China screams for Tojo ice cream on war anniversary

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A woman sells an ice cream in the shape of executed Japanese war criminal Hideki Tojo at an ice cream store in Shanghai. — AFP photo

A woman sells an ice cream in the shape of executed Japanese war criminal Hideki Tojo at an ice cream store in Shanghai. — AFP photo

SHANGHAI: An ice cream chain in China’s commercial hub Shanghai is offering a lickable likeness of the head of executed Japanese war criminal Hideki Tojo to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Iceason parlours are selling ice cream bars on a stick with the image of Tojo, former Japanese army general and prime minister, in a campaign with the slogan “10,000 people together eat the Japanese war criminal.”

An advertising poster displayed at one store in central Shanghai showed a chocolate Tojo, complete with glasses and a moustache, with the words: “Never forget national humiliation.”

Another store in Shanghai’s financial district yesterday offered five Tojo flavours: vanilla, blueberry, mocha, mango and tiramisu. But it had few takers for the ice cream, priced at 30 yuan (around US$4.70), even during the lunch hour.

Customers who buy 50 yuan-worth of ice cream can get a free Tojo bar if they use the online payment service of Chinese Internet giant Alibaba, store employees said. — AFP