While initial reactions to The Sims 4 Snowy Escape Expansion Pack seemed positive overall, many South Korean players have pointed out some problematic imagery featured in the pack that is insensitive towards the history between Japan and South Korea.
The frame from the reveal trailer that you can see down below shows a Sim interacting with a, what appears to be, a shrine. Although it hasn’t been fully clarified what you can actually do with this shrine, it does appear like the Sim is worshipping the shrine in some way.
TS4 EP10 REVEAL INGAME EN US 304TS4 EP10 REVEAL INGAME EN US 310
There’s one more frame in the trailer that could be showing the “Rising Sun” Flag:
These particular frames have caused the South Korean player community to share their thoughts and clarify why these additions to the pack are wrong.
As explained by them, the shrine worship and the rising sun flag are representations of Japanese colonialism and some of the terrible things that happened to people as a result of the Japanese during this time.
Here are some of the comments people left in the YouTube comments section:
Sims 4 Snowy Escape Reception
This is the result of Orientalism. I know that Ea likes Japanese culture. But this is too much. Korea had been forced by Japan. They forced Koreans to greet their religious buildings. Koreans had to be tortured or killed if they didn’t do what Japan wanted. Surprisingly, the religious building appears in the game.
Spread it out, please.Sims 4 snowy sports in Korea is now controversial. This is because it has a function called shrine worship.A shrine visit was when Korea was Japanese colonial era, when Japan set up shrines everywhere to inculcate the emperor’s ideology and forced Koreans to pay tribute.The Korean position, the most painful part of Korean history, and yet Japan is justifying visits to the shrine, which justifies war and colonial rule. Many Koreans are angry that EA added this to the game.I’m Korean and these sentences are translated, so please understand that the sentences can be awkward.Many Koreans are also disappointed with sims4 and EA and say they will not buy this pack again.I am very disappointed and angry as a Korean about EA, which contains shrine worship in the game.Buying this game is your choice, but buying a game pack that justifies one country’s colonial rule and justifies Korea’s painful history that is still unresolved is your freedom. But I hope you know what this pack means and buy it.Thank you for reading.
Real ea, foreign users, and other people don’t even think about others… I just want you guys to have fun while playing ㅠ Of course, I think Japanese culture should be respected as Japanese culture. Is there a reason to view the symbol with wounds on Koreans as a culture? Is there a reason to accept it as a culture and put it in a game that Koreans also enjoy? Also, there will certainly be Korean users who buy this pack, and if you keep watching and playing that interaction, it will become dull.
– Translated via Google Translate
I’m really disappointed that with all the work EA claimed to be doing to be culturally conscious of what they were doing with this pack they ignored so much of their Asian audience beyond Japan. I was so excited for this pack before that. For those who don’t know why it’s so upsetting (specifically for the Korean people in comments, I lived there and studied the history extensively) the shrine worship and the rising sun flag are representations of Japanese colonialism and some of the terrible things that happened to people as a result of the Japanese during this time. I could make several comparisons to some negative imagery that we westerners might make but I really don’t know if this is the place for that. If you are interested or want to understand I would suggest looking up Japanese colonialism in other countries (again I specifically know about Korea personally, and am speaking in support of the Korean people I know and love and the country that has become my second home).
If the shrine and the jacket that were shown in The Sims 4 Snowy Escape’s Reveal Trailer are exactly what the South Korean players described them to be then EA is in some hot waters.
Hopefully The Sims Team will make a statement soon regarding these features in the game.
Reticulating splines as a webmaster for Sims Community over the last 11 years. You can find me here writing articles and doing reports on your favorite life sim games, among other things!
Finally an EP that i’m actually excited about and now y’all are gonna make EA delete everything you find “offensive” until there’s nothing left in the pack. Jeez everyone is so sensitive these days. Every religion has gone through the phase of forcing everyone to worship their god or whatever.. If this is the case then everything that represents Christianity and Islam are offensive too. I’m very much offended.
i was very triggered by the repo man today. first they cut of water then electricity or other way around.. and then the repo man stole something in the house. i would rather have the burglar back
I thought the woman in the picture was grieving btw.. and now this.. I don’t think EA team did this on purpose and maybe they should do more research.. have people in the team who are the origin culture of the subject they make a pack for. But I think they did this as a Japanese cultute thing and not for every sim to worship it.. I also don’t think they can do something with it in 3 weeks. But your sim don’t have to use it. Like it is still in japanese culture these days I guess and no one is forced to do something with it anymore.
“i was very triggered by the repo man today”
I hope your game breaks and you can’t play it ever again. it’s thanks to people like you sims 4 is so damn bare bones. triggered by a pixel man? seriously?
Jey
4 years ago
It’s a world HEAVILY inspired by Japan. Japan has shrines. The name of the world is even Japanese. I’m… having a hard time understanding this. To me it just seems more like nationalistic S. Koreans are upset that it’s Japanese-themed.
You know ..Koreans have their own shrine curture and motion is just 100% same as game. Lmao. They are just upset cuz it is not korean pack and japanese pack.
They should just take that out. ALL religious symbols should be removed period. For the people in South Korea that say westerners don’t care, that’s not true. We aren’t taught much about anyone else. Our history is very eurocentric. Anything other than that has to be sought after in university or on our own. I only recently learned about South Korean history and my own history as a person of color. I think the shrines should be removed along with any other religious symbols. I’m Judea Christian and I don’t need Christian or Jewish things in this game. EA should delay release and remove it.
But the hijab and moslem clothing is okay? so in the end everything is removed besides moslemic stuff? great!!!
I don’t mind of any religious things as long as EA releases it as optional download or pack but NEVER should it be a forced download by base game patch like the did it with the moslem stuff…
I mean, they also already did a German-inspired world for Windenburg. Should they remove Windenburg too then? And what about San Myshuno, which is inspired by China. The Chinese government has concentration camps for muslims.
If you draw a line here, you’d have to draw a line for almost all cultures.
We’re not talking about the buildings here.
All the Japanese townies? Japanese last names? Pouring “sakura tea” at romance festival?
Definitely Japanese, out of the east Asian countries anyways.
I don’t see too many zhangs and parks walking around lol
Oh, boo hoo. I’m Polish, and Windenburg is a German inspired town, But I’m not complaining, and calling EA nazi sympathizer. You don’t like the pack, don’t buy it.
No, I think you missed the point entirely. While Windenburg is “German-inspired”, there’s nothing inherently German about the world at all. There’s no statue of Hitler in the middle of the world’s metropolis. Snow Escape, however, literally depicts specific Japanese cultural pieces such as shinto shrines and the Rising Sun flag, basically equivalent to hanging the Swastika out in the forefront of the game. It’s a permeant symbol of Japanese colonialism and a painful reminder for Koreans and Chinese. Also, small difference here: the Japanese are notoriously unapologetic about their WWII war crimes while the German government has made several formal apologies and reconciliation efforts. Please check your history before telling my people to “boo hoo”. This isn’t a matter of political correctness or censorship but a matter of being a decent human being and understanding another country’s pain.
The Christmas tree is Pagan. (Yule tree) Nothing Christian about it. The bible doesn’t mention christmas trees even once. It’s a European Pagan tradition
That’s irrelevant. A swastika wasn’t a Nazi symbol in its inception. It’s not how it originated. It is what it is. It seems a Japanese religion is being discriminated against. It’s racism.
Fun fact: the Christmas tree is pagan, not christian. It was adapted to catholicism by pagans who were forced to convert in an effort to keep some of their traditions alive (likewise with easter bunny and other stuff). Now it’s just part of the holidays and even non religious people use them
Jane, I think the reason this mishap happened is that people are just uninformed about Asian history for the most part. They probably had no idea this would even be a problem they just saw oh here are some Japanese culture items we can throw in the game without making sure none of them are offensive because they don’t know Asian history. Everyone on the other hand knows about Germany and would never accidentally put a swastika in the game out of ignorance
Yes, it does present Shinto Shrines. Why? BECAUSE THIS EP’S WORLD IS BASED ON JAPAN!!! Korea has NOTHING to do with it. You don’t like it, don’t buy the EP. Simple.
I’m polish too, but as far as I know Windenburg is just inspired by a German town but has nothing to do with the German history or culture. They are complaining about the culture, not the inspiration of how it looks like.
German inspired architecture is different than putting Swatsticas and ither symbols of genocide in the game. Its not “japan as a whole” its the symbols of their imperialism.
I know that The Sims is just a game. BUT unlike Germany, Japan has neither apologized nor reflected on its war crimes. They are distorting the past by doing secondary harm to the affected countries. There are many Sims users in South Korea, and I think we deserve this opinion.
Exactly what I consider to be the real issue here. Let’s be honest, the worship feature would most likely be opt in (not a form of oppression for sims) and the motif would also simply be a swatch option. But it’s a more serious thing because of the lack of accountability. The vast majority of players wouldn’t notice these details, even players who know the history might not take any sort of offence, but it’s shoving it into the face of Korean simmers and I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. If they removed these, Japanese simmers might be offended that symbols of their culture have been removed/the ability for the traditional style worship of their culture. If Japan had been able to extend an olive branch years ago, decades ago, this wouldn’t be an issue but an awkward moment.
During Japanese rule in Korea, the Japanese forced Koreans to worship at (Japanese) shrines, and if they did not accept, they were killed. This is a very sensitive and painful subject in Korea today, just like the Holocaust.
Firstly, this is very rude. Jews, like many other minorities in history, have been tortured through history. In recent years, we have become more accepted in society. To say such a thing is horrible. Every religion and culture deserves to be respected. If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all. And by the way, we shouldn’t be comparing events in history such as this, we should study them for what they are, and then make comparisons later on. Please, think before you write and really know what you are saying. Please, educate yourself. I know a lot of people say that but it is necessary with the increased rate of crimes against innocent people because of their race, religion or sexual orientation. BE KIND.
But it is also a regular practice in Japan that both predates and has continued since World War II. It’s a part of daily life for many people and annual life for many others. It’s too basic an element to simply be thrown out because said basic element was used in a negative context. I’m sure countless tyrants around the world have eaten chips but that doesn’t mean we can’t sell chips at the grocery store.
Well yes, I understand that. I know it must be a very painful subject in Korea, but isn’t it common in Japanese culture to worship shrines? It’s also a Japanese inspired pack. I don’t think the game is also forcing the sims to worship the shrines. I think it might be like the added features for simmers who celebrate Hanukkah. So wouldn’t that mean that the shrines are okay? I’m not trying to be rude or disrespectful. I just want to know if it’s okay or not.
Well the same case has been with Abrahamic religions like Islam and Christianity. It was forced upon people just like the Shinto shrines on Koreans. That’s why i think they should keep real life stuff like religions and shrines out of the game.
What is so insensitive that I wrote? I’m just pointing out the general fallacy of this stupid situation. You’re just being butthurt over such an idiotic non – issue, and I find it just hilarious. Just get over yourselves, because you’re acting like special, little, Overreacting, fragile snowflakes.
Essentially the rising sun flag in the game is the equivalent to a swastica in Korea and many Asian countries. The shrine worshipping forced upon the victims of the Japanese colonialism resulted in many being tortured and Murdered for refusing. I’m sure you would not feel the same way about Windenberg if they had used those simples as part of the pack.
I totally agree with Eggy about the overreaction. It’s unnecessary. Maybe there are more little things in the game which are not so politically correct, we just didn’t notice them because those are not so highlighted. Nowadays, everyone on the internet needs something to whine about. I’m Hungarian and the Sims 1 had a gypsy caravan with the traditional Hungarian food, goulash. Hungarians are somehow always mentioned on the same page with gypsies (whom are quite infamous in my country of their criminal behavour) but I don’t get so sensitive about it, because game devs can slip over these little things. Are you getting this sensitive about war games or other historical games? Ugh…
Generally speaking, it’s best for EA to not introduce any element related to religion, as there are many different players from different cultures playing this game. Imagine seeing a Catholic church in the game? (I am Catholic, btw). It was just an unnecessary addition that actually could disrespect others, including the japanese. The game is customizable so if you want those elements in your gameplay you could add them via cc. Very unwise decision.
Just be quiet. If you lack the pride to reject colonialist propaganda that killed and tortured your ancestors, that’s your own business. Don’t tell Koreans how they should feel. And if you had any sense you would know that Germany apologized for their war crimes while Japan continues to deny and lie.
@Amy WTF are you even talking about? My ancestors fought in WWII, AND Warsaw Uprising, and I’m proud to be a Pole. I just don’t see why, in a JAPANESE themed EP, there can’t be JAPANESE culture and Religion. I would understand if it was a KOREAN themed world, and it had the Shinto Shrine. That would be wrong, and the outrage understandable. But the world is JAPANESE, and it makes sense to have a JAPANESE shrine in it. DEAL WITH IT.
thats bc windenburg didn’t come with clothes that have knock-off swastikas on them, thats what the rising sun flag and shirt design are for us korean people
That’s a false equivalence friend. Windenburg doesn’t contain Nazi imagery, does it? No? So why does a Japanese inspired world get to contain Imperial Japan imagery?
The thing here is that in Windenburg there is no object that gives the skms the option to do the nazi salute.
If you read the Korean opinions, they are hurt because there is this object that makes their characters do something that is still a hurtful subject there. And sims have free will, so their characters can do that action whenever they want.
Now, imagine this shrines are just decorative. That would be better because they can choose to not interact with it or even delete that object asap.
They do not complain about the aesthetic. They complain about how something you could use it as decoration can be interacted and has a large and painful background.
Maybe because 90% of Poles are racist, sexist and homophobic, and don’t see a problem with that. And also have an obsession with Nazi Germany and WW2. It’s 2020, get over it!
Yes, I’m Polish too, and I’m ashamed of those people.
Why????? Then people would think they would be representing communism! And yes they would!!! And it’s hurtful to say I wish they didn’t do a Japanese pack! I have so many Japanese friends and saying that you wouldn’t represent them is disgusting and horrible!
Please reread my comment. I said I wished they had done another Asian theme instead of Japanese. Like, I would love a Thai themed pack. Japanese has been done. Let’s do something else. Calm down.
why. there’s nothing japanese about sims 4. it hasnt been done as you say. also, there is a huge love for japan in western countries and others (here in latin america it very much is!): their music, the anime/manga, the food, the country itself!
thailand… well. you /know/ the reason most westerns and the rest of the world know about that place.
Why didn’t they just pick a country with no controversial history? Yeah because China’s never been controversial. The issue isn’t Japan as a country, it’s the lack of understanding that is understandable from an American based company. These issues should be fixed, but it’s an understandable mistake.
How about what the Chinese is doing currently to many South East Asian countries?
I get that the game should be more culturally sensitive, and they could add features that do not offend, but saying a different Asian theme instead of Japanese as if another culture is better than others does not sit well.
Considering the things Chinese have done to many people, who cares? So the cultures of these places can’t exist or be enjoyed because something bad happened in the past? Stupid. Then no culture could be accepted or enjoyed.
Some koreans are lying and spreding fake information to feel their anti japan power. They are just jealous cuz shrine items arent out with korean traditional clothes.
There’s nothing wrong with a Japanese theme. Imperial Japan’s legacy doesn’t mean that everything Japanese is offensive or problematic. If that’s the case then what other Asian country would you want? China? With their history and PRESENT of cultural genocide and human rights abuses? Thailand? Myanmar? India?
I’m not trying to invalidate the historic trauma and present day pain of South Koreans but the way so much of the discourse has been presented doesn’t present conpletely fair grounds for criticism.
I agree. While we should acknowledge the past and learn from it, I don’t see an issue with these shrines. Every single country has had a problematic past, same goes for every religion (well except for Pagans and Sikhs I’ve never heard of anything wrong with them). While the trauma exists and it should be remembered; in the modern day these shrines are nothing but religious icons and tourist destinations, emphasis on the tourist destination aspect.
As for the “Rising Sun Flag” while to me it looked more like a pattern rather than an a celebration of the “Rising Sun” I can understand the desire for the removal of that. Confederate, Nazi, Rising Sun flags; those should be left in the past. They are also a completely different issue than with the shrine. The shrine is tied to religious aspects and has been long before any genocide occurred therefore relating them to such a matter which is why I believe they should remain. These flags on the other hand were more or less created to represent groups whom had wrongful intentions in mind (i.e slavery, genocide, and war respectively).
This is why asking for specific cultures is hard cause not everyone will be happy. Latinos were not 100% happy about their representation in the previous update. Black individuals are still looking for compatible there exact hair and/or skin tone. And other cultures are asking for specific representations. Which is understandable. But if it isn’t exactly you you cannot be upset cause maybe it is someone else. As for this specific issue. Do we so often forget what the African turned Black people went through in the United States? I understand when asking for culture in games we can be upset about the representation and even the history of how culture came to be. But we were asking for it and when they give us an acceptable norm (albeit by the majority- I as a black American understand your distaste) we need to understand and critic not ” do anything else but” cause I am sure if some picked Korean, or Chinese or Vietnamese inspired someone, somewhere, would have found issue with it.
You do realize that they may have taken our culture but they did not turn us into anything but African.
On an unrelated note: Telling Koreans to not become “butthurt” over this insensitivity would basically White people telling Black people to forget about slavery and forget about the fact that they whipped out Ancestors because they (our ancestors) refused to let them (white people) take away their mother-given name, and in turn forced a Western name (like Bill) on them.
The Sims team should have research about the shrine extensively before actually making it a reality. They should have gathered that it would be a sensitive topic to South Koreans.
The Sims team has let me down. I’m boycotting the Sims 4, and possibly Sims 5 if they do not get their act together.
Skintones is another example that showcases how ignorant EA is about non-whites. The “yellow-undertoned” skins are hideous. Not all Asians look jaundiced-yellow, contrary to EA’s belief
African turned Black people? Are you stupid or are you dumb? Stop speaking on things of which you have no knowledge. Stop comparing other cultures when you want to complain ESPECIALLY when you don’t know what you are talking about.
I actually dont, I think Japanese culture is absolutely great but just pay respect to the culture, you know, you can’t sell things from a culture without investigate about them.
조센징 says “Joseon (old name for old Korea) person” in Japanese, used in a demeaning, derogatory way.
Like how the word n**ro merely describes the color “black” in some languages but is offensive within context.
The correct, non-derogatory way of calling Koreans in Japanese is “kankoku-jin” (Korean person)
you see the multiple far-right japanese on this comment section spreading propaganda and fake news. This is the perfect example why this pack is a problematic.
Seeing people complain over other people complaining is always a fun thing (sarcasm). It’s not like they’re demanding you to not buy the pack. It’s literally only two things that are the issue, one of which is easily fixable (the lantern) and the other may just need an explanation, at the least, or a change in simulated interaction, at most.
And nobody’s forcing you to buy the pack, if you find the content not to your liking. You’re now complaining, that I am complaining that people are complaining. What is wrong with you? I’m just stating my opinion, and you’re acting like an entitled piece of crap, and whining, and thrashing around just because someone has a different opinion than you. And EA ain’t gonna change anything, just because you’re butthurt.
I see. Further discussion is pointless then. You are the worst kind of person. And I don’t have a rage fit. I’m just pointing out your illogical behaviour. Also, I’m 32, so PARDON me, if I’m a little rusty with the slang. Way to ridicule someones not up to date vernacular. Are you proud of yourself, you piece of shit? Fuck you.
@eggy You’re 32 arguing with people way younger than you about a topic your self-centered “prOuD tO bE pOle” ass knows nothing about… Please get your rinky dinky cheese smelling ass up off the couch and get yourself a job, darling heart. You know a lot of Koreans have flat out said they don’t care about this or they just won’t buy it, so why are you so worried about them?? Why don’t you educate yourself on Japanese Imperialism and Colonization in Korea (which dates back CENTURIES before the Holocaust you love to compare this issue to… maybe you’re the one who should get over it? 😉 ) before you come back here and start worrying about Koreans who don’t care about what YOU have to say about THEIR issues. You got your priorities mixed up, love. Stop worrying about Koreans and start worrying about not having a good job, a faithful husband, and kids who love you, you weird Neanderthal LMAO.
says the person complaining about me complaining lol jk
Eggy
4 years ago
This is just stupid. The New world is JAPANESE inspired, not Korean. It makes sense, that in a JAPANESE inspired world, there would be a JAPANESE shrine. There is nothing wrong with representing Shinto Religion and Japanese culture in general, in the Sims. You don’t like it, just don’t play the game. Deal with it, and quit whining you crybabies.
During Japanese rule in Korea, the Japanese forced Koreans to worship at (Japanese) shrines, and if they did not accept, they were killed. This is a very sensitive and painful subject in Korea today, just like the Holocaust.
Japan wasn’t the only country to force religion upon others and physically harm people for practicing religion different than theirs. It’s been done for centuries and while it doesn’t make the act okay by any means, we shouldn’t be removing the religious significance that these shrines have to those who practice the Shinto religion. I mean by this same logic we should be removing Christmas trees, menorah, kinaras, etc. from the game because I can assure there were more prominent countries who practiced Christianity and committed far greater acts if genocide and religious persecution than Japan, and to top it off Christian icons are represented in the sims without complaints.
Also don’t throw the Holocaust around like it was something small. Between 6 to 14 million people were murdered during the Holocaust. I’ve been during research relating to the issue with Japan and while their numbers are large; compared to the Holocaust it’s “small” in size. While the pain which occurs is similar, the scale is not.
Funny how Germany has no problem apologizing, educating, making amends and taking action so that the Holocaust is remembered, even though it was a massive f*ckup on their part, but Japan can’t bother to do half those things, for such a “small” wrongdoing as you say, right?
You and others comparing Germany and Japan and their impact need to realize this part as well.
June 22, 1965: Minister of Foreign Affairs Shiina Etsusaburo said to the people of South Korea: “In our two countries’ long history there have been unfortunate times, it is truly regrettable and we are deeply remorseful” (Signing of the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and South Korea).
August 26, 1982: Chief Cabinet Secretary Kiichi Miyazawa said to the people of the Republic of Korea: “1. The Japanese Government and the Japanese people are deeply aware of the fact that acts by our country in the past caused tremendous suffering and damage to the peoples of Asian countries, including the Republic of Korea (ROK) and China, and have followed the path of a pacifist state with remorse and determination that such acts must never be repeated. Japan has recognized, in the Japan-ROK Joint Communique, of 1965, that the ‘past relations are regrettable, and Japan feels deep remorse,’ and in the Japan-China Joint Communique, that Japan is ‘keenly conscious of the responsibility for the serious damage that Japan caused in the past to the Chinese people through war and deeply reproaches itself.’ These statements confirm Japan’s remorse and determination which I stated above and this recognition has not changed at all to this day. 2. This spirit in the Japan-ROK Joint Communique, and the Japan-China Joint Communique, naturally should also be respected in Japan’s school education and textbook authorization.
1989: Prime Minister Takeshita Noboru, in a speech in the Japanese Diet, said: “As we have made clear previously at repeated opportunities, the Japanese government and the Japanese people are deeply conscious of the fact that the actions of our country in the past caused suffering and loss to many people in neighboring countries. Starting from our regret and resolve not to repeat such things a second time, we have followed a course as a “Peace Nation” since then. This awareness and regret should be emphasized especially in the relationship between our countries and the Korean Peninsula, our nearest neighbors both geographically and historically. At this opportunity as we face a new situation in the Korean Peninsula, again, to all peoples of the globe, concerning the relationship of the past, we want to express our deep regret and sorrow” (Speech in the Japanese Diet).
April 18, 1990: Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Nakayama said to the people of South Korea: “Japan is deeply sorry for the tragedy in which these (Korean) people were moved to Sakhalin not of their own free will but by the design of the Japanese government and had to remain there after the conclusion of the war” (188th National Diet Session Lower House Committee of Foreign Affairs).[12]
May 25, 1990: Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, in a meeting with President Roh Tae Woo, said: “I would like to take the opportunity here to humbly reflect upon how the people of the Korean Peninsula went through unbearable pain and sorrow as a result of our country’s actions during a certain period in the past and to express that we are sorry” (Summit meeting with President Roh Tae Woo in Japan).[14]
January 17, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, at a policy speech on a visit to South Korea, said:. “What we should not forget about relationship between our nation and your nation is a fact that there was a certain period in the thousands of years of our company when we were the victimizer and you were the victim. I would like to once again express a heartfelt remorse and apology for the unbearable suffering and sorrow that you experienced during this period because of our nation’s act.” Recently the issue of the so-called ‘wartime comfort women’ is being brought up. I think that incidents like this are seriously heartbreaking, and I am truly sorry”.[16]
July 6, 1992. Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Kato said: “The Government again would like to express its sincere apology and remorse to all those who have suffered indescribable hardship as so-called ‘wartime comfort women,’ irrespective of their nationality or place of birth. With profound remorse and determination that such a mistake must never be repeated, Japan will maintain its stance as a pacifist nation and will endeavor to build up new future-oriented relations with the Republic of Korea and with other countries and regions in Asia. As I listen to many people, I feel truly grieved for this issue. By listening to the opinions of people from various directions, I would like to consider sincerely in what way we can express our feelings to those who suffered such hardship”
June 23, 1996: Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said in a press conference: “Hashimoto mentioned the aspects of Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula such as the forced Japanization of Korean people’s name and commented “It is beyond imagination how this injured the hearts of Korean people”. Hashimoto also touched on the issue of Korean comfort women and said “Nothing injured the honor and dignity of women more than this and I would like to extend words of deep remorse and the heartfelt apology”
October 8, 1996: Emperor Akihito said in a speech at a dinner with the South Korean president, Kim Dae Jung: “There was a period when our nation brought to bear great sufferings upon the people of the Korean Peninsula.” “The deep sorrow that I feel over this will never be forgotten”.
October 8, 1998: Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi said in a declaration: “Looking back on the relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea during this century, Prime Minister Obuchi regarded in a spirit of humility the fact of history that Japan caused, during a certain period in the past, tremendous damage and suffering to the people of the Republic of Korea through its colonial rule, and expressed his deep remorse and heartfelt apology for this fact. President Kim accepted with sincerity this statement of Prime Minister Obuchi’s recognition of history and expressed his appreciation for it. He also expressed his view that the present calls upon both countries to overcome their unfortunate history and to build a future-oriented relationship based on reconciliation as well as good-neighborly and friendly cooperation” (Japan-South Korea Joint Declaration A New Japan-South Korea Partnership towards the Twenty-first Century).[31]
September 17, 2002: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said: “The Japanese side regards, in a spirit of humility, the facts of history that Japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of Korea through its colonial rule in the past, and expressed deep remorse and heartfelt apology” (Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration).[39]
August 10, 2010: Prime Minister Naoto Kan expressed “deep regret over the suffering inflicted” during the Empire of Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. Japan’s Kyodo News also reported that Cabinet members endorsed the statement. In addition, Kan said that Japan will hand over precious cultural artifacts that South Korea has been demanding. Among them were records of an ancient Korean royal dynasty.[46]
December 7, 2010: Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized for Korea’s suffering under colonization as part of a statement marking the 100th anniversary of the annexation in 1910. “I express a renewed feeling of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology for the tremendous damage and suffering caused by colonial rule,” Kan said. Kan said Japan colonized Korea “against the will of the Korean people” who suffered great damage to their national pride and loss of culture and sovereignty as a result and added that he wants to take an honest look at his country’s past with the courage and humility to address its history.[48]
December 28, 2015: Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se made an announcement at a joint press conference, which consisted of their respective statements on behalf of Japan and South Korea. Kishida stated, “The issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women, and the Government of Japan is painfully aware of responsibilities from this perspective. As Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.” The statement went on to explain that “the Government of Japan will now take measures to heal psychological wounds of all former comfort women through its budget” and that it had been decided that the South Korean government would “establish a foundation for the purpose of providing support for the former comfort women”. In return, Yun stated that his government “acknowledges the fact that the Government of Japan is concerned about the statue built in front of the Embassy of Japan in Seoul from the viewpoint of preventing any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity, and will strive to solve this issue in an appropriate manner”. Both stated that this agreement will “finally and irreversibly” resolve the contentious issue and that “on the premise that the Government of Japan will steadily implement the measures it announced”, both countries “will refrain from accusing or criticizing each other regarding this issue in the international community, including at the United Nations”.[54]
But it’s a religion that existed before these crimes and it’s a religion that is still very close to Japanese people these days. You cannot just erase that. That’d be insensitive as well.
You do know Christianity is a religion and over 60% of the German population are Christian? …..you should Research on that a lil more .lol even if u look you the word Christmas it will tell you. But I guess your one of those ppl whole celebrate things and don’t even know what you’re celebrating.
It’s not called Christmas in the game for a reason. It’s called Winterfest. And there is no Santa, there’s father winter. See? So no, us Christians are not getting our religious beliefs celebrated by the game. Also, where is Jesus? I bet if you had put Jesus in the game the entire community would flip. So why is it ok to put a religious shrine?
If this was a Korean inspired world and included a Shinto shrine, then I would understand why this would be offensive. However, this is a Japanese inspired world and they do have Shinto shrines everywhere in Japan. Not including one would be leaving out a big part of Japanese culture. This wasn’t intended to offend Koreans, but to celebrate Japanese culture.
I understand that what Japan did to Koreans in the past was bad, but should modern day Japanese be blamed for what their ancestors did? (Any more than modern day Germans being blamed for what Hitler and his cronies did?).
Koreans are not angry at the average, modern day Japanese people.
They were not the ones who asked EA “Please, instead of including other parts of our culture that are awesome and don’t bring up horrible historical memories of our ancestor’s wrongdoings, include the parts that would be insensitive and hurtful to tens of thousands of our Korean neighbors”.
It was EA, an American company (like some people like to emphasize, thinking that somehow makes things better) that stupidly decided to include aspects that would stir these controversies.
And to counter the earlier part of your comment, about shrines being a big part of Japanese culture:
Christianity, for easy example, played a major role of shaping the cultures of many countries. But we do not see symbols like the cross and items like the bible in the game.
Why? Because Sims is supposed to be “inclusive” (however impossible it may be to include and accurately represent every single culture on earth) and including those items could be insensitive and controversial for many many players.
Just like how other potentially controversial parts of various cultures and religions were left out of this game, so should the Japanese ones.
I feel many of the comments left here are very troubling. Before judging the concerns of the simmers from South Korea, you should do some general research into their concerns. It’s easy to rush to a conclusion without having some knowledge to better understand where their concerns are coming from.
Since this pack has a specific emphasis on having an immersive cultural experience, the dev team selected actions inspired by Japanese culture with origins that can be considered as triggering for some players. If anything this shows they really need to employ more people within their dev team that represent more cultures. I do hope the interaction isn’t what it seems, but if it is, I hope it is addressed before the pack is released.
Well said. There are bigger issues here that need to be addressed and resolved.
Zeebo
4 years ago
People really out there finding any little thing to find offence over. They’re literally creating a culture where victimising themselves is the norm. A person can no longer have creative thought without worrying about a mob of people bashing their idea. Pathetic
I actually though that sim is bent over a grave since they mentioned a graveyard you can visit.
Done-zo
4 years ago
I literally can’t even with the Sims community anymore. I’m out.
S.
4 years ago
Everyone is so sensitive these days. It’s a game where you can kill people with fire, weather, bugs, … but are offended by a jacket? What happened is bad but I mean where do you draw the line if EVERYTHING does offend someone at this point.
Women sims are being forved into baby machines with 100 baby challenge, I am surprised femenists didn’t complain about this being possible lol.
Don’t buy it of you don’t like it and stop being offended for every detail. This hasn’t even been confirmed ro be a shrine nor the flag yet they are already at war with EA. Sigh.
That’s such a horrible comparison and you completely missed the point. They were not offended by the jacket, they complained about the Rising Sun, you donkey. Even bringing up a Sims 4 challenge that has nothing to do with it, smh.
Who are you to determine what we find offensive or don’t? Do you, for whatever reason, speak on behalf of all Koreans and Chinese? This is not your place. I’d also like you to say this exact same thing and undermine the power of political imagery in the way you just did to my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother who have still not received any sort of formal apology or reconciliation effort from the Japanese government after decades of inter-generational trauma for being comfort women and being constantly raped by Japanese colonial soldiers.
Is there a mosque in the game? Are there churches or synagogues? As far as I know, there is only one God in The Sims, the player. They shouldn’t introduce religious elements unless they are willing to get some backlash about it. So they made Santa Claus into father winter, but they didn’t think this could create problems? Bad decision from the team.
You say they shouldn’t include religion when they already have. In seasons some of the holiday activities is LITERALLY to WORSHIP objects. If that’s not religion than idk what is. Not to mention the fact that oh, idk, Christmas Trees exist. Do you even know the origins of the how a Christmas Tree came into existence? They were European Christians way of mocking European Pagans.
The shrine was and still is a religious icon before any genocide ever occurred. And while we shouldn’t ignore that part of its history we shouldn’t act like that the only reason it exists and complain about it.
I can’t speak of what is offensive or not for Asian people, but I don’t understand why they had to put a shrine in it. To me it raises many questions. There is no religions in the sims. There isn’t any churches, temples or mosques, sims don’t have sacred books or interactions. The only explanation I see to making this shine functional & part of the trailer is occidental EA being like “ok… what do we know about Asian people…. They have this ‘zen’ thing going on… they have pretty mountains… oh and they have a funny way of praying too”
I get why the shrine would be put in the game as a decor item, like there already is religious decor item in the game, as people who practice that religion should be able to represent their culture in their game. However, why making a big deal out of it by putting it in the trailer, I don’t get.
Also, as an African, I pray EA NEVER makes an African themed packs, we’re gonna end up with tribal tattoos, piercings, animal-skin clothes and pagan totems (but they seem to think Africa stops at the Sahara so fortunately it’ll never happen)…
sism 4 season: menorah-kinara candle, christmas tree, Father winter, flower Bunny, Attend Holiday Ceremony.. all of them are represent faith or culture one or more way… so what we are talking about?
In my eyes a japan shire not better or worse than a candle or a christmas tree to be honest ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Culture yes, not religion. There was never any worshipping involved. Christmas trees are not a religious symbol (if they ever were, they haven’t been for decades)
As I said my problem is not with the shrine itself, it’s that there is an interaction to pray to it, like that “religion” connotation that ea has been avoiding in TS4 until now (they called the christmas associated holyday “winterfest” for a reason).
I feel like yes, the shrine should be a decor item and non interactable. Especially if it is insensitive towards other nations. As for the flag (I personally didn’t see it in the trailer) but a simple image of a sun on a flag should’ve sufficed. I mean, it’s a japanese inspired world and the japanese flag in their country’s flag. I don’t think that it’s right to disrespect South Korean culture, and though I may not know a lot about it I have deep respect for everyone’s culture. I’m agnostic with no religious beliefs but I do find some religions interesting not enough to believe personally but still intriguing. I love South Korea, and I love Japan both for very different reason. I won’t show an entire nation disrespect because of what the leaders try to persuade their people into believing. Not everyone in Japan is at fault for what happened, but like not every Brit is at fault for the colonization in what came to be America. And not every Spaniard is at fault for the Spanish inquisition. And honestly, I would rather have a pack inspired by mostly a specific country or culture (not including religion) rather than squishing all eastern asian nations into one. If they release a Russian inspired world in a pack, I don’t want Scandinavian or Baltic related stuff involved. But that’s just an example. Personally, though, I think a Spanish or Austrian world would be fun to explore.
As I waited for this cottage. For me, Sims 2 was like that in my Japanese restaurant. And now I built the same restaurant. But there was no cottage.
Anna Naito
4 years ago
It would have been nice to keep the bowing animation and the shrines, but redesign the shrines to be less religion and more about honoring ur passed family. Let maybe the ghosts of ur passed sims show up for a moment.
Sims should just stay away from all religion…but the bowing and shrine worship is just a big part of japanese cultur and it would be sad to lose it in sims. Just change it up a little.
no
4 years ago
Well, these are not my words, from S.korean ‘wikia-ish’ wiki, google tralslated(cuz i’m friggin’ lazy)
but, just in case, maybe raising some ideas.
Sorry, if someone already done this. btw.
The scene of a shrine visit in a trailer for the release of an expansion pack of snowy escape and the printing pattern of clothes reminiscent of the Rising Sun Flag have sparked controversy. This is related to Japan’s forced visits to the shrine by South Korea in the past Japanese colonial era. Completely distinct from visiting Yasukuni issue. (The shrine is dedicated to the Japanese war criminals, not to Sims Trailer’s shrine visit.) To describe the trailer’s shrine visit, the model of a small building with a female sim is ‘Kamidana.’ Kamidana, a small shrine model, was used as a “purpose for frequent visits to the shrine” and was set up in schools and homes Japanese colonial era to force visitors every morning. It is undeniable that Japan forced colonies to visit the shrine during World War II, and for some Asian countries, the shrine visit is a symbol of painful history.
no
4 years ago
Well, these are not my words, from S.korean ‘wikia-ish’ wiki, google tralslated(cuz i’m friggin’ lazy)
but, just in case, maybe raising some ideas.
Sorry, if someone already done this. btw.
The scene of a shrine visit in a trailer for the release of an expansion pack of snowy escape and the printing pattern of clothes reminiscent of the Rising Sun Flag have sparked controversy. This is related to Japan’s forced visits to the shrine by South Korea in the past Japanese colonial era. Completely distinct from visiting Yasukuni issue. (The shrine is dedicated to the Japanese war criminals, not to Sims Trailer’s shrine visit.) To describe the trailer’s shrine visit, the model of a small building with a female sim is ‘Kamidana.’ Kamidana, a small shrine model, was used as a “purpose for frequent visits to the shrine” and was set up in schools and homes Japanese colonial era to force visitors every morning. It is undeniable that Japan forced colonies to visit the shrine during World War II, and for some Asian countries, the shrine visit is a symbol of painful history.
MaryAH
4 years ago
I am very saddened by knowing that you modified your Sims 4 to remove little symbols of Japan because Koreans lied to you. Lying is the culture of Korea. They have such advanced skills in lying that they have deceived United States Congress, United Nations, and many other governments around the world who had passed resolutions to condemn Japan for the evil things that Japanese have done to Koreans. They have completely fabricated the history which they used to brain wash children in schools. Their history, composed of pack of lies, imaginations and fantasies, no longer matches the histories taught in all the other countries. They claim that Japanese persecuted and massacred them during Japanese colonial rule which they say is Holocaust the same way as Nazis did to the Jews. Korea was never a colony of Japan, it was annexed to Japan on Koreans’ request. Korea was an extremely poor, third world at the time. When you say colony it sounds bad, it sounds like Japanese exploited Korea and became rich. No, Japanese did the exact opposite. Japan invested huge amount of money to modernize Korea. Japanese banned the cast system where most Koreans were slaves to Yangban, built the government where many Koreans also worked, built thousands of schools to educate Koreans who were mostly illiterate, built roads, railroads, electrical distribution, gas distribution, water supplies, sewer system, taught them modern farming methods which doubled the crops, which in turn edoubled the population. Japanese taught them Hangul which they now use to write and standardized Korean which they now speak. During the Great East Asian War (WWII) Koreans demanded to be allowed to join the army, who were eventually allowed and fought along side Japanese and many died who are now consecrated in Yasukuni Shrine. However, as soon as the war ended they claimed that they were actually part of the Allies, fought against Japanese and won.
You may say “I think Koreans are over-sensitive” kinda word. that should be enough. but ‘Lying is the culture of Korea’…?
It’s like saying ‘firearm accident is a culture of america’ or something. Everyone can express their opinions, and it mostly goes like “what’s wrong with those korean gamers?” -> “They got mad because of blablah”-> “I (dis)agree, because~”-> repeat after repeat, possibly no conclusions, maybe with some swares? I know, i’ve commented which is not that necessary few days ago, but you just gone way too far. This is just a harrasment, not opinion.
Usual Japanese ultraright stereotype says that a lot, but not much to fix your saying about history. cuz I’m quite sure WHATEVER I say somethin’, your answer will be like “u r brainwashed, all of your words are lies”. I dare I’m gonna die if I play some drinking games with it. (Maybe over 40 shots, according to your deleted-by-admin spamming comments on an other korea/japan related news.)
But whatever the reason(…) japanese invested huge amount of money, most of modernized material and some of mental things were almost literally went back to the stone age during korean war, so what’s the point of saying “Japan modernized korea” after that?
Even if, IF, you are saying the truth, What’s the benefits of “helping Korea” to japan?
It sounds like black and white logic, but I think no country(Including S.korea, if you wonder)conducts diplomacy in “good intentions” but for diplomatic and material advantage. Especially when those strong countries were spreading their influences with colonization all around the world.
You think Japan had some luxury to deeply think about “helping korea” back then? Not thinking for their own? while investing to korea? I dunno. You look quite confident, i’m not, so you tell me. google scholar might help both of us.
P.S. I know, I already said i’m not gonna fix your saying, but Japanese taught koreans their own language? Yes, if teaching as a foreign language still counts. Even that is totally gone at middle of the world war II. Who should I believe? My 92 years old maternal grandmother, herself experienced colonial era, loved by japanese teachers as a good student at the time, still speaks japanese language almost like bilingual, or some random John/Jane Doe on the internet who doesn’t reveal the source of infos no matter where it’s from? What, My grandmother is also brainwashed somehow for some reasons?
“Japanese ultraright stereotype” Yeah, that’s how Koreans always insult Japanese whenever we speak up to argue against Korean history. Korea has just passed a law that makes it illegal to say anything that differs from the official version of history. “most of modernized material and some of mental things were went back to the stone age during korean war” Oh, is that so? Is that why you have the schools and Seoul University still standing after the war and continue to insult Japanese? “you just gone way to far” You think so? If you felt hurt you now understand how Japanese felt for 75 years of egregious insults you have hurled at Japanese and still continue to do so while Japanese quietly tolerated them. You have installed statues around the world with plaques demonizing Japanese. “google scholar might help both of us” Unfortunately, as Koreans have been spreading their side of stories for a long time you find an overwhelming amount of Korean rhetoric. “What’s the benefits of ‘helping Korea’ to japan?” It is not to Japan. The reason was stated in the joint declaration of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Area conference. Some Japanese are only now beginning to speak up. Majority of Japanese still suffer from the masochistic view of history thanks to the War Guilt Information Program. The “ultrarightists” are trying to wake up the Japanese and recover their pride.
‘Is that why you have the schools and Seoul University still standing after the war’
Seoul Unv? you mean the campus built in 71? or Keijō Imperial University which is closed in 46? (used as a premedical course building til 66, sold to some hospital in 75, hospital closed and turned in to the market place in 99, sold to some other university in 2007, demolished at 2015)? If Campus is abandoned, ALL research manpower changed at 46(manpower is more important for the university than building itself btw), does this count as ‘continuing Keijō’s legacy’? I’m not saying ‘for this reason, Korean still have rights to insult japanese’ or anything, but come on.
I cannot figure out of every single schools building and manpower history shortly though, can you? Of course, to be fair, Japanese school only.
‘It is not to Japan. The reason was stated in the joint declaration of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Area conference’ You just making me to ask almost the same question.
Like I ALREADY said, no country conducts diplomacy in “good intentions” but for diplomatic and material advantage. Especially when those strong countries were spreading their influences with colonization all around the world. Why do you think Japan back then just let joint declaration of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Area conference go active? When japan’s Competitors were doing their jobs? *“What’s the benefits of ‘helping Korea’ to japan?” It is not to Japan.* Don’t you think that sounds like Korea is being parasitic on japan? Even I might be pissed about Korea if I was a japanese citizen.
If japanese goverment say *our one-Peninsular-running amount of taxes and manpower goes to some poor country with “Good intentions”*, you’ll just say, “take my all belongings, I’m just fine”?
What do you think the Country is? Charity or somethin’?
‘Korea has just passed a law that makes it illegal to say anything that differs from the official version of history’….? yeah, if that law is active, Why coultless korean ultrarights (Not ultralefts. I know what I said)(whatever they are right or wrong) those denying the official history, are freely messing around all over the korean internet? Including this comment section? Japanese news will be fine, just link me where the article is. These days, Korean journalists are extremely active in finding faults with the government, so why didn’t they and I noticed? I’m pretty sure you are not the only one who says about that law, so why newsflash thirsty journalists didn’t took a bite of it? Is S. Korea blocking every single journalists in korea Because Korea has a strong power enough to block oversea news? Even BBC news? which is currently on-air in korea? I want some meaningless argument to STHU, so it’s good for me at least! IT IS over acting and one-sided for the democratic government, BUT AT LEAST WILL BE QUIET THAN CURRENT LEFT-RIGHT MIXED UP HELLHOLE THAT IS, KOREAN INTERNET.
‘You have installed statues around the world with plaques demonizing Japanese.’
…What? you already closed your eyes and blocked your ears but mouth wide opened, how should I please you with this? “no” to even google scholar and 3rd nation’s thesis about japan, because “Koreans have been spreading their side of stories for a long time”, you said.
At this point, I’m curious about where do you get those ‘totally right’ infos.
‘Yeah, that’s how Koreans always insult Japanese whenever we speak up to argue against Korean history.’
‘They have completely fabricated the history which they used to brain wash children in schools’
these are maybe my very own words in reverse, Not to all japanese -including my Buddhism majored friend-. but specifically to you, good sir or miss.
Oh btw, Including korean history, all the people or groups who was willing to keep or recover “pride”, I recall more cases of failure than cases of success. For example, Korean Yangban. as you said at the beginning.
UPDATE:…..Wait. please don’t tell me you’re talking about of the law for Gwangju Democratic Uprising in 1980 May 18,
Which is got passed on 2020/10/27, limited to historical infos about uprising in 1980, and NOTHING TO DO WITH JAPAN???
Those who have no idea what’s wrong with this Uprising, in simple version, think about what the Wounded Knee massacre was called before….
last words.
Sorry, if interrupted your came-out-of-no-where, all-of-the-sudden “That’s it! somehow and for some reason I won! Finally revealed the true identity of chousenjins and that brainwashed evil chong!” moment,
did you even TRIED to read my full comments? at least I tried. I know my limits. Not in polite way, but said and searched much as i can with admitting about some of things I do not know, not just ending up with ‘I don’t know what you are talking about on some of the things.’ which is infact, is avoiding most of questions like you did.
dunno what’s about my true self though. what is the point of that, if no one knows about “My true self” but you only? if you are saying i hate about LEFT-RIGHT argue itself, kinda right. but I also agreed that restricting every unofficial history is over-acting and one-sided for democratic government. if you catched appropriately, even.
or misunderstood my *I’m not saying “for this reason, Korean still have rights to insult japanese” or anything, but come on.* word?
….Wait. I did not used any translator mostly, so I have to deal with typo and grammar much more, but (Again, sorry If i over-thought)did you checked your machine translation twice?
Whatever… anyway, Out. permanently from this topic. for real this time.
Kit
4 years ago
This comment thread is something else. Scroll long enough and you see anti-Japanese rhetoric, anti-Korean rhetoric, anti-religion, etc. It’s pretty gross. Hear each other out at least. It’s ok to disagree, but you don’t need to resort to making prejudiced comments about entire groups of people. Yikes.
Kouki
4 years ago
I can understand the flag being offensive, but the bowing at a shrine? Unless it is forced, as long as it’s optional, I don’t know why they should remove that… >.< It seems like erasure of Japanese culture due to that. :/ Just make it not autonomous, and everyone could be happy to have their own choice for their game.
Kouki
4 years ago
I can understand the flag being offensive, but the bowing at a shrine? Unless it is forced, as long as it’s optional, I don’t know why they should remove that… >.< It seems like erasure of Japanese culture due to that. :/ Just make it not autonomous, and everyone could be happy to have their own choice for their game.
Simba
4 years ago
Why are Hijabs okay and voluntarily bowing to a shrine not?
I feel bad now that my sim CAN’T bow to a shrine, doesn’t feel okay.
Finally an EP that i’m actually excited about and now y’all are gonna make EA delete everything you find “offensive” until there’s nothing left in the pack. Jeez everyone is so sensitive these days. Every religion has gone through the phase of forcing everyone to worship their god or whatever.. If this is the case then everything that represents Christianity and Islam are offensive too. I’m very much offended.
Yo for real. The reason we don’t have burglars in Sims 4 is because people get triggered by them. It’s lessen the gameplay.
i was very triggered by the repo man today. first they cut of water then electricity or other way around.. and then the repo man stole something in the house. i would rather have the burglar back
I thought the woman in the picture was grieving btw.. and now this.. I don’t think EA team did this on purpose and maybe they should do more research.. have people in the team who are the origin culture of the subject they make a pack for. But I think they did this as a Japanese cultute thing and not for every sim to worship it.. I also don’t think they can do something with it in 3 weeks. But your sim don’t have to use it. Like it is still in japanese culture these days I guess and no one is forced to do something with it anymore.
“i was very triggered by the repo man today”
I hope your game breaks and you can’t play it ever again. it’s thanks to people like you sims 4 is so damn bare bones. triggered by a pixel man? seriously?
It’s a world HEAVILY inspired by Japan. Japan has shrines. The name of the world is even Japanese. I’m… having a hard time understanding this. To me it just seems more like nationalistic S. Koreans are upset that it’s Japanese-themed.
You know ..Koreans have their own shrine curture and motion is just 100% same as game. Lmao. They are just upset cuz it is not korean pack and japanese pack.
correct.
They should just take that out. ALL religious symbols should be removed period. For the people in South Korea that say westerners don’t care, that’s not true. We aren’t taught much about anyone else. Our history is very eurocentric. Anything other than that has to be sought after in university or on our own. I only recently learned about South Korean history and my own history as a person of color. I think the shrines should be removed along with any other religious symbols. I’m Judea Christian and I don’t need Christian or Jewish things in this game. EA should delay release and remove it.
But the hijab and moslem clothing is okay? so in the end everything is removed besides moslemic stuff? great!!!
I don’t mind of any religious things as long as EA releases it as optional download or pack but NEVER should it be a forced download by base game patch like the did it with the moslem stuff…
Sounds like someone is Islamophobic.
Do you have problems with the Wellness pack that includes meditation and other spiritual practices?
Let’s not forget what they did to the Chinese too. I really wish they had picked a different Asian theme instead of Japanese.
I mean, they also already did a German-inspired world for Windenburg. Should they remove Windenburg too then? And what about San Myshuno, which is inspired by China. The Chinese government has concentration camps for muslims.
If you draw a line here, you’d have to draw a line for almost all cultures.
San Myshuno is NOT a Chinese based pack. That is also Japanese. Please do research next time.
mmh, no. it’s vaguely asian, not specifically japanese. do you even play the game?
San Myshuno is based on Hong Kong. I lived there for 2 years, it’s totally accurate.
We’re not talking about the buildings here.
All the Japanese townies? Japanese last names? Pouring “sakura tea” at romance festival?
Definitely Japanese, out of the east Asian countries anyways.
I don’t see too many zhangs and parks walking around lol
Jelmer, you’re right we wouldn’t be able to have any game at all you can find something for every culture.
Read Jane’s comment beforehand
You don’t know about China, so shut your fuxking mouth up
I do, and even the outfits that came with it are kimono based.
One, that’s incredibly rude. And two I do know about China. You need to calm down.
Oh, boo hoo. I’m Polish, and Windenburg is a German inspired town, But I’m not complaining, and calling EA nazi sympathizer. You don’t like the pack, don’t buy it.
Except Windenburg was only architecturally inspired by some regions in Germany. Be quiet.
agreed
No, I think you missed the point entirely. While Windenburg is “German-inspired”, there’s nothing inherently German about the world at all. There’s no statue of Hitler in the middle of the world’s metropolis. Snow Escape, however, literally depicts specific Japanese cultural pieces such as shinto shrines and the Rising Sun flag, basically equivalent to hanging the Swastika out in the forefront of the game. It’s a permeant symbol of Japanese colonialism and a painful reminder for Koreans and Chinese. Also, small difference here: the Japanese are notoriously unapologetic about their WWII war crimes while the German government has made several formal apologies and reconciliation efforts. Please check your history before telling my people to “boo hoo”. This isn’t a matter of political correctness or censorship but a matter of being a decent human being and understanding another country’s pain.
That’s like saying having a Christmas tree is insensitive because of all the evils Christianity committed in the dark ages. Utterly ridiculous.
The Christmas tree is Pagan. (Yule tree) Nothing Christian about it. The bible doesn’t mention christmas trees even once. It’s a European Pagan tradition
That’s irrelevant. A swastika wasn’t a Nazi symbol in its inception. It’s not how it originated. It is what it is. It seems a Japanese religion is being discriminated against. It’s racism.
Actually the christmas tree is Germany. Its took keep evil unrested souls away.
Fun fact: the Christmas tree is pagan, not christian. It was adapted to catholicism by pagans who were forced to convert in an effort to keep some of their traditions alive (likewise with easter bunny and other stuff). Now it’s just part of the holidays and even non religious people use them
Jane, I think the reason this mishap happened is that people are just uninformed about Asian history for the most part. They probably had no idea this would even be a problem they just saw oh here are some Japanese culture items we can throw in the game without making sure none of them are offensive because they don’t know Asian history. Everyone on the other hand knows about Germany and would never accidentally put a swastika in the game out of ignorance
THIS. So much this. Thank you.
It’s ignorance, and “Don’t know, doesn’t apply to me, don’t care. I just want cool stuff to play with lolz”
Yes, it does present Shinto Shrines. Why? BECAUSE THIS EP’S WORLD IS BASED ON JAPAN!!! Korea has NOTHING to do with it. You don’t like it, don’t buy the EP. Simple.
I’m polish too, but as far as I know Windenburg is just inspired by a German town but has nothing to do with the German history or culture. They are complaining about the culture, not the inspiration of how it looks like.
German inspired architecture is different than putting Swatsticas and ither symbols of genocide in the game. Its not “japan as a whole” its the symbols of their imperialism.
but windenburg doesn’t have swastikas plastered all over the place – which is what the rising sun symbol was equivalent to in korea
no you’re not getting it, the rising sun is like the nazi symbol to koreans
I know that The Sims is just a game. BUT unlike Germany, Japan has neither apologized nor reflected on its war crimes. They are distorting the past by doing secondary harm to the affected countries. There are many Sims users in South Korea, and I think we deserve this opinion.
Exactly what I consider to be the real issue here. Let’s be honest, the worship feature would most likely be opt in (not a form of oppression for sims) and the motif would also simply be a swatch option. But it’s a more serious thing because of the lack of accountability. The vast majority of players wouldn’t notice these details, even players who know the history might not take any sort of offence, but it’s shoving it into the face of Korean simmers and I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. If they removed these, Japanese simmers might be offended that symbols of their culture have been removed/the ability for the traditional style worship of their culture. If Japan had been able to extend an olive branch years ago, decades ago, this wouldn’t be an issue but an awkward moment.
Korean education
During Japanese rule in Korea, the Japanese forced Koreans to worship at (Japanese) shrines, and if they did not accept, they were killed. This is a very sensitive and painful subject in Korea today, just like the Holocaust.
Uh oh don’t bring up the holocaust now you’re gonna get the Jews in the discussion who always feel the need to be the number 1 victim in human history
Firstly, this is very rude. Jews, like many other minorities in history, have been tortured through history. In recent years, we have become more accepted in society. To say such a thing is horrible. Every religion and culture deserves to be respected. If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all. And by the way, we shouldn’t be comparing events in history such as this, we should study them for what they are, and then make comparisons later on. Please, think before you write and really know what you are saying. Please, educate yourself. I know a lot of people say that but it is necessary with the increased rate of crimes against innocent people because of their race, religion or sexual orientation. BE KIND.
But it is also a regular practice in Japan that both predates and has continued since World War II. It’s a part of daily life for many people and annual life for many others. It’s too basic an element to simply be thrown out because said basic element was used in a negative context. I’m sure countless tyrants around the world have eaten chips but that doesn’t mean we can’t sell chips at the grocery store.
Well yes, I understand that. I know it must be a very painful subject in Korea, but isn’t it common in Japanese culture to worship shrines? It’s also a Japanese inspired pack. I don’t think the game is also forcing the sims to worship the shrines. I think it might be like the added features for simmers who celebrate Hanukkah. So wouldn’t that mean that the shrines are okay? I’m not trying to be rude or disrespectful. I just want to know if it’s okay or not.
*like for simmers who celebrate Hanukkah
Well the same case has been with Abrahamic religions like Islam and Christianity. It was forced upon people just like the Shinto shrines on Koreans. That’s why i think they should keep real life stuff like religions and shrines out of the game.
Probs because there arent Hakenkreuz inside the game
This is really insensitive, I hope you’re aware of that
What is so insensitive that I wrote? I’m just pointing out the general fallacy of this stupid situation. You’re just being butthurt over such an idiotic non – issue, and I find it just hilarious. Just get over yourselves, because you’re acting like special, little, Overreacting, fragile snowflakes.
Essentially the rising sun flag in the game is the equivalent to a swastica in Korea and many Asian countries. The shrine worshipping forced upon the victims of the Japanese colonialism resulted in many being tortured and Murdered for refusing. I’m sure you would not feel the same way about Windenberg if they had used those simples as part of the pack.
I totally agree with Eggy about the overreaction. It’s unnecessary. Maybe there are more little things in the game which are not so politically correct, we just didn’t notice them because those are not so highlighted. Nowadays, everyone on the internet needs something to whine about. I’m Hungarian and the Sims 1 had a gypsy caravan with the traditional Hungarian food, goulash. Hungarians are somehow always mentioned on the same page with gypsies (whom are quite infamous in my country of their criminal behavour) but I don’t get so sensitive about it, because game devs can slip over these little things. Are you getting this sensitive about war games or other historical games? Ugh…
Generally speaking, it’s best for EA to not introduce any element related to religion, as there are many different players from different cultures playing this game. Imagine seeing a Catholic church in the game? (I am Catholic, btw). It was just an unnecessary addition that actually could disrespect others, including the japanese. The game is customizable so if you want those elements in your gameplay you could add them via cc. Very unwise decision.
Calm down, edgelord. You’re getting worked up there.
@ Trace Who do you call Edgelord? I’m just pointing some things, and trying to be logical. And you’re just being childish.
Just be quiet. If you lack the pride to reject colonialist propaganda that killed and tortured your ancestors, that’s your own business. Don’t tell Koreans how they should feel. And if you had any sense you would know that Germany apologized for their war crimes while Japan continues to deny and lie.
@Amy WTF are you even talking about? My ancestors fought in WWII, AND Warsaw Uprising, and I’m proud to be a Pole. I just don’t see why, in a JAPANESE themed EP, there can’t be JAPANESE culture and Religion. I would understand if it was a KOREAN themed world, and it had the Shinto Shrine. That would be wrong, and the outrage understandable. But the world is JAPANESE, and it makes sense to have a JAPANESE shrine in it. DEAL WITH IT.
You completely missed the point. Imagine Swastikas all around Windenburg or purple triangles on homosexual Sims clothing.
Amy<- lies
Koreans are not victims of ww2
Thank you Eggy, you’re spot on. It seems SK players are just jealous that a Japan was chosen as the theme instead of them.
You’re complaining about other people complaining. Take your own advice and be quiet
thats bc windenburg didn’t come with clothes that have knock-off swastikas on them, thats what the rising sun flag and shirt design are for us korean people
Thank you!
That’s a false equivalence friend. Windenburg doesn’t contain Nazi imagery, does it? No? So why does a Japanese inspired world get to contain Imperial Japan imagery?
Dear Eggy,
The thing here is that in Windenburg there is no object that gives the skms the option to do the nazi salute.
If you read the Korean opinions, they are hurt because there is this object that makes their characters do something that is still a hurtful subject there. And sims have free will, so their characters can do that action whenever they want.
Now, imagine this shrines are just decorative. That would be better because they can choose to not interact with it or even delete that object asap.
They do not complain about the aesthetic. They complain about how something you could use it as decoration can be interacted and has a large and painful background.
To be fair windenburg doesn’t have have an icon showing how they tortured Jewish people.
Maybe because 90% of Poles are racist, sexist and homophobic, and don’t see a problem with that. And also have an obsession with Nazi Germany and WW2. It’s 2020, get over it!
Yes, I’m Polish too, and I’m ashamed of those people.
big claims with no source or proof. and you’re polish… self-hate is so sad.
Naaah, maybe not 90%. Don’t forget almost half Poles voted against Pees… oops Pis. ^^
> korea china education
Why????? Then people would think they would be representing communism! And yes they would!!! And it’s hurtful to say I wish they didn’t do a Japanese pack! I have so many Japanese friends and saying that you wouldn’t represent them is disgusting and horrible!
Please reread my comment. I said I wished they had done another Asian theme instead of Japanese. Like, I would love a Thai themed pack. Japanese has been done. Let’s do something else. Calm down.
why. there’s nothing japanese about sims 4. it hasnt been done as you say. also, there is a huge love for japan in western countries and others (here in latin america it very much is!): their music, the anime/manga, the food, the country itself!
thailand… well. you /know/ the reason most westerns and the rest of the world know about that place.
You obviously haven’t bought San Myshuno yet. They have Sakura tea in it amongst other Japanese-themed items.
Why didn’t they just pick a country with no controversial history? Yeah because China’s never been controversial. The issue isn’t Japan as a country, it’s the lack of understanding that is understandable from an American based company. These issues should be fixed, but it’s an understandable mistake.
How about what the Chinese is doing currently to many South East Asian countries?
I get that the game should be more culturally sensitive, and they could add features that do not offend, but saying a different Asian theme instead of Japanese as if another culture is better than others does not sit well.
Considering the things Chinese have done to many people, who cares? So the cultures of these places can’t exist or be enjoyed because something bad happened in the past? Stupid. Then no culture could be accepted or enjoyed.
There is just exactly same shrine motion in koreas culture.
http://life.g-enews.com/view.php?ud=2018060516252618e8b8a793f7_3
Some koreans are lying and spreding fake information to feel their anti japan power. They are just jealous cuz shrine items arent out with korean traditional clothes.
There’s nothing wrong with a Japanese theme. Imperial Japan’s legacy doesn’t mean that everything Japanese is offensive or problematic. If that’s the case then what other Asian country would you want? China? With their history and PRESENT of cultural genocide and human rights abuses? Thailand? Myanmar? India?
I’m not trying to invalidate the historic trauma and present day pain of South Koreans but the way so much of the discourse has been presented doesn’t present conpletely fair grounds for criticism.
I agree. While we should acknowledge the past and learn from it, I don’t see an issue with these shrines. Every single country has had a problematic past, same goes for every religion (well except for Pagans and Sikhs I’ve never heard of anything wrong with them). While the trauma exists and it should be remembered; in the modern day these shrines are nothing but religious icons and tourist destinations, emphasis on the tourist destination aspect.
As for the “Rising Sun Flag” while to me it looked more like a pattern rather than an a celebration of the “Rising Sun” I can understand the desire for the removal of that. Confederate, Nazi, Rising Sun flags; those should be left in the past. They are also a completely different issue than with the shrine. The shrine is tied to religious aspects and has been long before any genocide occurred therefore relating them to such a matter which is why I believe they should remain. These flags on the other hand were more or less created to represent groups whom had wrongful intentions in mind (i.e slavery, genocide, and war respectively).
This is why asking for specific cultures is hard cause not everyone will be happy. Latinos were not 100% happy about their representation in the previous update. Black individuals are still looking for compatible there exact hair and/or skin tone. And other cultures are asking for specific representations. Which is understandable. But if it isn’t exactly you you cannot be upset cause maybe it is someone else. As for this specific issue. Do we so often forget what the African turned Black people went through in the United States? I understand when asking for culture in games we can be upset about the representation and even the history of how culture came to be. But we were asking for it and when they give us an acceptable norm (albeit by the majority- I as a black American understand your distaste) we need to understand and critic not ” do anything else but” cause I am sure if some picked Korean, or Chinese or Vietnamese inspired someone, somewhere, would have found issue with it.
You do realize that they may have taken our culture but they did not turn us into anything but African.
On an unrelated note: Telling Koreans to not become “butthurt” over this insensitivity would basically White people telling Black people to forget about slavery and forget about the fact that they whipped out Ancestors because they (our ancestors) refused to let them (white people) take away their mother-given name, and in turn forced a Western name (like Bill) on them.
The Sims team should have research about the shrine extensively before actually making it a reality. They should have gathered that it would be a sensitive topic to South Koreans.
The Sims team has let me down. I’m boycotting the Sims 4, and possibly Sims 5 if they do not get their act together.
Skintones is another example that showcases how ignorant EA is about non-whites. The “yellow-undertoned” skins are hideous. Not all Asians look jaundiced-yellow, contrary to EA’s belief
African turned Black people? Are you stupid or are you dumb? Stop speaking on things of which you have no knowledge. Stop comparing other cultures when you want to complain ESPECIALLY when you don’t know what you are talking about.
>chongchong education
I actually dont, I think Japanese culture is absolutely great but just pay respect to the culture, you know, you can’t sell things from a culture without investigate about them.
China raped and killed many japanese women and children. So
There is a user who is using a racist slur ‘조센징’ against korean as a Name in this comment section and the modder is doing nothing?!
It says south korean person. So it not a racist slur.
조센징 says “Joseon (old name for old Korea) person” in Japanese, used in a demeaning, derogatory way.
Like how the word n**ro merely describes the color “black” in some languages but is offensive within context.
The correct, non-derogatory way of calling Koreans in Japanese is “kankoku-jin” (Korean person)
you see the multiple far-right japanese on this comment section spreading propaganda and fake news. This is the perfect example why this pack is a problematic.
where lol
all this reaching is out of control
Seeing people complain over other people complaining is always a fun thing (sarcasm). It’s not like they’re demanding you to not buy the pack. It’s literally only two things that are the issue, one of which is easily fixable (the lantern) and the other may just need an explanation, at the least, or a change in simulated interaction, at most.
And nobody’s forcing you to buy the pack, if you find the content not to your liking. You’re now complaining, that I am complaining that people are complaining. What is wrong with you? I’m just stating my opinion, and you’re acting like an entitled piece of crap, and whining, and thrashing around just because someone has a different opinion than you. And EA ain’t gonna change anything, just because you’re butthurt.
Someone needs a nap lol You’re the only one here that’s having a rage fit. Also, butthurt? It’s not 2009 anymore, buddy.
I see. Further discussion is pointless then. You are the worst kind of person. And I don’t have a rage fit. I’m just pointing out your illogical behaviour. Also, I’m 32, so PARDON me, if I’m a little rusty with the slang. Way to ridicule someones not up to date vernacular. Are you proud of yourself, you piece of shit? Fuck you.
@eggy You’re 32 arguing with people way younger than you about a topic your self-centered “prOuD tO bE pOle” ass knows nothing about… Please get your rinky dinky cheese smelling ass up off the couch and get yourself a job, darling heart. You know a lot of Koreans have flat out said they don’t care about this or they just won’t buy it, so why are you so worried about them?? Why don’t you educate yourself on Japanese Imperialism and Colonization in Korea (which dates back CENTURIES before the Holocaust you love to compare this issue to… maybe you’re the one who should get over it? 😉 ) before you come back here and start worrying about Koreans who don’t care about what YOU have to say about THEIR issues. You got your priorities mixed up, love. Stop worrying about Koreans and start worrying about not having a good job, a faithful husband, and kids who love you, you weird Neanderthal LMAO.
Seeing people complain about people complaining about people complaining is even more fun.
says the person complaining about me complaining lol jk
This is just stupid. The New world is JAPANESE inspired, not Korean. It makes sense, that in a JAPANESE inspired world, there would be a JAPANESE shrine. There is nothing wrong with representing Shinto Religion and Japanese culture in general, in the Sims. You don’t like it, just don’t play the game. Deal with it, and quit whining you crybabies.
During Japanese rule in Korea, the Japanese forced Koreans to worship at (Japanese) shrines, and if they did not accept, they were killed. This is a very sensitive and painful subject in Korea today, just like the Holocaust.
Japan wasn’t the only country to force religion upon others and physically harm people for practicing religion different than theirs. It’s been done for centuries and while it doesn’t make the act okay by any means, we shouldn’t be removing the religious significance that these shrines have to those who practice the Shinto religion. I mean by this same logic we should be removing Christmas trees, menorah, kinaras, etc. from the game because I can assure there were more prominent countries who practiced Christianity and committed far greater acts if genocide and religious persecution than Japan, and to top it off Christian icons are represented in the sims without complaints.
Also don’t throw the Holocaust around like it was something small. Between 6 to 14 million people were murdered during the Holocaust. I’ve been during research relating to the issue with Japan and while their numbers are large; compared to the Holocaust it’s “small” in size. While the pain which occurs is similar, the scale is not.
Funny how Germany has no problem apologizing, educating, making amends and taking action so that the Holocaust is remembered, even though it was a massive f*ckup on their part, but Japan can’t bother to do half those things, for such a “small” wrongdoing as you say, right?
You and others comparing Germany and Japan and their impact need to realize this part as well.
June 22, 1965: Minister of Foreign Affairs Shiina Etsusaburo said to the people of South Korea: “In our two countries’ long history there have been unfortunate times, it is truly regrettable and we are deeply remorseful” (Signing of the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and South Korea).
August 26, 1982: Chief Cabinet Secretary Kiichi Miyazawa said to the people of the Republic of Korea: “1. The Japanese Government and the Japanese people are deeply aware of the fact that acts by our country in the past caused tremendous suffering and damage to the peoples of Asian countries, including the Republic of Korea (ROK) and China, and have followed the path of a pacifist state with remorse and determination that such acts must never be repeated. Japan has recognized, in the Japan-ROK Joint Communique, of 1965, that the ‘past relations are regrettable, and Japan feels deep remorse,’ and in the Japan-China Joint Communique, that Japan is ‘keenly conscious of the responsibility for the serious damage that Japan caused in the past to the Chinese people through war and deeply reproaches itself.’ These statements confirm Japan’s remorse and determination which I stated above and this recognition has not changed at all to this day. 2. This spirit in the Japan-ROK Joint Communique, and the Japan-China Joint Communique, naturally should also be respected in Japan’s school education and textbook authorization.
1989: Prime Minister Takeshita Noboru, in a speech in the Japanese Diet, said: “As we have made clear previously at repeated opportunities, the Japanese government and the Japanese people are deeply conscious of the fact that the actions of our country in the past caused suffering and loss to many people in neighboring countries. Starting from our regret and resolve not to repeat such things a second time, we have followed a course as a “Peace Nation” since then. This awareness and regret should be emphasized especially in the relationship between our countries and the Korean Peninsula, our nearest neighbors both geographically and historically. At this opportunity as we face a new situation in the Korean Peninsula, again, to all peoples of the globe, concerning the relationship of the past, we want to express our deep regret and sorrow” (Speech in the Japanese Diet).
April 18, 1990: Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Nakayama said to the people of South Korea: “Japan is deeply sorry for the tragedy in which these (Korean) people were moved to Sakhalin not of their own free will but by the design of the Japanese government and had to remain there after the conclusion of the war” (188th National Diet Session Lower House Committee of Foreign Affairs).[12]
May 25, 1990: Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, in a meeting with President Roh Tae Woo, said: “I would like to take the opportunity here to humbly reflect upon how the people of the Korean Peninsula went through unbearable pain and sorrow as a result of our country’s actions during a certain period in the past and to express that we are sorry” (Summit meeting with President Roh Tae Woo in Japan).[14]
January 17, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, at a policy speech on a visit to South Korea, said:. “What we should not forget about relationship between our nation and your nation is a fact that there was a certain period in the thousands of years of our company when we were the victimizer and you were the victim. I would like to once again express a heartfelt remorse and apology for the unbearable suffering and sorrow that you experienced during this period because of our nation’s act.” Recently the issue of the so-called ‘wartime comfort women’ is being brought up. I think that incidents like this are seriously heartbreaking, and I am truly sorry”.[16]
July 6, 1992. Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Kato said: “The Government again would like to express its sincere apology and remorse to all those who have suffered indescribable hardship as so-called ‘wartime comfort women,’ irrespective of their nationality or place of birth. With profound remorse and determination that such a mistake must never be repeated, Japan will maintain its stance as a pacifist nation and will endeavor to build up new future-oriented relations with the Republic of Korea and with other countries and regions in Asia. As I listen to many people, I feel truly grieved for this issue. By listening to the opinions of people from various directions, I would like to consider sincerely in what way we can express our feelings to those who suffered such hardship”
June 23, 1996: Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said in a press conference: “Hashimoto mentioned the aspects of Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula such as the forced Japanization of Korean people’s name and commented “It is beyond imagination how this injured the hearts of Korean people”. Hashimoto also touched on the issue of Korean comfort women and said “Nothing injured the honor and dignity of women more than this and I would like to extend words of deep remorse and the heartfelt apology”
October 8, 1996: Emperor Akihito said in a speech at a dinner with the South Korean president, Kim Dae Jung: “There was a period when our nation brought to bear great sufferings upon the people of the Korean Peninsula.” “The deep sorrow that I feel over this will never be forgotten”.
October 8, 1998: Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi said in a declaration: “Looking back on the relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea during this century, Prime Minister Obuchi regarded in a spirit of humility the fact of history that Japan caused, during a certain period in the past, tremendous damage and suffering to the people of the Republic of Korea through its colonial rule, and expressed his deep remorse and heartfelt apology for this fact. President Kim accepted with sincerity this statement of Prime Minister Obuchi’s recognition of history and expressed his appreciation for it. He also expressed his view that the present calls upon both countries to overcome their unfortunate history and to build a future-oriented relationship based on reconciliation as well as good-neighborly and friendly cooperation” (Japan-South Korea Joint Declaration A New Japan-South Korea Partnership towards the Twenty-first Century).[31]
September 17, 2002: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said: “The Japanese side regards, in a spirit of humility, the facts of history that Japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of Korea through its colonial rule in the past, and expressed deep remorse and heartfelt apology” (Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration).[39]
August 10, 2010: Prime Minister Naoto Kan expressed “deep regret over the suffering inflicted” during the Empire of Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. Japan’s Kyodo News also reported that Cabinet members endorsed the statement. In addition, Kan said that Japan will hand over precious cultural artifacts that South Korea has been demanding. Among them were records of an ancient Korean royal dynasty.[46]
December 7, 2010: Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized for Korea’s suffering under colonization as part of a statement marking the 100th anniversary of the annexation in 1910. “I express a renewed feeling of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology for the tremendous damage and suffering caused by colonial rule,” Kan said. Kan said Japan colonized Korea “against the will of the Korean people” who suffered great damage to their national pride and loss of culture and sovereignty as a result and added that he wants to take an honest look at his country’s past with the courage and humility to address its history.[48]
December 28, 2015: Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se made an announcement at a joint press conference, which consisted of their respective statements on behalf of Japan and South Korea. Kishida stated, “The issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women, and the Government of Japan is painfully aware of responsibilities from this perspective. As Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.” The statement went on to explain that “the Government of Japan will now take measures to heal psychological wounds of all former comfort women through its budget” and that it had been decided that the South Korean government would “establish a foundation for the purpose of providing support for the former comfort women”. In return, Yun stated that his government “acknowledges the fact that the Government of Japan is concerned about the statue built in front of the Embassy of Japan in Seoul from the viewpoint of preventing any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity, and will strive to solve this issue in an appropriate manner”. Both stated that this agreement will “finally and irreversibly” resolve the contentious issue and that “on the premise that the Government of Japan will steadily implement the measures it announced”, both countries “will refrain from accusing or criticizing each other regarding this issue in the international community, including at the United Nations”.[54]
Korean propaganda education
But it’s a religion that existed before these crimes and it’s a religion that is still very close to Japanese people these days. You cannot just erase that. That’d be insensitive as well.
So did Christians to POC folk. Yet, we have Christmas-themed content.
Christmas is not Christian. It is germany who first started christmas.
You do know Christianity is a religion and over 60% of the German population are Christian? …..you should Research on that a lil more .lol even if u look you the word Christmas it will tell you. But I guess your one of those ppl whole celebrate things and don’t even know what you’re celebrating.
Betsy we were roman catholic till the British royals invaded in the 16 century and we were force to change religions.
It’s not called Christmas in the game for a reason. It’s called Winterfest. And there is no Santa, there’s father winter. See? So no, us Christians are not getting our religious beliefs celebrated by the game. Also, where is Jesus? I bet if you had put Jesus in the game the entire community would flip. So why is it ok to put a religious shrine?
If this was a Korean inspired world and included a Shinto shrine, then I would understand why this would be offensive. However, this is a Japanese inspired world and they do have Shinto shrines everywhere in Japan. Not including one would be leaving out a big part of Japanese culture. This wasn’t intended to offend Koreans, but to celebrate Japanese culture.
I understand that what Japan did to Koreans in the past was bad, but should modern day Japanese be blamed for what their ancestors did? (Any more than modern day Germans being blamed for what Hitler and his cronies did?).
Koreans are not angry at the average, modern day Japanese people.
They were not the ones who asked EA “Please, instead of including other parts of our culture that are awesome and don’t bring up horrible historical memories of our ancestor’s wrongdoings, include the parts that would be insensitive and hurtful to tens of thousands of our Korean neighbors”.
It was EA, an American company (like some people like to emphasize, thinking that somehow makes things better) that stupidly decided to include aspects that would stir these controversies.
And to counter the earlier part of your comment, about shrines being a big part of Japanese culture:
Christianity, for easy example, played a major role of shaping the cultures of many countries. But we do not see symbols like the cross and items like the bible in the game.
Why? Because Sims is supposed to be “inclusive” (however impossible it may be to include and accurately represent every single culture on earth) and including those items could be insensitive and controversial for many many players.
Just like how other potentially controversial parts of various cultures and religions were left out of this game, so should the Japanese ones.
it’s a videogame bro.
there was a similar shrine that came with the asian world in sims 2 bon voyage.
none complained back then….
That is because social media was not worldwide.
I feel many of the comments left here are very troubling. Before judging the concerns of the simmers from South Korea, you should do some general research into their concerns. It’s easy to rush to a conclusion without having some knowledge to better understand where their concerns are coming from.
Since this pack has a specific emphasis on having an immersive cultural experience, the dev team selected actions inspired by Japanese culture with origins that can be considered as triggering for some players. If anything this shows they really need to employ more people within their dev team that represent more cultures. I do hope the interaction isn’t what it seems, but if it is, I hope it is addressed before the pack is released.
It’s very racist saying Japanese religion is triggering. What if you said the same about Muslims?
Unfortunately to a lot of people and culture, muslims and their religion do trigger them.
like that guy Samuel from France, eh?
Trying to conflate extremist terrorism with an entire religion and it’s practioners is bigotry in its own right.
@Metacircumstance pfft
We call those people racists.
welp, there are Koreans who are speaking out against the ridiculousness of the issues that are being raised too.
Well said. There are bigger issues here that need to be addressed and resolved.
People really out there finding any little thing to find offence over. They’re literally creating a culture where victimising themselves is the norm. A person can no longer have creative thought without worrying about a mob of people bashing their idea. Pathetic
thank you for this comment!
I actually though that sim is bent over a grave since they mentioned a graveyard you can visit.
I literally can’t even with the Sims community anymore. I’m out.
Everyone is so sensitive these days. It’s a game where you can kill people with fire, weather, bugs, … but are offended by a jacket? What happened is bad but I mean where do you draw the line if EVERYTHING does offend someone at this point.
Women sims are being forved into baby machines with 100 baby challenge, I am surprised femenists didn’t complain about this being possible lol.
Don’t buy it of you don’t like it and stop being offended for every detail. This hasn’t even been confirmed ro be a shrine nor the flag yet they are already at war with EA. Sigh.
That’s such a horrible comparison and you completely missed the point. They were not offended by the jacket, they complained about the Rising Sun, you donkey. Even bringing up a Sims 4 challenge that has nothing to do with it, smh.
Who are you to determine what we find offensive or don’t? Do you, for whatever reason, speak on behalf of all Koreans and Chinese? This is not your place. I’d also like you to say this exact same thing and undermine the power of political imagery in the way you just did to my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother who have still not received any sort of formal apology or reconciliation effort from the Japanese government after decades of inter-generational trauma for being comfort women and being constantly raped by Japanese colonial soldiers.
I think your real name is not jane
isnt that racist
Calling people’s religion “political imagery” is like saying having muslim content in the game is insensitive to 9/11 families.
Is there a mosque in the game? Are there churches or synagogues? As far as I know, there is only one God in The Sims, the player. They shouldn’t introduce religious elements unless they are willing to get some backlash about it. So they made Santa Claus into father winter, but they didn’t think this could create problems? Bad decision from the team.
You say they shouldn’t include religion when they already have. In seasons some of the holiday activities is LITERALLY to WORSHIP objects. If that’s not religion than idk what is. Not to mention the fact that oh, idk, Christmas Trees exist. Do you even know the origins of the how a Christmas Tree came into existence? They were European Christians way of mocking European Pagans.
The shrine was and still is a religious icon before any genocide ever occurred. And while we shouldn’t ignore that part of its history we shouldn’t act like that the only reason it exists and complain about it.
Agree 100%!!!!
I can’t speak of what is offensive or not for Asian people, but I don’t understand why they had to put a shrine in it. To me it raises many questions. There is no religions in the sims. There isn’t any churches, temples or mosques, sims don’t have sacred books or interactions. The only explanation I see to making this shine functional & part of the trailer is occidental EA being like “ok… what do we know about Asian people…. They have this ‘zen’ thing going on… they have pretty mountains… oh and they have a funny way of praying too”
I get why the shrine would be put in the game as a decor item, like there already is religious decor item in the game, as people who practice that religion should be able to represent their culture in their game. However, why making a big deal out of it by putting it in the trailer, I don’t get.
Also, as an African, I pray EA NEVER makes an African themed packs, we’re gonna end up with tribal tattoos, piercings, animal-skin clothes and pagan totems (but they seem to think Africa stops at the Sahara so fortunately it’ll never happen)…
sism 4 season: menorah-kinara candle, christmas tree, Father winter, flower Bunny, Attend Holiday Ceremony.. all of them are represent faith or culture one or more way… so what we are talking about?
In my eyes a japan shire not better or worse than a candle or a christmas tree to be honest ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Culture yes, not religion. There was never any worshipping involved. Christmas trees are not a religious symbol (if they ever were, they haven’t been for decades)
As I said my problem is not with the shrine itself, it’s that there is an interaction to pray to it, like that “religion” connotation that ea has been avoiding in TS4 until now (they called the christmas associated holyday “winterfest” for a reason).
I feel like yes, the shrine should be a decor item and non interactable. Especially if it is insensitive towards other nations. As for the flag (I personally didn’t see it in the trailer) but a simple image of a sun on a flag should’ve sufficed. I mean, it’s a japanese inspired world and the japanese flag in their country’s flag. I don’t think that it’s right to disrespect South Korean culture, and though I may not know a lot about it I have deep respect for everyone’s culture. I’m agnostic with no religious beliefs but I do find some religions interesting not enough to believe personally but still intriguing. I love South Korea, and I love Japan both for very different reason. I won’t show an entire nation disrespect because of what the leaders try to persuade their people into believing. Not everyone in Japan is at fault for what happened, but like not every Brit is at fault for the colonization in what came to be America. And not every Spaniard is at fault for the Spanish inquisition. And honestly, I would rather have a pack inspired by mostly a specific country or culture (not including religion) rather than squishing all eastern asian nations into one. If they release a Russian inspired world in a pack, I don’t want Scandinavian or Baltic related stuff involved. But that’s just an example. Personally, though, I think a Spanish or Austrian world would be fun to explore.
As I waited for this cottage. For me, Sims 2 was like that in my Japanese restaurant. And now I built the same restaurant. But there was no cottage.
It would have been nice to keep the bowing animation and the shrines, but redesign the shrines to be less religion and more about honoring ur passed family. Let maybe the ghosts of ur passed sims show up for a moment.
Sims should just stay away from all religion…but the bowing and shrine worship is just a big part of japanese cultur and it would be sad to lose it in sims. Just change it up a little.
Well, these are not my words, from S.korean ‘wikia-ish’ wiki, google tralslated(cuz i’m friggin’ lazy)
but, just in case, maybe raising some ideas.
Sorry, if someone already done this. btw.
The scene of a shrine visit in a trailer for the release of an expansion pack of snowy escape and the printing pattern of clothes reminiscent of the Rising Sun Flag have sparked controversy. This is related to Japan’s forced visits to the shrine by South Korea in the past Japanese colonial era. Completely distinct from visiting Yasukuni issue. (The shrine is dedicated to the Japanese war criminals, not to Sims Trailer’s shrine visit.) To describe the trailer’s shrine visit, the model of a small building with a female sim is ‘Kamidana.’ Kamidana, a small shrine model, was used as a “purpose for frequent visits to the shrine” and was set up in schools and homes Japanese colonial era to force visitors every morning. It is undeniable that Japan forced colonies to visit the shrine during World War II, and for some Asian countries, the shrine visit is a symbol of painful history.
Well, these are not my words, from S.korean ‘wikia-ish’ wiki, google tralslated(cuz i’m friggin’ lazy)
but, just in case, maybe raising some ideas.
Sorry, if someone already done this. btw.
The scene of a shrine visit in a trailer for the release of an expansion pack of snowy escape and the printing pattern of clothes reminiscent of the Rising Sun Flag have sparked controversy. This is related to Japan’s forced visits to the shrine by South Korea in the past Japanese colonial era. Completely distinct from visiting Yasukuni issue. (The shrine is dedicated to the Japanese war criminals, not to Sims Trailer’s shrine visit.) To describe the trailer’s shrine visit, the model of a small building with a female sim is ‘Kamidana.’ Kamidana, a small shrine model, was used as a “purpose for frequent visits to the shrine” and was set up in schools and homes Japanese colonial era to force visitors every morning. It is undeniable that Japan forced colonies to visit the shrine during World War II, and for some Asian countries, the shrine visit is a symbol of painful history.
I am very saddened by knowing that you modified your Sims 4 to remove little symbols of Japan because Koreans lied to you. Lying is the culture of Korea. They have such advanced skills in lying that they have deceived United States Congress, United Nations, and many other governments around the world who had passed resolutions to condemn Japan for the evil things that Japanese have done to Koreans. They have completely fabricated the history which they used to brain wash children in schools. Their history, composed of pack of lies, imaginations and fantasies, no longer matches the histories taught in all the other countries. They claim that Japanese persecuted and massacred them during Japanese colonial rule which they say is Holocaust the same way as Nazis did to the Jews. Korea was never a colony of Japan, it was annexed to Japan on Koreans’ request. Korea was an extremely poor, third world at the time. When you say colony it sounds bad, it sounds like Japanese exploited Korea and became rich. No, Japanese did the exact opposite. Japan invested huge amount of money to modernize Korea. Japanese banned the cast system where most Koreans were slaves to Yangban, built the government where many Koreans also worked, built thousands of schools to educate Koreans who were mostly illiterate, built roads, railroads, electrical distribution, gas distribution, water supplies, sewer system, taught them modern farming methods which doubled the crops, which in turn edoubled the population. Japanese taught them Hangul which they now use to write and standardized Korean which they now speak. During the Great East Asian War (WWII) Koreans demanded to be allowed to join the army, who were eventually allowed and fought along side Japanese and many died who are now consecrated in Yasukuni Shrine. However, as soon as the war ended they claimed that they were actually part of the Allies, fought against Japanese and won.
You may say “I think Koreans are over-sensitive” kinda word. that should be enough. but ‘Lying is the culture of Korea’…?
It’s like saying ‘firearm accident is a culture of america’ or something. Everyone can express their opinions, and it mostly goes like “what’s wrong with those korean gamers?” -> “They got mad because of blablah”-> “I (dis)agree, because~”-> repeat after repeat, possibly no conclusions, maybe with some swares? I know, i’ve commented which is not that necessary few days ago, but you just gone way too far. This is just a harrasment, not opinion.
Usual Japanese ultraright stereotype says that a lot, but not much to fix your saying about history. cuz I’m quite sure WHATEVER I say somethin’, your answer will be like “u r brainwashed, all of your words are lies”. I dare I’m gonna die if I play some drinking games with it. (Maybe over 40 shots, according to your deleted-by-admin spamming comments on an other korea/japan related news.)
But whatever the reason(…) japanese invested huge amount of money, most of modernized material and some of mental things were almost literally went back to the stone age during korean war, so what’s the point of saying “Japan modernized korea” after that?
Even if, IF, you are saying the truth, What’s the benefits of “helping Korea” to japan?
It sounds like black and white logic, but I think no country(Including S.korea, if you wonder)conducts diplomacy in “good intentions” but for diplomatic and material advantage. Especially when those strong countries were spreading their influences with colonization all around the world.
You think Japan had some luxury to deeply think about “helping korea” back then? Not thinking for their own? while investing to korea? I dunno. You look quite confident, i’m not, so you tell me. google scholar might help both of us.
P.S. I know, I already said i’m not gonna fix your saying, but Japanese taught koreans their own language? Yes, if teaching as a foreign language still counts. Even that is totally gone at middle of the world war II. Who should I believe? My 92 years old maternal grandmother, herself experienced colonial era, loved by japanese teachers as a good student at the time, still speaks japanese language almost like bilingual, or some random John/Jane Doe on the internet who doesn’t reveal the source of infos no matter where it’s from? What, My grandmother is also brainwashed somehow for some reasons?
“Japanese ultraright stereotype” Yeah, that’s how Koreans always insult Japanese whenever we speak up to argue against Korean history. Korea has just passed a law that makes it illegal to say anything that differs from the official version of history. “most of modernized material and some of mental things were went back to the stone age during korean war” Oh, is that so? Is that why you have the schools and Seoul University still standing after the war and continue to insult Japanese? “you just gone way to far” You think so? If you felt hurt you now understand how Japanese felt for 75 years of egregious insults you have hurled at Japanese and still continue to do so while Japanese quietly tolerated them. You have installed statues around the world with plaques demonizing Japanese. “google scholar might help both of us” Unfortunately, as Koreans have been spreading their side of stories for a long time you find an overwhelming amount of Korean rhetoric. “What’s the benefits of ‘helping Korea’ to japan?” It is not to Japan. The reason was stated in the joint declaration of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Area conference. Some Japanese are only now beginning to speak up. Majority of Japanese still suffer from the masochistic view of history thanks to the War Guilt Information Program. The “ultrarightists” are trying to wake up the Japanese and recover their pride.
‘Is that why you have the schools and Seoul University still standing after the war’
Seoul Unv? you mean the campus built in 71? or Keijō Imperial University which is closed in 46? (used as a premedical course building til 66, sold to some hospital in 75, hospital closed and turned in to the market place in 99, sold to some other university in 2007, demolished at 2015)? If Campus is abandoned, ALL research manpower changed at 46(manpower is more important for the university than building itself btw), does this count as ‘continuing Keijō’s legacy’? I’m not saying ‘for this reason, Korean still have rights to insult japanese’ or anything, but come on.
I cannot figure out of every single schools building and manpower history shortly though, can you? Of course, to be fair, Japanese school only.
‘It is not to Japan. The reason was stated in the joint declaration of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Area conference’ You just making me to ask almost the same question.
Like I ALREADY said, no country conducts diplomacy in “good intentions” but for diplomatic and material advantage. Especially when those strong countries were spreading their influences with colonization all around the world. Why do you think Japan back then just let joint declaration of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Area conference go active? When japan’s Competitors were doing their jobs? *“What’s the benefits of ‘helping Korea’ to japan?” It is not to Japan.* Don’t you think that sounds like Korea is being parasitic on japan? Even I might be pissed about Korea if I was a japanese citizen.
If japanese goverment say *our one-Peninsular-running amount of taxes and manpower goes to some poor country with “Good intentions”*, you’ll just say, “take my all belongings, I’m just fine”?
What do you think the Country is? Charity or somethin’?
‘Korea has just passed a law that makes it illegal to say anything that differs from the official version of history’….? yeah, if that law is active, Why coultless korean ultrarights (Not ultralefts. I know what I said)(whatever they are right or wrong) those denying the official history, are freely messing around all over the korean internet? Including this comment section? Japanese news will be fine, just link me where the article is. These days, Korean journalists are extremely active in finding faults with the government, so why didn’t they and I noticed? I’m pretty sure you are not the only one who says about that law, so why newsflash thirsty journalists didn’t took a bite of it? Is S. Korea blocking every single journalists in korea Because Korea has a strong power enough to block oversea news? Even BBC news? which is currently on-air in korea? I want some meaningless argument to STHU, so it’s good for me at least! IT IS over acting and one-sided for the democratic government, BUT AT LEAST WILL BE QUIET THAN CURRENT LEFT-RIGHT MIXED UP HELLHOLE THAT IS, KOREAN INTERNET.
‘You have installed statues around the world with plaques demonizing Japanese.’
…What? you already closed your eyes and blocked your ears but mouth wide opened, how should I please you with this? “no” to even google scholar and 3rd nation’s thesis about japan, because “Koreans have been spreading their side of stories for a long time”, you said.
At this point, I’m curious about where do you get those ‘totally right’ infos.
‘Yeah, that’s how Koreans always insult Japanese whenever we speak up to argue against Korean history.’
‘They have completely fabricated the history which they used to brain wash children in schools’
these are maybe my very own words in reverse, Not to all japanese -including my Buddhism majored friend-. but specifically to you, good sir or miss.
Oh btw, Including korean history, all the people or groups who was willing to keep or recover “pride”, I recall more cases of failure than cases of success. For example, Korean Yangban. as you said at the beginning.
UPDATE:…..Wait. please don’t tell me you’re talking about of the law for Gwangju Democratic Uprising in 1980 May 18,
Which is got passed on 2020/10/27, limited to historical infos about uprising in 1980, and NOTHING TO DO WITH JAPAN???
Those who have no idea what’s wrong with this Uprising, in simple version, think about what the Wounded Knee massacre was called before….
Out.
Ah, finally you show your true self. I don’t know what you are talking about on some of the things. I can see that Japanese have a lot of work to do.
last words.
Sorry, if interrupted your came-out-of-no-where, all-of-the-sudden “That’s it! somehow and for some reason I won! Finally revealed the true identity of chousenjins and that brainwashed evil chong!” moment,
did you even TRIED to read my full comments? at least I tried. I know my limits. Not in polite way, but said and searched much as i can with admitting about some of things I do not know, not just ending up with ‘I don’t know what you are talking about on some of the things.’ which is infact, is avoiding most of questions like you did.
dunno what’s about my true self though. what is the point of that, if no one knows about “My true self” but you only? if you are saying i hate about LEFT-RIGHT argue itself, kinda right. but I also agreed that restricting every unofficial history is over-acting and one-sided for democratic government. if you catched appropriately, even.
or misunderstood my *I’m not saying “for this reason, Korean still have rights to insult japanese” or anything, but come on.* word?
….Wait. I did not used any translator mostly, so I have to deal with typo and grammar much more, but (Again, sorry If i over-thought)did you checked your machine translation twice?
Whatever… anyway, Out. permanently from this topic. for real this time.
This comment thread is something else. Scroll long enough and you see anti-Japanese rhetoric, anti-Korean rhetoric, anti-religion, etc. It’s pretty gross. Hear each other out at least. It’s ok to disagree, but you don’t need to resort to making prejudiced comments about entire groups of people. Yikes.
I can understand the flag being offensive, but the bowing at a shrine? Unless it is forced, as long as it’s optional, I don’t know why they should remove that… >.< It seems like erasure of Japanese culture due to that. :/ Just make it not autonomous, and everyone could be happy to have their own choice for their game.
I can understand the flag being offensive, but the bowing at a shrine? Unless it is forced, as long as it’s optional, I don’t know why they should remove that… >.< It seems like erasure of Japanese culture due to that. :/ Just make it not autonomous, and everyone could be happy to have their own choice for their game.
Why are Hijabs okay and voluntarily bowing to a shrine not?
I feel bad now that my sim CAN’T bow to a shrine, doesn’t feel okay.