself refrained from activities and returned, he continued to suffer from slander and slander, and although the causal relationship is unclear, some of the students graduated in 2021.