A poster produced by the Japan Football Association (JFA) to promote the national team is drawing criticism for reminding people of Korea's Taegeukgi, stirring controversy in Japan.
According to Japanese media including the Sankei Shimbun on the 13th, the JFA on the 10th formed "JI Blue," an official national team publicity ambassador group by bringing together 12 soccer fans from idol groups JO1 and INI, and released related images.
In the poster, the members wear the blue tops of the Japan national team uniform, and a red circle is placed in the center of a white background. At the four corners along both edges, there are three-stripe patterns similar to the Adidas logo.
Once the image was released, online communities and social media in Japan reacted by saying it "reminds people of Korea's Taegeukgi." They noted that the central composition blending blue and red evokes the Taegeuk symbol, and the three lines on both sides suggest the Geon-gon-gam-ri trigrams.
As the controversy grew, the JFA moved quickly to explain. The association said, "We had no intention of deliberately evoking the Taegeukgi in the design process," adding, "This image was made with the same concept as existing promotional material produced in March using portraits of the national team coach and players."