Most customers who come to one of Taipei's newest theme restaurants, The Jail (
What many may not notice, especially now, is that mixed in among the chains, barbed wire, handcuffs and the eatery's distinctively "restrictive" atmosphere are a number of images hung on the walls that are strikingly familiar -- and very offensive to some people.
Gracing the walls of the restaurant, along with traditional prison pictures, are photos of Nazi concentration camps, as well as a mural depicting women, men and children standing behind a prison camp's barbed wire fence.
PHOTOS: CHEN CHENG-CHANG,TAIPEI TIMES
Even more provocative for some is a "Gas Chamber" sign hanging over the entrance to the restrooms.
The restaurant's manager, Stone Cheng (
"If there really is stuff here that makes people uncomfortable, then we will do what we can to change that," Cheng said.
And yesterday, Cheng did just that, packing up the pictures and painting over the "Gas Chamber" sign and removing a large wall mural.
Cheng said he never expected such a response, and didn't even know what was hanging on his walls until it was pointed out to him.
"We've brought together a lot of things -- a group canteen, individual cells and a VIP cell, all kinds of things, just for fun," he said. "We never thought this could have negative connotations for foreigners."
Pointing to the "Gas Chamber" sign, Cheng tried to explain why the sign was put over the restroom entrance, which has open pipes.
"We say jokingly that the bathroom is a place where noxious air collects, so we called it a `gas chamber,'" he said.
Some messages, however, need little explanation.
In one of the cells, a picture of the entrance to a concentration camp hangs on the wall. The words on a prison gate in the picture read "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Brings Freedom," the same sign that greeted Jewish prisoners who went to the camps during the World War II. Nearby is another picture of an emaciated concentration camp inmate who stands in the foreground, his ribs protruding, while others huddle on bunks behind him.
Cheng was not the only one who was impervious to the meaning of the surroundings. Sitting in one of the cells, a group of Taipei twenty-somethings are commenting about The Jail's interior design. None mentions the pictures on the wall.
"The decorations here are really interesting," says one diner. "I've never been to jail, so I thought I would give it a try."
Behind the push to have the items taken down was the local representative of the Israel Economic and Cultural Trade Office, Uri Gutman.
Gutman visited the restaurant several times over the past two days and has been impressed by the owners positive response.
"They were totally embarrassed and willing to do everything," Gutman said.
Rather than create a fuss over the incident, which Gutman calls "borderline," he hoped the mistake would be educational.
"It seems like it's more a case of ignorance," Gutman said. "This is not anti-Semitism, it's a lack of understanding."
German Trade Office Director General, Hilmar Kaht, who hadn't been to the restaurant, said he couldn't understand why anyone would want to go there.
"I don't know why people would want to go to a restaurant with a prison theme and have their rights read to them and get handcuffed. I don't understand it, perhaps it's sadomasochism," Kaht said.
Over the past few years, several pop cultural phenomena involving Nazi paraphernalia have cropped up in Taipei, including people wearing motorcycle helmets with Nazi decals and other Nazi imagery being used in connection with various consumer products.
Last November, the Israeli Economic and Cultural Trade Office and the German Trade Office had to step in and protest when a local electrical company used a cartoon caricature of Adolf Hitler in advertisements in store windows and subway stations throughout the city to promote a German-made space heater.
The company, K.E. and Kingstone, said it had decided to use Hitler to emphasize that the heaters were made in Germany. After the local Jewish and German communities protested, the matter was resolved and the company removed its ads.
At least in the case of The Jail, the owner of the restaurant has demonstrated cultural sensitivity, Gutman said.
However, when and where another case will crop up again is unclear. As Gutman put it, "sometimes these things are in the hands of the decorators."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source