AN MTV APPEARANCE by Japanese band Kishidan, in which  they wore Nazi-style uniforms, has led to a protest from a Jewish rights group, the Guardian reports.

Both MTV and Sony Music, the band’s management company, have had to apologise after the group were interviewed  on Japanese primetime television in uniforms that resembled those of the SS, the Nazi party’s paramilitary guard.

In a written protest to Sony Music Artists, rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal centre expressed his “shock and dismay” at the band’s lack of awareness and sensitivity. The Los Angeles-based centre monitors anti-semitic activities across the world.

“There is no excuse for such an outrage,” Cooper continued, saying that young Japanese may not be fully aware of the crimes committed by the Nazis, “but global entities like MTV and Sony Music should know better”.

The band, who are known for their extravagant outfits, appeared wearing uniforms that featured the iron cross, the death skull and other Nazi insignia.

In a statement issued today signed by both the chairman and president, Sony Music Artists said the band “deeply regretted” wearing the uniforms and that their choice of attire “was not meant to carry any ideological meaning.”