Japan’s Justice Ministry has ended its partnership with a controversial Netflix dating show featuring former juvenile delinquents following public criticism that the programme could glorify past crimes.
The ministry had earlier launched a campaign with Netflix’s Badly in Love, featuring members of its second season, including heavily tattooed former delinquents. The show explores Japan’s “yankii” subculture and follows young men and women with troubled pasts, including former gang members and motorcycle groups.
The ministry’s rehabilitation bureau said the collaboration was intended to highlight rehabilitation and the belief that people could change. However, it later faced criticism over concerns that the campaign could cause distress to crime victims.
“It was never the intention … to endorse crime or delinquency,” the ministry said, adding that the partnership would be terminated. The show itself will continue to air without government involvement.
The backlash intensified after a Season 2 episode featured a participant admitting that he had been arrested as a teenager for setting someone on fire as part of an attempt to prove his courage.
The ministry stressed that ending the partnership did not undermine efforts to rehabilitate people with criminal pasts.
The show’s executive producer, Dai Ota, previously said producers had taken steps to ensure the programme was not seen as condoning violence, saying the aim was to portray marginalised young people as individuals capable of growth and change.
