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Sanrio Cuts Ties With Vivant Amid China Backlash
Summary by The Tokyo Editorial Desk · Byline on the source page: Matthew Hernon , as published by Tokyo Weekender
· October 29, 2026
· 1 min read
Photo: Tokyo Weekender · view original
Sanrio announced Wednesday that it was cutting ties with the popular Japanese TV drama Vivant following criticism in China over the series’ depiction of Chinese agents torturing a Japanese operative. The company behind Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll and My Melody said in a post on its official Weibo ac...
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Summary created by The Tokyo Editorial Desk — automated, rule-governed Byline on source page Matthew Hernon, as published by Tokyo Weekender Original story Read at the source Source published Oct 29, 2026 Indexed here Oct 29, 2026 AI assistance Automated summary drawn from the source’s own published text Prepublication human review No — editorial rules, flagged-item review, and published samples
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What is this story about? Sanrio announced Wednesday that it was cutting ties with the popular Japanese TV drama Vivant following criticism in China over the series’ depiction of Chinese agents torturing a Japanese operative. The company behind Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll and My Melody said in a post on its official Weibo ac...
When was this published? This article was first published on October 29, 2026 by Tokyo Weekender and curated for The Tokyo readers.
Who reported this story? This story was reported by Matthew Hernon at Tokyo Weekender. To learn more about how The Tokyo selects and reviews stories, see our editorial standards .
Where can I find related coverage? See more business coverage from The Tokyo, or browse our daily briefing and topic hubs .
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