Naver pulled Taisho-era fashion from Zepeto in Korea after colonial backlash

In March 2022, fashion items evidently inspired by styles trending in Japan's 1912–26 Taisho era went on sale on Zepeto, Naver's metaverse platform. Korean users reacted within days: comments said 'Korea's heart-wrenching and humiliated history under Japanese colonial rule was just used as part of lucrative business for Naver', others said Naver had 'definitely crossed a line', invoking the 35-year occupation.

Some Zepeto users reported the items as content causing discrimination and political and social conflict, and threatened a boycott, accusing Naver of glamorising Taisho culture; Twitter users demanded an immediate sales ban and an official apology. On the Thursday, Naver said it had stopped selling the items in the Korean version of the service — while purchase remained available to users in other regions.

A Naver official said the items 'were initially launched from Naver's Japanese branch, thinking that a certain style is widely liked by Generation Z', and were deleted for Korean users because the style 'could remind them of the Taisho period'. Some comments pushed back that it was 'exaggeration' — everyday clothes, not military uniforms. The Korea Herald noted it was not the first such episode: in 2016 Maison Kitsuné drew criticism for a Rising Sun flag lookbook modelled by a young Korean.

Taisho-era aesthetics carry different meanings across the sea: for many Koreans they summon the loss of sovereignty, not vintage chic.

Launching from the Japanese branch without market-specific review left the decision blind to its largest home audience.

Halting sales only in Korea while items stayed purchasable elsewhere read as damage control, not principle.

Users had a reporting mechanism for discriminatory content — and used it, converting anger into platform-level action.

A global virtual-goods catalogue still lands locally: a cute retro style in Tokyo can read as the wardrobe of occupation in Seoul, and halting it only at home sharpens the point.

The items disappeared from the Korean version of Zepeto; Naver offered an explanation through an official rather than the demanded formal apology. The episode joined a recurring pattern in Korea of fashion echoing Japanese imperial-era imagery drawing public ire.