Baffled by "The Korean Wave"

[Torneyboy]

Oh..thanks

Looking foward to the next five

[Ongchaiyai]

Happy 5th Anniversary......2551 posts per year...213 per month.... or nearly 7 posts per day

(get a life)555555 555555

 

Well done.........

[WorldFun]

some just change nicks more often than others - none have a real life dont ye worry sir

[kamui]

The story of the "Korean Wave" in Japan has several layers of meaning.

 

First, Japan and Korea have a very complicated relationship since the Japanese Imperial Army occupied Korea in order to bring the "superior" Japanese culture to Korea. Japan never really apologized for the occupation and the atrocities and the comfort women issue and controversy concerning the Yaskuni Shrine in Tokyo are open wounds not only in the Korean national body.

 

For this reason until only one/two decades ago Korea banned most imports of Japanese culture (Manga, movies, e.g.). On the other side Koreans are/were used as cheap labor in Japan and were looked at by the Japanese as second class people.

 

The soccer world cup and the tv series "Winter Sonata" changed the image of Korea completely and started the "Korean Wave". The Japanese began to appreciate the Korean culture and started to go on holiday to Korea.

 

Now Korea is exporting it's pop culture to other Asian countries. Especially the new Korean cinema is very strong since a few years. The movie "Old Boy" for example is a cult film already.

 

Concerning the TV series - I don't know much about the Korean series -, but every Japanese tv station tries to have a major hit with it's series which only run for one season (unlike many Western or Latin American tv series). These series, even though highly sentimental, often reflect new developments, changes and critical issues in the Japanese society like racism/xenophobia, HIV, imploding family structures e.g.

Watching Japanese TV dramas can give foreigners a deeper understanding of the Japanese society (and the use of language everyday speech.

 

But don't forget fashions and fads spread extremely fast in Asia, especially in Japan. And these fashions and fads fades as fast as well (see Wikipedia in the link above).

 

PS: Before the "Korean Wave" there was a Japanese wave of movies, J-pop stars, Manga's and Animé's which highly influenced the pop culture of the surrounding countries. Actually Manga and Animé (but not the music) influenced the pop culture world wide.