Brighton Apologizes After Mitoma With WWII Japanese Officer Pic

The Premier League's Brighton & Hove Albion issued an apology on Friday after a social media post from its youth academy sparked outrage for featuring Japanese international Kaoru Mitoma holding an image of a notorious World War II officer.

According to the BBC, Brighton's academy on November 27 shared a congratulatory message celebrating its U12 team's qualification for the Premier League's "Christmas Truce Tournament" in Belgium. The post included a photo of Mitoma posing with a young academy player, both holding cards printed with the portrait of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese intelligence officer who fought in WWII.

Onoda was the last formally recognized Japanese soldier to surrender after the war, laying down his arms in 1974 — nearly three decades after Japan's defeat. During his years hiding in the Philippines, he killed 30 civilians on Lubang Island. He was later pardoned by the Philippine government and welcomed home in Japan.

Mitoma being pictured with Onoda's image immediately triggered fury on Chinese social media, where many fans expressed anger and disappointment. Brighton's academy deleted the post and issued an apology on X to Chinese fans.

The Christmas Truce Tournament, as the BBC noted, is named after the famous 1914 ceasefire on the Western Front, when British and German soldiers spontaneously halted fighting and played football together. The Premier League describes the tournament as an opportunity for U12 teams to compete with top European academies while learning about major historical events.

Brighton said the image was posted due to a "mistake," stressing that neither the club nor the Premier League was aware of the choice of photo.

The fury, however, soon spread beyond China. South Korea's Chosun Daily criticized Brighton for addressing only Chinese fans, arguing that Japan's wartime aggression affected not just China but also the Korean Peninsula, which endured decades of colonial occupation. Filipino social media users also weighed in, saying Brighton owed an apology to Filipinos given Onoda's actions on Lubang Island.