--- description: Sony Music Japan has apologized after a Japanese girl band signed to their label appeared at a concert in outfits resembling Nazi uniforms title: Japanese Girl Band Sparks Outrage with Nazi-Style Outfits image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca5431472f0cc7ae/6988ac698e06019e0f468123/screen-shot-2016-11-01-at-8-26-27-am.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Japanese Girl Band Sparks Outrage with Nazi-Style Outfits by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 1, 2016 12:54 PM CUT  Sony Music Japan has been forced to apologize after a popular Japanese girl band signed to their label caused outrage by appearing at a concert in outfits resembling Nazi Waffen-SS uniforms Sony Music Japan has been forced to apologize after a popular Japanese girl band signed to their label caused outrage by appearing at a concert in outfits resembling Nazi Waffen-SS uniformsKeyakizaka46 by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 1, 2016 12:54 PM CUT [Sony Music](http://time.com/money/4344732/adele-sony-contract/ "undefined") Japan has been forced to apologize after a popular [Japanese](http://time.com/tag/japan/ "undefined") girl band signed to their label caused outrage by appearing at a concert in outfits resembling [Nazi Waffen-SS uniforms](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/06/05/man-wears-nazi-uniform-to-court-in-custody-battle-for-son-adolf-hitler/ "undefined"). The band Keyakizaka46 donned black knee-length dresses that look like military overcoats, and black capes and officer caps with a Nazi-like eagle emblem, the _Associated Press_ reports. The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, a global human rights organization researching the Holocaust and hate in a historic and contemporary context, released a statement urging Sony Music to apologize over the use of Nazi-themed costumes. “We are calling on Sony Music and the group’s producer, Yasushi Akimoto to apologize for this inappropriate and deeply offensive presentation,” [wrote Rabbi Abraham Cooper](http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=8776547&ct=14928375 "undefined"), associate dean of the center. “Watching young teens on the stage and in the audience dancing in Nazi-style uniforms causes great distress to the victims of the Nazi genocide.” A spokesman from Sony Music said there had been no intention to link the performance to Nazism, _AP_ reports. “We express our heartfelt apology for causing offense… because of our lack of understanding,” a statement on the company’s website read. “We take the incident seriously and will make efforts to prevent a recurrence of a similar incident in the future.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4552944/japanese-band-nazi-uniform/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4552944/japanese-band-nazi-uniform/"},"headline":"Japanese Girl Band Sparks Outrage with Nazi-Style Outfits","datePublished":"2016-11-01T12:54:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:21:13.575Z","description":"Sony released a \"heartfelt apology for causing offense\" after Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned performance","url":"https://time.com/4552944/japanese-band-nazi-uniform/","keywords":["Japan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca5431472f0cc7ae/6988ac698e06019e0f468123/screen-shot-2016-11-01-at-8-26-27-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca5431472f0cc7ae/6988ac698e06019e0f468123/screen-shot-2016-11-01-at-8-26-27-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"screen-shot-2016-11-01-at-8-26-27-am","caption":"Sony Music Japan has been forced to apologize after a popular Japanese girl band signed to their label caused outrage by appearing at a concert in outfits resembling Nazi Waffen-SS uniforms","creditText":"Keyakizaka46","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4552944/japanese-band-nazi-uniform/","name":"Japanese Girl Band Sparks Outrage with Nazi-Style Outfits"}}]}] ```