Thanks to the Internet and an early fascination with South Korea’s boy bands, young Japanese girls and women are shifting in droves to the latest pop idol sensation—Korean girl groups.
Rio Nagasaki, a 15-year-old junior high school student, is among a growing number of fans smitten by South Korean pop music—dubbed ‘‘K-pop’’—performed by artists of about her own age.
‘‘I learned about KARA a year ago before their debut via the Net,’’ she said, referring to the all-girl five-member group that is so far the most visible K-pop girl group in Japan.
‘‘They are very cute and dance well, and I like the fact that they are not that familiar with the Japanese language,’’ said Nagasaki after making a purchase from one of the stores selling K-pop goods in Tokyo’s Okubo district, which has become a focal point for K-pop fans.
Barely a minute’s walk from JR Shin-Okubo Station are several shops selling K-pop paraphernalia such as notebooks, mugs and accessories that shoppers flock to.
Lee Keun Hang, chief of Hanryu Hyakatten (Korean Department Store), said, ‘‘Customers have grown threefold now from last year, and almost 100% of our customers are female.’‘
‘‘Female fans in their 30s and above are already customers because of their love for South Korean dramas and boy bands, but recently I’m seeing more and more teenagers and those in their 20s coming here,’’ Lee said, noting that for avid fans visiting the Okubo district is like experiencing a ‘‘little South Korea.’‘
Masayuki Furuya, a radio DJ, journalist, and TV celebrity who is an expert on Korean pop culture, explained that the boom in K-pop girl groups stems from two factors—the captured fan base of popular South Korean boy bands and the accessibility of information via the Internet, especially the YouTube video-sharing site.
Via dkpopnews
‘‘What happened was when fans of boy bands such as TVXQ and BIGBANG were searching the Internet in 2009, there was so much information about K-pop girl groups, which were becoming increasingly popular, and as they learned more about K-pop they discovered the charm of these girl groups,’’ Furuya said.
As if to illustrate his point, two women in their 20s, who were shopping for Girls’ Generation items, said they were fans of the five-member TVXQ, popularly known in Japan as Toho Shinki, and this had ‘‘extended’’ to their fascination with the nine-member Girls’ Generation.
Furuya also pointed to the crucial role of YouTube, where the artists’ official music videos or songs have been made accessible for promotion, a far cry from the situation several years ago.
Realizing the potential of this industry, the South Korean government has thrown its full support behind its K-pop artists and Korean TV drama actors, and now their celebrities and the products they endorse are well-known in China, Vietnam, and Thailand, said the Japanese trade and industry’s June report, which noted the tough competition Japan now has with South Korea in terms of capturing the Asian market for pop culture.
According to Furuya, Japanese girls are attracted to K-pop female idols as there is currently no real Japanese idol to look up to, unlike in the 1990s with the likes of pop sensation Namie Amuro, and these idols have perfect bodies, can sing and dance, and perform songs that have catchy lyrics and can be sung easily in karaoke sessions.
According to the Korea Creative Content Agency Japan Office, exports of broadcasting content from South Korea in 2009 amounted to $183.59 million, up 1.9% from 2008. The main market is Asia, with Japan accounting for more than 60% of it.
Exports of music alone, based on the agency’s latest figures, were worth $16.50 million in fiscal 2008, of which the Japanese market accounted for 68%. The agency predicts the fiscal 2009 figures will higher due to the surge of K-pop girls’ groups around that time.
Since last summer, KARA and Girls’ Generation have made forays into the Japanese market. Their singles have ranked in Japan’s Oricon music charts, their concerts were jam-packed, and they are being featured in fashion magazines and on TV. While some of the members can speak Japanese, some fans said that when it comes to performing they prefer to listen to them sing in their native tongue.
Miho Matsumoto, a 31-year-old resident of Shizuoka Prefecture, said she prefers to listen to the Girls Generation’s original version of ‘‘Gee,’’ their debut single in Japan.
‘‘Korean songs have melodies that are not in Japanese songs, and when they sing it there’s already so much emotion in it, so I prefer them singing in Korean,’’ said Matsumoto, whose love of K-pop and all things Korean has made her take up studying the language.
Cha Yu Jin, one of the managers of KoreaPlaza, which has a vast collection of original and Japanese versions of K-pop songs, said that a great percentage of the original CDs have been sold.
But whether this phenomenon will grow to embrace the whole of Japan remains is to be seen.
‘‘In terms of music sales, the K-pop girl groups and boy bands are doing well, but on the other hand their popularity is more concentrated in one area, mostly in the metropolis and big cities, and this has yet to gather steam in the rural areas,’’ Furuya said.
Via dkpopnews
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