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Japan's Foreign Ministry: Jojo's Issue is Regrettable

Kazuo Kodama, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, issued a statement on Friday that expressed regret for Muslims' feelings that were hurt by images deemed inappropriate in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. The original manga's Part 3 ("Stardust Crusaders," pictured at right) has a scene in which the main villain, Dio, vowed to kill the main character Jōtarō Kujō while looking at illegible book pages. The staff of the anime version unknowingly inserted reproductions of pages from the Qur'an, the main religious text of Islam, in the corresponding scene of the sixth anime episode ("The Mist of Vengeance").

Kodama added that is important to understand other religions and cultures to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again. While Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has often employed manga and anime to foster a positive image of Japan, it has had to address negative overseas impressions of these cultural exports much less frequently.

Thank you to Kumi Kaoru for the news tip.

Source: Jiji Press