The Inexplicable World of
Asian ‘HITLER CHIC’

via Dangerous Minds

The concept of “Asian Nazis” is, of course, an extremely WTF??? proposition from the very start. It’s not really easy to figure out why such a subculture exists, exactly, but certain factors—low intelligence on the part of the participants, an affinity for militarism in general and naturally, you’d think, good old-fashioned anti-semitism—would obviously come into play.

It’s truly a difficult (and ridiculous) subject to be “fair” about, but from what I’ve read, Germany’s role in WWII is not really something that’s taught much in schools in the region. Furthermore, some Asian Nazis fetishists claim that their affinity for Nazis chic comes from a love of “the fashion,” like a form of cosplay. This implies both an innocence, and a profound (but plausible) ignorance, of what they’re doing and the outward image it projects. Nazi cosplaying occurs in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, parts of China and South Korea. Obviously, other than to the Asian Nazis enthusiasts themselves, who are too stupid to realize it, the optics of the matter telegraphs adject idiocy loudly and clearly. At least to visitors. Locally, not so much.

And besides that, how many of these self-styled Asian Nazis have even met a Jew? Even a single Jew?

That’s what I thought about while I was looking at the Fun With Asian Nazis Tumblr (subtitle “fascism as a fashion accessory”) and then stumbled down a “Hitler Chic” Internet K-hole right afterwards. These people should be strapped to chairs and forced to watch Schindler’s List with their eyes pinned open like Alex in A Clockwork Orange.

The Hitler Bar, Pusan, Korea.

A participant in a parade at Sacred Heart School, Chiang Mai, Thailand in September 2011. The school subsequently apologised.

This instant Hitler costume was marketed for seven years in Japan before a complaint from the Simon Wiesenthal Center saw it withdrawn. A spokesperson for the manufacturer said that they had never had a complaint: “This was meant purely as a joke, as something that would easily be recognizable.”

Here’s a display from Chinese retailer Izzue. The company’s fourteen stores were festooned with swastikas back in 2003 before some foreigners complained, prompting Izzue to take out a full page newspaper ad apologizing that read in part “We have absolutely no intention to recognise or promote Nazism and [we intended] no political implication … on the usage of the swastika.” The store’s marketing manager Deborah Cheng told the South China Morning Post: “This is Hong Kong, and Chinese people are not sensitive about Nazism.” She added that “most of the complaints are from foreigners.”

See a pattern developing here?

The happy couple. Is there a baby Adolf in their future?

Chilling with Ronald McHitler outside of the Hitler fried chicken chain in Thailand.

This Thai-language billboard reads: “Hitler is not dead” to advertise a wax museum. Until the Israeli envoy noticed it, no one had raised an eyebrow.

Imagine buying your “Bart Simpson as a Rasta” shirt in a store selling tie-dyed Third Reich clobber?

http://youtu.be/wdbpb5IDEZU
An actual Korean skin product commercial.

And finally, here’s a totally fucking berserk Nazi-themed music video from Mongolia. I’ve posted this Third Reich meets P. Diddy item in the past, but it’s worth repeating. Wait for The Carpenters interlude!!!