Controversy Over 'Skin-Colored Underwear' at Convenience Store... Confused Japanese Netizens Cite 'Lack of Multicultural Awareness'

Japanese convenience store company FamilyMart / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Japanese convenience store chain 'FamilyMart' expressed the color of its products as 'sal-saek' (skin color) instead of 'salgu-saek' (apricot color), which was criticized as discriminatory, leading to a product recall. However, there are still reactions within Japan that do not understand this controversy, raising concerns about the insufficient progress toward becoming a multicultural society.

According to foreign media including the Mainichi Shimbun on the 28th, FamilyMart began selling women's panties, camisoles, and tank tops under its private brand (PB) nationwide from the 23rd.

The issue arose because the product color was labeled as 'sal-saek' (skin color). FamilyMart stated that the labeling was recalled after employees and franchise stores pointed out that defining a specific color as a skin tone is inappropriate.

FamilyMart plans to change the color labeling of the products back to 'beige.'

Initially, FamilyMart labeled the color as 'beige' when these products were test-marketed in the Kansai (?西) region, but changed it to 'sal-saek' (skin color) when launching nationwide sales, which sparked the controversy.

Members of a youth group that loves peace are urging a ban on the use of the word "skin color," stating that "the media and companies must stop using the word 'skin color,' which promotes racial discrimination." August 25, 2009 / Photo by Yonhap News

However, some Japanese netizens expressed that they did not understand the controversy over the 'sal-saek' labeling.

One Japanese netizen using the social networking service (SNS) Twitter commented, "'Sal-saek' refers to the average skin color of Japanese people, and complaining about it based on race or individual differences is just nitpicking."

Another netizen argued, "'Sal-saek' is an established term in Japanese, used even in crayon color labeling, so denying it is incomprehensible." On Twitter, there were quite a few responses stating that the 'sal-saek' labeling controversy is not a problem.

Such reactions can also be interpreted as an indicator that Japan is unprepared to advance as a multiethnic society. Despite the rapid diversification of the Japanese archipelago's population due to immigration and naturalization from various parts of the world, awareness of multiculturalism remains stagnant.

Open discrimination, hate speech, and hate crimes against Korean and Joseon residents in Japan are also pointed out as exclusivist issues that Japanese society must overcome.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, in August 2002, the National Human Rights Commission recommended the Korea Industrial Standards (KS) to revise the naming of certain colors labeled as 'sal-saek' (skin color) in crayons and paints, as it could infringe on equality rights. Subsequently, the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards decided to use the term 'salgu-saek' (apricot color) instead of 'sal-saek.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.