TRANSNATIONAL CULTURAL TRAFFIC IN NORTHEAST ASIA:

THE “PRESENCE” OF JAPAN IN KOREA’S POPULAR MUSIC CULTURE

by

Eun-Young Jung

M.A. in Ethnomusicology, Arizona State University, 2001

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of

School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

University of Pittsburgh

2007
 UMI Number: 3284579

Copyright 2007 by
Jung, Eun-Young

All rights reserved.

UMI Microform 3284579

Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.
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 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

This dissertation was presented

by

Eun-Young Jung

It was defended on

April 30, 2007

and approved by

Richard Smethurst, Professor, Department of History

Mathew Rosenblum, Professor, Department of Music

Andrew Weintraub, Associate Professor, Department of Music

Dissertation Advisor: Bell Yung, Professor, Department of Music

ii
Copyright © by Eun-Young Jung

2007

iii
 TRANSNATIONAL CULTURAL TRAFFIC IN NORTHEAST ASIA:

THE “PRESENCE” OF JAPAN IN KOREA’S POPULAR MUSIC CULTURE

Eun-Young Jung, PhD

University of Pittsburgh, 2007

Korea’s nationalistic antagonism towards Japan and “things Japanese” has mostly been a

response to the colonial annexation by Japan (1910-1945). Despite their close economic

relationship since 1965, their conflicting historic and political relationships and deep-seated

prejudice against each other have continued. The Korean government’s official ban on the direct

import of Japanese cultural products existed until 1997, but various kinds of Japanese cultural

products, including popular music, found their way into Korea through various legal and illegal

routes and influenced contemporary Korean popular culture. Since 1998, under Korea’s Open-

Door Policy, legally available Japanese popular cultural products became widely consumed,

especially among young Koreans fascinated by Japan’s quintessentially postmodern popular

culture, despite lingering resentments towards Japan. Because of the sensitive relationship

between the two countries, however, the extensive transnational cultural interaction between

Korea and Japan—including popular musical interaction, one of the most important aspects--has

been intentionally downplayed by Korean scholars and by the popular Korean press.

My dissertation theorizes what I call the “presence” of Japan, through its popular music,

in contemporary Korea. I identify three major shifts in the presence of Japan in Korea from the

1980s to 2006: the “illegal” presence (1980s-1997), the “transitional” presence (1998-2004), and

the “newly sanctioned” presence (since 2004). It is my contention that popular music plays a

crucial role in shaping Korean perceptions about Japan, and those perceptions define a central

iv
focus of my dissertation. The research I present in the dissertation is organized around four areas

of investigation: the kinds of "presence" Japan has had in the contemporary popular music scene

in Korea since the 1980s, the kinds of forces that have been instrumental in shaping Korean’s

consumption of Japanese popular music, the adjustments in Korea’s cultural politics in response

to transnational cultural flow from Japan before and since 1998, and Korean reception and

responses to the Japanese “presence” in Korea—its meanings and implications. I address these

issues within the political and economic context of Japan-Korea relations, whose impact on

musical practice and musical taste is complex and dynamic, demanding a multi-disciplinary

analysis.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... XI

LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. XII

PREFACE..............................................................................................................................XVIII

1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1

1.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................... 1

1.2 RESEARCH ISSUES AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK....................... 4

1.2.1 Kinds of Japanese “Presence” in Korea’s Popular Music since the 1980s

......................................................................................................................... 5

1.2.2 Forces Shaping Korean’s Consumption of Japanese Popular Music ...... 6

1.2.3 Korea’s Cultural Politics in Response to Transnational Cultural Flow

from Japan before and since 1998............................................................... 8

1.2.4 Korean Reception and Responses to the Japaense “Presence” in Korea –

Its Meanings and Implications..................................................................... 9

1.2.5 Scope and Delimitations ............................................................................. 10

1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 12

1.3.1 Transnational Cultural Traffic: Globalization/Localization .................. 12

1.3.2 Modern Political History of Korea and Japan: Colonial and Postcolonial

....................................................................................................................... 19

1.3.3 Korean Popular Music and Culture.......................................................... 21

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 1.3.4 Japanese Popular Music and Culture ....................................................... 23

1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..................................................................... 28

1.4.1 Primary Sources.......................................................................................... 29

1.4.2 Audio and Video Recordings ..................................................................... 30

1.4.3 Internet Sources .......................................................................................... 31

1.5 CHAPTER OUTLINE ...................................................................................... 32

2.0 KOREA AND JAPAN: CULTURAL RELATIONS AND POPULAR MUSIC

TRADITIONS ............................................................................................................ 37

2.1 RELATIONS BETWEEN KOREA AND JAPAN ......................................... 38

2.1.1 Pre-Colonial Era to 1997 ............................................................................ 38

2.1.2 Since the Beginning of the Open-Door Policy (in 1998) .......................... 43

2.2 INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE AND KOREAN POPULAR MUSIC .. 45

2.2.1 Introduction to Japanese Popular Music.................................................. 46

2.2.2 Introduction to Korean Popular Music .................................................... 57

2.3 INTRODUCTION TO POPULAR MUSIC INDUSTRY IN JAPAN AND

KOREA................................................................................................................ 75

2.3.1 Brief Outline of Popular Music Industry in Japan.................................. 76

2.3.2 Brief Outline of Popular Music Industry in Korea ................................. 81

2.4 SUMMARY REMARKS................................................................................... 86

3.0 JAPAN’S ILLEGAL PRESENCE ........................................................................... 88

3.1 ILLEGAL PRESENCE OF JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE IN KOREA

AND CULTURAL “ODOR” ............................................................................. 88

3.1.1 Manga/Manhwa .......................................................................................... 90

3.1.2 Anime ........................................................................................................... 92

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 3.1.3 Character Goods ......................................................................................... 97

3.1.4 Computer Games ........................................................................................ 97

3.1.5 Television and Film..................................................................................... 98

3.1.5.1 Television. ............................................................................................ 99

3.1.5.2 Film. ................................................................................................... 101

3.1.6 Magazines, Fashion, and “Style”............................................................. 102

3.1.7 Cuisine........................................................................................................ 103

3.2 ILLEGAL PRESENCE OF JAPANESE POPULAR MUSIC IN KOREA

AND CULTURAL “ODOR” ........................................................................... 104

3.2.1 De-Japanizing Korea and Purifying Korean Popular Music ............... 105

3.2.2 (Un) Hidden Presence of Japan and Pirated Cassettes in Korea ......... 111

3.2.3 Roo’Ra Incident in 1996 and the Hiding Ninja in Korea...................... 121

3.2.4 X-Japan and Korean Fans ....................................................................... 123

3.3 SUMMARY REMARKS................................................................................. 125

4.0 JAPAN’S TRANSITIONAL PRESENCE............................................................. 127

4.1 PUBLIC DEBATES ON THE OPEN-DOOR POLICY .............................. 127

4.1.1 Anti-Open-Door Policy............................................................................. 132

4.1.2 Pro-Open-Door Policy .............................................................................. 134

4.2 PROCESS OF THE OPEN-DOOR POLICY............................................... 136

4.2.1 The First Round/Stage (from October 1998).......................................... 136

4.2.2 The Second Round/Stage (from September 1999) ................................. 147

4.2.3 The Third Round/Stage (from June 2000).............................................. 155

4.2.4 The Fourth Round/Stage (from January 2004)...................................... 163

4.3 JAPANESE POPULAR MUSIC AND KOREAN FANDOM..................... 170

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 4.3.1 Popular Singers/Groups ........................................................................... 170

4.3.2 Popular Genres.......................................................................................... 175

4.3.3 Internet Communities: Age, Class, Gender, Activities.......................... 176

4.4 SUMMARY REMARKS................................................................................. 178

5.0 JAPAN’S NEWLY SANCTIONED PRESENCE AND TWO-WAY TRAFFIC180

5.1 POPULARIZING JAPANESE POP MUSIC ............................................... 181

5.1.1 Music Industry in the Age of Digitalization: Marketing Strategy,

Collaboration, and Competition .............................................................. 182

5.1.2 Normalizing the Consumption of Japanese Popular Music.................. 189

5.2 SURPRISING TURN, KOREAN WAVE IN JAPAN.................................. 198

5.2.1 Winter Sonata Syndrome ......................................................................... 198

5.2.2 Korean Wave in Japan ............................................................................. 202

5.3 KOREAN WAVE VS. JAPANESE WAVE IN KOREA ............................. 209

5.3.1 Repackaged Korean Wave in Japan ....................................................... 210

5.3.2 Re-Importing the Korean Wave from Japan ......................................... 212

5.3.3 Korean Wave vs. Japanese Wave in Korea: Hallyu vs. Illyu ................ 215

5.4 SUMMARY REMARKS................................................................................. 220

6.0 TRANSNATIONAL DYNAMICS.......................................................................... 222

6.1 JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE IN ASIA.............................................. 224

6.1.1 Japanese Character Goods in Asia: The Case of Hello Kitty .............. 227

6.1.2 Japanese Popular Music in Asia.............................................................. 230

6.1.2.1 Japanese Popular Music and Culture in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and

Mainland China ................................................................................ 231

6.1.2.2 Japanese Popular Music in Singapore............................................ 238

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 6.1.2.3 Japanese Popular Music in Thailand.............................................. 240

6.1.2.4 Japanese Popular Music in Asia—Contributing Factors and

Implications ....................................................................................... 241

6.2 AMERICAN INFLUENCES ON KOREAN POPULAR MUSIC.............. 244

6.3 THE NEW “PRESENCE” OF JAPAN IN KOREA AND KOREAN

PERCEPTIONS: POSTCOLONIAL DESIRE.............................................. 253

6.3.1 Pro-Japanese Popular Culture vs. Anti-Japan/Japanese in Korea...... 255

6.3.2 Korea’s Japanese Popular Music Fans Converse on the Internet ....... 261

6.3.3 Korean Desire for Japanese Popular Music and “Things Japanese” .. 266

6.3.3.1 Physical and Racial Resemblance ................................................... 267

6.3.3.2 Polished Production, Instrumental Performance Skills, and

Hybridity ........................................................................................... 268

6.3.3.3 Cuteness and Amateurish Personae................................................ 269

6.3.3.4 Sex Appeal ......................................................................................... 271

6.4 SUMMARY REMARKS................................................................................. 272

7.0 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................... 275

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 282

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Selected Songs from the Shin Yong-Hyun's List (1998)................................ 120

Table 4.1 1995 Public Opinion Survey........................................................................... 130

Table 4.2 Percentage of Illegal Japanese Products Purchase.......................................... 131

Table 4.3 1998 Public Opinion Survey........................................................................... 131

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Saijo Hideki's 1974 single cover, Namida to Yujo ("Tears and Friendship" left) and

Pink Lady's 1977 single cover, Challenge Concert (right) ......................................... 50

Figure 2.2 Matsuda Seiko single covers, Squall (1980, left) and Supreme (1987, right)

....................................................................................................................................................... 52

Figure 2.3 Southern All Star's single covers, 10 numbers (1979, left) and Tsunami (2000, right)

....................................................................................................................................................... 53

Figure 2.4 Amuro Namie's album covers, Sweet 19 Blues (1996, left) and 181920 (1998, right)

....................................................................................................................................................... 55

Figure 2.5 Key Boys' 1964 album cover, Kûnyô Ibsurûn Talkome (“Her Lips are Sweet” left) and

ADD4’s 1964 album cover, Pisôgui Yôin (“Woman in the Rain” right) .................... 60

Figure 2.6 Kim Min Gi's 1971 album cover, Kim Min Gi (left) and handwriting of the lyric,

“Ach’im Isûl” (“Morning Dew” right)........................................................................ 63

Figure 2.7 Cho Yong-Pil's seventh album cover, Nunmullo Poinûn Kûdae (“Looking at You

through Tears” 1985, left) and Lee Sun-Hee's first album cover, J ege/A! Yennariyô

(“Dear J/Ah! The Old Days” 1985, right) ................................................................... 65

Figure 2.8 Cho Yong-Pil's first album cover, Ch'angbakkui Yôja (“Woman outside of the

Window” 1980, left) and second album cover, Ch'oppul ("Candlelight" 1980, right) 66

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Figure 2.9 Ju Hyun-Mi's first album (1984) and second to fifth albums (1985) covers, Ssang

Ssang Party ("Couple's Party") ................................................................................... 67

Figure 2.10 Kim Wan-Sun's second album cover, Nahollo Ttûrapesô (“Alone at a Grden” 1987,

left) and her photo in 1992 (right) ............................................................................. 69

Figure 2.11 Seo Taiji wa Aidûl photos in 1993 (Seo Taiji in the middle, left) and in 1994 (Seo

Taiji in the front, right).............................................................................................. 72

Figure 2.12 Rain's 2004 album cover, It's Raining (left) and BoA's 2003 album cover, Atlantis

Princess (right) .......................................................................................................... 74

Figure 3.1 Korean Version, Dragon Ball (1990), vol. 19, p. 73 (left) and covers of vol. 41 and

vol. 42 (right)............................................................................................................... 92

Figure 3.2 Animation “Hwanggûm Pakjui” (“Golden Bat” first aired in 1968 in Korea)

....................................................................................................................................................... 95

Figure 3.3 Animation “Ujusonyôn Atom” (“Astro Boy” first aired in 1970 in Korea)

....................................................................................................................................................... 96

Figure 3.4 Movie Poster of Tongbaek Agassi (1964) ................................................................. 107

Figure 3.5 The Taemach'o Sagôn (The “Marijuana Incident”) in 1975 ..................................... 110

Figure 3.6 Kondo Masahiko's "Gingiragini Sarigenaku" (1981, left) and the pirated versions by

Ham Yun-Sang, “Ppaljunochopanambo” (1984, right)............................................. 114

Figure 3.7 Lee Sang-Eun's first album cover, Happy Birthday (1989, left) and the movie poster

of Damdadi (1989, right)........................................................................................... 116

Figure 3.8 Lee Sang-Eun's second album cover, Saranghalkkôya (1989) and eighth album cover,

Lee-Tszche (1997) ..................................................................................................... 118

Figure 3.9 The Korean group Roo'Ra's "Chônsangyuae" (“Love in Heaven,” 1996, left) and the

Japanese group Ninja's "Omatsuri Ninja" (“Festival Ninja,” 1990, right) ................ 122

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Figure 3.10 X-Japan's 1991 album cover Jealousy (left) and 1993 album cover Art Of Life (right)

..................................................................................................................................................... 124

Figure 4.1 Kurosawa Akira's Kagemusha (1980, left), Imamura Shohei's Unagi (1997, middle),

and Kitano Takeshi's Hana-Bi (1997, right) ............................................................. 137

Figure 4.2 101st Proposal, the original Japanese version (1991, Fuji TV, left), the Korean movie

version (1993, middle), and the Korean TV drama version (2006, SBS TV, right) . 139

Figure 4.3 H.O.T's photos in 2000 (top) and the cartoon, Dragon Ball (bottom)

..................................................................................................................................................... 143

Figure 4.4 The Japanese group, SPEED (top-left) and the Korean group, S.E.S (top-right),

FIN.K.L (bottom-left), and BABY V.O.X (bottom-right) ........................................ 146

Figure 4.5 Iwaii Sunji's Love Letter (1995), Nakata Hideo's Ring (1998), Nakano Hiroyuki's

Samurai Fiction (1999), and Suo Masayuki's Shall We Dance? (1996)................... 148

Figure 4.6 Yoshikazu Mera's album cover, Romance (1998, left) and Miyazaki Hayao’s

animation, Mononoke Hime's original sound tracks (1999, right) ............................ 151

Figure 4.7 Kuramoto Yuki's album covers, Romance (1998), Refinement (1998), Lake Misty Blue

(1999), and Sailing in Silence (2000)........................................................................ 152

Figure 4.8 Sakamoto Ryuichi's album covers, BTTB (2000, left), Cinemage (2000, middle), and

The Last Emperor (1987, right)................................................................................. 153

Figure 4.9 Japanese duo Chage & Aska's concert poster (left) and photo (right) of "Korea-Japan

Friendship Concert" in August, 2000 ........................................................................ 157

Figure 4.10 Y2K's Korean member, Go Jae-Geun, and Japanese members, Matsuo Yuichi and

Matsuo Koji (left) and Y2K's second album cover, TRY AGAIN (2000, right) ...... 159

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Figure 4.11 TV drama Friends (2000), co-produced by Korean television (MBC) and Japanese

television (TBS) featuring Korean top actor Won Bin (left) and Japanese top.. actress

Fukada Kyoko (right) .............................................................................................. 160

Figure 4.12 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan official album cover, Songs of Korea/Japan

(2002, left) and single cover, "Let's Get Together Now" (2002, right)................... 161

Figure 4.13 Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (or Cho Nan Gang)'s Korean single cover, "Chôngmal Sarang

Haeyo" ("I Really Love You" 2002, left) and the Korean movie, Chônhajangsa

Madonna ("Like a Virgin" 2006, right) featuring him as a Japanese language teacher

................................................................................................................................. 162

Figure 4.14 The most sold Japanese pop album in Korea in 2004, Nakashima Mika's album

cover, LOVE (2004, left) and popular Japanese male idol group, V6's album cover,

Very Best (2004, right) ............................................................................................ 166

Figure 4.15 Amuro Namie's first Korean concert poster and photo of "Amuro Namie – So Crazy

Tour in Seoul 2004" ................................................................................................ 167

Figure 4.16 Korean pop star Hyori (left) copied the Japanese superstar Amuro Namie’s dress,

hairstyle, and posture (right) ................................................................................... 168

Figure 4.17 Photos of X-Japan................................................................................................. .. 171

Figure 4.18 Similar photos of Korean actor Won Bin (the two photos on the left) and Japanese

actor/singer Kimura Takuya (the two photos on the right) ..................................... 173

Figure 5.1 Japanese rock band Bump of Chicken (left) and female ballad duo Kiroro (right)

..................................................................................................................................................... 190

Figure 5.2 Japanese hip-hop duo m-flo's press conference in Korea (December. 17. 2005)

..................................................................................................................................................... 191

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Figure 5.3 Japanese a cappella group, The Gospellers's 2004 album cover, G10 (left) and the

college-rock/rock band Spitz's photo (right) ............................................................. 192

Figure 5.4 Japanese rock/visual rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel's photo (left) and their concert photo,

"Awake Tour 2005" in Korea (right)......................................................................... 193

Figure 5.5 Japanese visual rock singer, Gackt's first Korean concert photos (January, 2006)

..................................................................................................................................................... 194

Figure 5.6 Popular Japanese male idol band, Arashi (2006, left) and female idol singer, Koto

Maki's Korean concert photo (2006, right) ............................................................... 195

Figure 5.7 Japanese hardcore rapper, Zeebra's photos (2006) .................................................... 197

Figure 5.8 Korean TV drama Kyôul Yôn'ga's main actor Bae Yong-Joon and main actress Choi

Ji-Woo’s photo in the Japanese version title photo, Fuyu no Sonata (“Winter Sonata”)

by NHK (2003).......................................................................................................... 199

Figure 5.9 Bae Yong-Joon's first official product, Joon-Bear (2005, left) and his photo on the

cover of Japanese magazine, Stars Korea (2005, right)............................................ 200

Figure 5.10 Diagram of the characters' love relationships in the TV drama "Winter Sonata"

shown in the music TV program Utaban (TBS) in Japan (2004, left) and the

Japanese book cover of Bae Yong-Joon's diet diary, 100 Days of Bae Yong Joon

(August, 2005, right) ............................................................................................... 201

Figure 5.11 Kusanagi Tsuyoshi's Korean learning book, Chomaru-Buku (lit., "Real/True-Book,"

2002, left) and his photo at the First Seoul Drama Awards (August, 2006, right) . 204

Figure 5.12 Korean singer BoA's photos from Japanese music TV (left: 2004, right: 2006)

..................................................................................................................................................... 206

Figure 5.13 Korean singer Ryu’s photo (2004, left) and Park Yong-Ha’s Japan concert photo

(August, 2005, right) ............................................................................................... 208

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Figure 5.14 Korean male singer K's photo (2005, left) and teenage girl Younha's photo (2006,

right) ........................................................................................................................ 213

Figure 5.15 Korean pop star Se7en's Osaka concert photo (2006, left) and his stamp-booklet

produced in Japan, “Se7en Stamp” (2006, right) .................................................... 216

Figure 5.16 Korean pop star Rain's Japanese DVD cover, Rain Official Premium Box Road for

Rain (2006, left) and his photo at the Time Magazine party in the U. S. (2006, right)

................................................................................................................................. 218

Figure 6.1 Taiwan's EVA Airline EVA Air Hello Kitty Jet's photos including female fight

attendants' wearing Hello Kitty apron and Hello Kitty marked in-flight foods (2006,

left) and the popular Japanese pop singer Hamasaki Ayumi's doll figure holding Hello

Kitty, Ayumi Hamasaki X Hello Kitty (20087, right) ............................................... 228

Figure 6.2 Korean female trio Kim Sisters' first album cover, The Kim Sisters: Their First Album

(1958, left) and their American concert photo in the cover of American magazine, Life

(1960, right)............................................................................................................... 246

Figure 6.3 Japanese man playing Play Station 3 at Akihabara (left) and his another photo

showing him wearing the famous anime character Sailor Moon-like girl's school

uniform (2007, right)................................................................................................. 260

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 PREFACE

Although I could scarcely have imagined it then, the initial seed for this dissertation was planted

when I was in junior-high school in Korea in the late 1980s. I was heading to my piano teacher’s

house for my weekly lessons, and her house happened to be near one of the many popular

shopping districts in Seoul. After finishing my hour-long lesson, I often spent a little time

looking at small shops and street carts selling all kinds of goods such as clothes, shoes, bags, hair

accessories, Hello Kitty stationery goods, and little snacks before I took the bus or subway back

home. One day, I saw a man selling cassettes on the street for only about a dollar a piece. I did

not think about whether they were legal or illegal, but simply that I had found a bargain. There

were several hundred cassettes, mostly Korean and American popular music, but mixed with a

few other varieties. Since I could listen to Korean and American popular songs on TV or radio

anytime, I grabbed instead a few compilation cassettes of Japanese popular songs, knowing

nothing about them other than they might be something “different.”

At home I listened to those cassettes in my sound-proofed piano practice room, which my

parents prepared for me to practice piano and to listen to the Western classical piano pieces that I

had to practice. The Japanese songs on these cassettes did not strike me as strange or foreign,

but instead easy to hum along with, though I could not understand the language. Even then I

remember feeling that the musical sound was more polished and sophisticated than in the Korean

pop songs of the day. Perhaps because these were new, and information about them were rather

xviii
vague, I found I did not easily tire of listening to them in the way I did when listening to Korean

or American popular songs. Most of my friends at the all-girls’ school I attended were listening

to the latest Korean hit songs and some American popular songs; I enjoyed these as well, but

kept listening to the cassettes by myself well into my high-school years. A few times on school

picnics or school trips to other cities, we would hear someone playing Japanese cassettes for

dancing, including the song “Gingiragini.” Many students were dancing to the song’s repetitive

rhythm and sang along with the song’s refrain phrase, “gingiragini,” which was easy to catch by

ear. Later I learned that some of the Japanese songs on my cassettes were played at disco clubs

and roller-skating rinks and that some students were quite familiar with these Japanese songs.

This was how I began to listen to Japanese popular songs and to begin to recognize a “presence”

of Japan in Korea.

I began to update my Japanese cassette collection every 3-4 months. Not only did I want

to listen to other Japanese songs, but the physical quality of the cassettes was so poor that they

did not last long. In high school I found other classmates who were listening to illegal Japanese

cassettes like me. Most of my close friends, however, were either not interested in listening to

Japanese popular music or considered my interest in these songs as inappropriate, if not

incomprehensible. Because we all learned in Korea to follow the anti-Japanese sentiment toward

anything Japanese, especially in public, my conservative friends were repulsed by the fact that I

was listening to Japanese songs. Since I was studying classical piano, most of them did not even

expect me to listen any kind of popular music, least of all Japanese. One of my classmates,

however, was studying to be a fashion designer and had become quite familiar with Japanese

fashion magazines. She was not so interested in Japanese music, but we could share our

curiosity about Japan. We visited shops selling various imported items from Japan and most of

these shops played Japanese songs to attract customers. It was just a kind of secret pleasure we

xix
shared, knowing something that most of our friends did not know and did not expect us to know,

but I thought little more about it until one day I discovered something shocking.

I was listening to the radio in 1989 and heard the newly released song, “Saranghalkkôya”

(“I Will Love”) by Lee Sang-Eun, a top female singer at that time. As soon as I heard the

introduction, I realized that it was exactly the same as one of the songs from my Japanese

cassettes. I was so excited and surprised that I brought a couple of my friends to my house and

played the two versions for them. Then I asked them if I should call the broadcasting company

or news media. We did not know what to do, and I did not have the courage as a high school

student to call and to accuse this famous singer of piracy. Yet as I watched her reach the top of

music charts with that song, I felt so disappointed at her and at Korean popular music itself.

In the years since, I have sometimes wondered what might have happened if I had taken

some action then. Would it have reduced further piracy in Korean popular music? Because she

was very popular, it might have been big news and perhaps ended her music career, more like

what happened to the group Roo’Ra in 1996, who copied a Japanese song when they were at the

top of the charts and became embroiled in enormous controversy and embarrassment when a fan

uncovered and publicized their piracy.

During my masters’ study at Arizona State University (1998-2001), I came to know a

large number of Japanese students and through them expanded my knowledge of Japanese

popular music and other aspects of Japanese popular culture (TV dramas, anime, manga). As I

came to learn through them, the hidden presence of Japan in Korea was not limited to music, but

was evident in nearly all realms of popular culture.

My curiosity to learn more about the Japanese presence in Korea stemmed from my little

discovery of the Korean singer’s piracy of the Japanese song, which was never publicized. Such

partially hidden presence of Japan in Korean popular music has been criticized since then, and

xx
especially since the Roo’Ra incident in 1996, but copying of Japanese songs (both legally and

illegally) and the use of ideas from Japanese songs still occurs in Korean popular music today,

more than three years after the official government ban on Japanese popular music was lifted.

And along with this continued copying from Japan, the Japanese presence in Korea is now

greatly augmented and transformed by legal concerts, CD sales, and internet downloads of

Japanese pop music there. As the presence of Japanese popular music in the Korean popular

music scene becomes stronger than ever and much more apparent to the Korean public, I cannot

help but think back to my discovery of the illegal and little known presence of Japan in the late

1980s, all of which started from my picking up a few pirated cassettes sold on the streets of

Seoul.

In the present study, I explore the changing presence of Japan in Korea’s popular music

world since the mid-1980s, inquiring into the nature of this transnational cultural flow or

“traffic”--what aspects have been brought in, by what means, and with what resultant meanings.

I offer both a detailed chronology of the flow and an interpretation of its cultural significance in

contemporary Korean society. The theoretical underpinnings for this study are introduced in my

introduction (chapter 1) and I need not go into those here. My prefatory remarks are simply

intended to situate my initial involvement in a phenomenon that has mushroomed in various

forms around the globe—namely, the transnational traffic in popular music and culture.

Note on Orthography

In this study I use McCune-Reischauer system of romanization for Korean words and the

Kunrei-shiki system for Japanese words. For individual Korean and Japanese names, I follow

the Korean and Japanese convention that family name precedes given names. The titles of

songs, movies, and TV dramas are routinely given in romanized form with English translations,

xxi
unless the original titles are in English. All translations and transliteration are by the author

unless noted otherwise.

Acknowledgements

Many people supported me in various ways completing my doctoral study. I owe an

immeasurable debt of gratitude to my advisor and dissertation supervisor, Bell Yung, without

whose patience, support, productive criticism, and warm encouragement, all of my doctoral work

would have been impossible. I also owe deep thanks to my committee members. Andrew

Weintraub has thoughtfully read and commented on many of the papers I have written, not only

for his courses, but for conference presentations; and his emphasis on cultural studies within

ethnomusicology helped to inspire my own interests in the topic and approach taken in this

dissertation. I thank Richard Smethurst for his valuable advice and interest in my work since I

took his course in Japanese history. I would also like to thank Mathew Rosenblum for his

suggestions and thoughtful encouragement throughout my doctoral study.

For financial support, I would like to thank the Music Department at the University of

Pittsburgh during my early doctoral study, 2001-2004. I am also grateful to the Asian Studies

Center at the University of Pittsburgh for the years of financial support provided through the

Mitsubishi Foundation Fellowship (2004-2006) and Japan Iron and Steel Federation Fellowship

(2006-2007) in Japanese Studies and several travel grants for presenting papers at national

conferences.

Portions of chapters 2 and 4 have been published in the journal Asian Musicology 9

(2006): “Transnational Popular Music Culture and Local Cultural Politics: Korea’s Open-Door

Policy on Japanese Popular Culture (1998-2004) and its Antecedents.” I would like to thank the

xxii
guest editor and Pittsburgh alumnus, Prof. Tong Soon Lee, for inviting me to contribute to the

journal and giving me invaluable guidance and feedback.

I am grateful to all the Japanese students at Arizona State University who encouraged my

interest in Japanese popular music and generously shared their musical experiences and

knowledge with me. I also owe many thanks to my godmother Misa for her warm care and love

as I continued my doctoral studies in Pittsburgh.

Last, but certainly not least, my deepest thanks and love go to my family in Korea for

their unfailing encouragement, patience, love, and support. I dedicate this work to you as a token

of gratitude, respect, and love. I cannot imagine how I could have even started this work without

you.

xxiii
 1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze what I call the “presence” of Japan in Korea’s popular

music world over a dynamic twenty-year period--from the mid 1980s, when most Japanese

popular cultural products could not be imported legally into Korea, until 2006, two years after

the final stage of the Korean government’s four-stage lifting of its ban on Japanese cultural

products.

Scholars have pointed to the emphasis in Japan during the post-war period on developing

and marketing various products internationally, such as automobiles and electronics, that were

more or less culturally neutral. In Iwabuchi’s insightful interpretation, these products bear no

cultural “odor,” i.e., do not in and of themselves suggest the culture of the people that produced

them. 1 Automobiles and most electronics were invented in the West, but skillfully built and

modified by Japanese for international commerce. Also, some Japanese popular cultural

products often bear strong influences from elsewhere, especially the West, but have gained

strong followings elsewhere in Asia as “Japanese” products. Prominent among these is Japanese

popular music, which, while not “smelling” as uniquely Japanese as shakuhachi and koto music,

1
Iwabuchi Koichi, Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. (Durham and
London: Duke University Press, 2002) p. 24.

1
kabuki drama, or kimonos, does bear Japanese cultural “odor”—most fundamentally through the

use of Japanese language, but also through musical style, performer image, and personality. 2

Along with other forms of popular cultural expression, Japanese popular music has been

steadily gaining a foothold in Korea over the last decade. Why and how this is so, and what it

means to Koreans form the core questions addressed in this dissertation. Drawing on the

descriptions of particular genres, performers, media practices, and audience reactions, I theorize

what I call the “presence” of Japan, through its popular music, in contemporary Korea. It is my

contention that this music plays a crucial role in shaping Korean perceptions about Japan, and

those perceptions define a central focus of my dissertation.

For Korea, as for most of Asia, Japan has stood apart—from the rest of Asia and from the

West--and it continues to do so now as it has through recent history. An imperial power that

sought political and cultural dominion over most of Asia in the first half of the twentieth century,

and an unprecedented success economically in the second half, Japan has seemed and been

“different” from its neighbors, however much they may share with Japan culturally through

common historical roots and centuries of interaction. In this dissertation, I am concerned with

ascertaining the nature of this “difference” in Japanese pop and how Koreans construct this

perceived “difference.”

Among a small but growing number of studies on contemporary cultural interaction and

transnational cultural traffic, this dissertation focuses on a unique transnational case of musical

interaction—one whose general pattern bears resemblance to instances in other parts of the world

and in previous historical periods, but whose particular configuration is constituted around socio-

historical and aesthetic contexts unique to contemporary Korea and Japan. Musical interaction

across cultural and national borders, of course, has figured prominently in a number of

2
Ibid. pp. 24-28.

2
ethnomusicological studies. 3 But nearly all have dealt with the influence of Western musical

genres and global technology. This dissertation considers music that bears clear Western

influences, but whose locus of production is Japan and whose acknowledged national and

cultural identity is “Japanese.”

My focus on Japanese popular music and its reception and influence in contemporary

Korea is also intended to challenge some views prevailing currently in East Asian area studies

that focus on the very recent export of Korean popular culture to other Asian countries and

discuss greater China and Southeast Asia but not Korea in their analysis of transnational flows of

Japanese popular culture. Although the Korean Wave—the recent spread of Korean popular

culture (especially TV dramas and music) to other Asian countries (also called Hallyu)--has

recently caught the attention of the popular press, and of a few scholars, the accelerated flow in

the other direction (from Japan to Korea) has been largely ignored. Japanese popular cultural

transnationalism elsewhere in Asia has recently been documented and interpreted by scholars, 4

but the Korean component of the internationalization of Japanese popular music industry and the

Japanese component of Korea’s popular music scene have simply gone missing from scholarly

scrutiny. This is not because it is unimportant culturally or small-scale commercially, but likely

because it is recent, difficult to document, and a source of potential embarrassment for Koreans

eager to celebrate the recent internationalization of Korean popular culture and to downplay the

ongoing cultural presence of Japan in Korea. In addition, this is due to the official ban on

3
A comprehensive list would be excessively long. Prominent studies, many dealing primarily with popular music,
include the following: Arnold 1991, Becker 1980, Bender 1991, Charry 2000, Erlmann 1991, Erlmann 1999, Gay
and Lysloff 2005, Manuel 1988, Mitchell 2000, Matsue 2003, Nettl’s seminal collection of essays on Western
impact (1985), and contributions on popular music and Western influence in many countries and regions by various
scholars in the volumes of the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music.
4
See especially Iwabuchi Koichi, “Return to Asia? Japan in Asian Audiovisual Markets” in Consuming Ethnicity
and Nationalism: Asian Experiences, edited by Kosaku Yoshino. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999) pp.
177-196 and Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. (Durham and London:
Duke University Press, 2002); Benjamin Wai-ming Ng, “Japanese Popular Music in Singapore and the
Hybridization of Asian Music.” Asian Music 34 (1), 2002: 1-18.

3
Japanese popular cultural imports to Korea (which has been lifted only recently, in stages from

1998 to 2004) and the reluctance of Korean observers to acknowledge the renewed interest on

the part of Korean youth in Japanese popular culture.

Research on Japanese popular music in Japanese and English increases in volume each

year, but the coverage is still limited mostly to general discussion of Japanese enka and

karaoke—their prominence in Japan and their influences in other parts of the world. 5 Research

on any aspect of popular music in Korea is limited mostly to sociological studies, and treatment

of the topic in English has barely begun. 6 This dissertation is both about cultural “traffic” 7 and

about notions of cultural identity (both cultural self and cultural other). Both the nature of the

traffic and the notions of identity are dynamic, changing more rapidly now than perhaps ever

before. As popular culture is so evanescent and fleeting, it is my hope here to make available

material that might otherwise evade documentation and thereby to serve the work of future

scholars wishing to look back on the tumultuous turn of the twenty-first century.

1.2 RESEARCH ISSUES AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The research I have been conducting and will present in the dissertation is organized around four

areas of investigation: 1) the kinds of "presence" Japan has had in the contemporary popular

music scene in Korea since the 1980s, 2) the kinds of forces that have been instrumental in

shaping Korean’s consumption of Japanese popular music, 3) the adjustments in Korea’s

cultural politics in response to transnational cultural flow from Japan before and since 1998, 4)

5
See especially Yano 2002, Mitsui and Hosokawa 1999.
6
See Howard 2006.
7
Marcus and Myers 1995, Iwabuchi, Muecke, and Thomas 2004.

4
Korean reception and responses to the Japanese “presence” in Korea—its meanings and

implications.

1.2.1 Kinds of Japanese “Presence” in Korea’s Popular Music since the 1980s

In order to assess the status and impact of Japanese popular music in Korea, it is important to

have an accurate understanding of precisely which genres and performers from Japan have been

popular in Korea over the period in question. This entails technical descriptions of musical

genres, as well as accounts relating to representative singers and groups. Given that in the 1980s

the Korean government still forbade appearances by Japanese pop singers in live concerts or on

radio and television, and forbade the sale of Japanese popular music CDs and related media

(DVDs, cassettes, videos), but by 2004 had abolished these strictures, we should expect a marked

change in Korea’s taste for Japanese popular music in the last decade. In my quest to trace this

change, I draw not only on evidence relating to the sale of Japanese popular music (even while it

was still illegal at the beginning of this period) but also on audience behavior and reactions as

directly observed and as documented on Korean websites devoted to Japanese popular music.

From the very wide spectrum of what constitutes Japanese popular music, Korea appears to have

devoted most of its attention to what can best be described as “mainstream” pop. This genre has

been popular throughout the period, but other genres (visual rock, beat rock, jazz pop, idol-pop

or idoru-pop, techno) have recently begun to show growing popularity among Koreans, with

corresponding changes in Korean’s perception and desire for things Japanese.

Beyond identifying and describing the genres and representative performers, I seek to

identify distinctive musical and extra-musical features of the Japanese pop that is consumed in

Korea. There are two dimensions to this line of inquiry. The first is simply the issue of

difference: how Japanese pop is different (or not) from Korean. The second is the issue of

5
Japaneseness: what aspects identify an example of Japanese pop as “Japanese” (as opposed to

“Asian” or even just “contemporary”). On music television and at CD stores, Japanese pop is

clearly separated—with specific shows devoted to Japanese pop on television, and separate

displays and sales rack sections in the store. Television shows intersperse music videos with

banter about Japanese pop singers, largely focused on personality and professional

accomplishment. These shows, like CD liner notes, say very little about musical style; but the

extent to which the musical sound itself differs from the rather narrow range of commercially

available Korean popular music will be addressed in the chapters that follow.

Following up on stylistic description and the identification of distinctive features, another

important issue to be addressed is the extent to which Japanese popular music-- and whatever

elements within it that identify it as Japanese--are explicitly enjoyed as “Japanese”--i.e., enjoyed

not merely because they are pleasant, or distinctive, but because they are known, felt, understood

to be Japanese. This question sets into motion several important related issues. First, what

characteristics beyond musico-technical ones are thought to be Japanese (e.g., cuteness, humor,

wildness, humility, overt sexuality, etc.)? Second, in contemporary Korea what accounts for the

popularity of these characteristics? In other words, what is the lure of Japanese popular music?

If it is something specifically “Japanese,” then why do Koreans find it attractive? Is it in spite of

or partly because of Japan’s former military and more recent economic might? Is it in spite of or

partly because of Japan’s self-acclaimed ability to assimilate and Asianize Western modernity?

1.2.2 Forces Shaping Korean’s Consumption of Japanese Popular Music

Transnational traffic in popular cultural forms such as music involves a complex set of forces.

Beyond the individual musicians—whose sound and public image is almost always heavily

shaped by music industry concerns—a range of contemporary media as well as audiences’

6
response to the media also play crucial roles. During its recent illegal phase (prior to 1998)

pirated cassettes of Japanese originals and cover versions by Korean musicians were two major

avenues for the influx of Japanese popular music. Since then, a range of recording media, most

importantly CDs, and broadcast media, most importantly music television, have been providing

Koreans with ready access to some kinds of Japanese popular music. This dissertation

documents the dominance of mainstream Japanese popular music but also traces the gradual

broadening of offerings through these media up to 2006. Particular attention is paid to the ways

the music industries of Japan and of Korea have facilitated and defined what is presented,

especially since January 2004. Going beyond audio recordings and broadcasts, I will also be

concerned with the presence of Japanese popular music on Korean websites and on Japanese or

international websites accessible to Korean fans. I will also be examining the content and

demonstrable role of print media—especially fan magazines—in promoting Japanese popular

music and in establishing particular ways of understanding, or “appreciating” this music. And I

will devote some of my inquiry to the spread of Japanese music through file-sharing (MP3, video

files, TV clips).

Going beyond mere documentation of Japanese music in Korea’s various media, my

guiding interest is to uncover, or at least to suggest, other subtle cultural forces that continue to

shape Koreans’ perceptions and aesthetic responses to Japanese popular music. The music

industry may foster certain images and promote certain sounds, but for Koreans one must also

take into consideration the long history of animosity, resistance, suspicion, envy, admiration—

one is tempted to say “love-hate” feelings—on the part of Koreans toward Japan. What evidence

emerges from audience statements and behavior concerning the Japaneseness of Japanese

popular music? In the act of meaning construction, to what extent do Korean audiences appear

to be passively following or actively influencing music industry designs?

7
 Clearly it would be desirable in addressing issues of meaning construction in the

transnational flow of Japanese popular music into Korea to have as accurate a read as possible on

who is doing the consuming. Without access to specific demographical data, it is still clear from

press coverage, internet postings, and personal observations, that audiences for live concerts,

internet downloads, and CD purchases are predominantly young Koreans, from mid-teens to

late-twenties, from upper and upper-middle classes. Some Japanese singers and groups (such as

the “idol” singers) appeal primarily to a very young demographic. Few, if any, current Japanese

pop stars appeal to Koreans over forty. Because of the longstanding official ban and the

remaining restrictions even after the fourth-stage of the Open-Door Policy (January 2004), more

precise sociological profiles of audiences up to 2003 is difficult to determine. Nevertheless, I

will briefly document the typical audience configuration from the end of the Open-Door Policy

period as the Korean audiences of Japanese popular music became more visible.

1.2.3 Korea’s Cultural Politics in Response to Transnational Cultural Flow from Japan

before and since 1998

I have alluded earlier to the seemingly willful choice on the part of Korean popular press and

broadcast media to ignore or downplay the recent Japanese presence in Korea, including

Japanese pop, which is closely related to Korea’s current nationalistic stance as well as an

underlying postcolonial desire. Throughout the individual chapters, I address this issue by

examining Korea’s cultural politics, which have been frequently redirected under the Korean

government’s close monitoring of the Japanese popular culture industry’s influx and of Korean

consumer behavior, as well as the Korean popular culture industry’s outflux and Japanese

consumer behavior. It is my contention that the national pride in the recent exporting of Korean

popular music (and other forms of cultural expression—the Korean Wave) and the national

8
embarrassment over a newly vigorous interest in Japanese popular music (and other forms of

cultural expression from Japan) 8 constitute a fundamental component in the overall cultural

context in which Japanese popular music is consumed and understood in Korea. It would seem

not only to be evidence of a deeply ingrained Korean sentiment, but also to be actively

contributing to the contemporary conceptual world of Korea itself.

1.2.4 Korean Reception and Responses to the Japaense “Presence” in Korea – Its

Meanings and Implications

I strive in this dissertation to demonstrate that, due to the residual collective memory of prior

inequities, the meaning or emotional “space” given to Japanese music by Koreans is not merely a

duplicate of that given to other foreign music. For Korea, Japan has been considered as a “close

but distant” country and remembered as an assailant/invader. But, at the same time, Koreans

have been envious and jealous of Japan’s economic success and international political power.

Although Koreans in general (especially the older generation) dislike Japan and criticize pro-

Japanese Koreans as betrayers, they prefer Japanese products (especially electronics) and enjoy

Japanese food and animation. Koreans’ contradictory attitudes toward Japan, Japanese people,

Japanese products, and Japanese culture are deeply rooted in their painful and embarrassing

memories from being colonized by the neighbor country that had been a recipient of Korean

cultural influences over a period of many centuries. Over all, though, the previously existing,

still remaining, and currently growing Japanese “presence” in Korea is something that many

Koreans would like to deny or ignore.

8
A number of new music TV and radio programs air Japanese pop-only programs. Also, a few newly released
Japanese pop recordings rose to the top of the sale-ranking charts.

9
 In sum, my exploration of these issues takes shape from a number of perspectives-- on

style and repertory (identifying the particular Japanese genres and artists most popular in Korea),

mediascapes (tracing the kinds of media flows through which Japanese pop reaches Korean

audiences, and the patterns of interaction between the Korean and Japanese music industries),

gender ideology (how Japanese sound and image are perceived and influence Koreans in relation

to notions of femininity, masculinity, cuteness, machismo), generational and social class

differences (what segments of society seem especially drawn to the Japanese presence in popular

music and with what values), and wider political ramifications (changes in the Korea-Japan

political landscape relating to music and popular culture more broadly).

1.2.5 Scope and Delimitations

This dissertation is concerned with cultural issues relating to the transnational traffic in popular

music and culture. It is not a traditional musicological study of musical style as such, though it

references stylistic features and genre names widely known to the vast majority of popular music

consumers and scholars (such as “hip-hop,” “heavy metal,” “ballads,” “rock ‘n’ roll”). It does

not rely on musical transcriptions or musical analysis, as the issues at stake in the dissertation,

from international marketing strategies to artists’ personality and visual images simply are not

illuminated by focus on musico-technical details. Even consumers’ remarks on the aural

dimension of Japanese popular music’s appeal and meaning to them rarely reference the kinds of

musical specifics revealed in musical transcription and analysis. One could certainly design a

companion study whose aim was to identify particular stylistic markers of Japanese popular

music and explore the extent to which these aspects are evident in Korean or other popular

musics, but such a stylistic comparison is not the intention of the present study. The approach I

take in this dissertation falls well within the purview of the field of ethnomusicology as

10
evidenced by current published scholarship, and it also invites a wider readership of those

interested in cultural studies and East Asian area studies but who might find musical analysis to

be somewhat daunting.

A second limitation of this study is its focus throughout on Japanese popular music and

culture in Korea, rather than on the full range of foreign popular cultural influences there. It will

be clear, from the introductory coverage of Japanese and Korean popular music histories in

Chapter Two and the section on American popular presence in Korea given in Chapter Six, that

Western, and particularly American, influences have been very strong in both Japan and Korea.

Brief mention is even made of Hong Kong popular music and film in Korea, but more

comprehensive coverage of this and other foreign influences in Korea (or in Japan), however

interesting and important, would lead away from the core issues at stake in this dissertation. The

coverage of other foreign influences is, then, intended to provide comparative perspective on the

Japanese presence in Korea.

A third delimitation of this study is its focus on the presence of Japanese popular music in

Korea and the Korean public’s overall perceptions of this presence, rather than an analysis of the

sociological make-up of audiences, based on age, social class, and gender, in relation to

particular genres and individual performers. As I mentioned earlier, accurate data on the

sociological make-up of audiences up to the end of Open-Door Policy is unavailable due to the

Korean government’s official ban and restrictions. In Chapters Four and Five, however, I will

provide brief coverage of typical audience configurations, as Korean audiences’ consuming

behavior and their opinions on the newly rising presence of Japan in Korean become more

openly documented and discussed since the end of Open-Door Policy.

11
 1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW

This dissertation draws on scholarly writings relevant to four broad subject areas: 1)

transnational cultural traffic (& globalization/localization) and popular culture; 2) modern

political history of Korea and Japan (colonial and postcolonial); 3) Korean popular music and

culture; 4) Japanese popular music and culture.

1.3.1 Transnational Cultural Traffic: Globalization/Localization

The notion of cultural traffic or ‘traffic in culture’ began to figure prominently in anthropological

works, such as those by James Clifford (in particular his Routes: Travel and Translation in the

Late Twentieth Century, 1996) and George Marcus and Fred Myers (especially the edited volume

Traffic in Culture: Refiguring Art and Anthropology, 1995). The traffic metaphor also figures in

the more recent volume edited by Iwabuchi, Muecke, and Thomas (2004), Rogue Flows: Trans-

Asian Cultural Traffic, which focuses primarily on East and Southeast Asia. The emphasis on

the mobility of cultural forms goes against the grain of earlier anthropological and

ethnomusicological studies, in which forms of cultural expression were studied only within their

originating cultural context. In fact, the distinguished anthropologist Clifford Geertz’s statement

that “art and the equipment to grasp it are made in the same shop” 9 was a view widely shared by

ethnomusicologists working in the 1970s and 1980s. While Geertz’s view is eloquently stated

and true in some senses, it ignores what was soon to become perhaps the main focus of the next

generation of anthropologists, and ethnomusicologists: globalization. In the following Chapters,

I am expressly concerned with art made in “a different shop,” one intending its product partially,

9
Clifford Geertz, “Art as a Cultural System” in Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology.
(New York: Basic Books, 1983) p. 118.

12
but not exclusively, for consumption in its country of origin. Moreover, I am concerned with the

meaning surrounding its travel (being “trafficked”) to Korea.

The literature on globalization is now truly enormous. The word ‘globalization’ and its

frequent companion (and apparent opposite), ‘localization,’ have appeared in the titles of

hundreds of articles and books and in the pages of countless more. The spread of cultural forms,

political systems, ways of thinking, ways of interacting, all fall under the rubric of

‘globalization.’ The process of such spread rarely occurs as a kind of homogenizing obliteration

of local particularities, but instead through different processes of ‘localization,’ whereby what is

spreading from one part of the world—most often the West, but increasingly from other places as

well—does so as the receiving group develops new patterns of usage and meaning formation.

Very often the mass media are involved in these processes, particularly with regard to the

globalization (and localization) of expressive cultural forms, such as films, televised dramas, and

music.

Among the major studies theorizing these processes, Appadurai’s work stands out,

particularly his landmark Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization (1996).

The chapter “Disjunction and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy” (originally published

in Public Culture, 1990) outlines a theoretical framework for understanding globalization and

localization (or what he calls ‘indigenization’). He suggests understanding the global situation

(the ‘global now’) in terms of five categories of culture, which he calls “-scapes”: ethnoscapes,

technoscapes, mediascapes, financescapes, and ideoscapes. Of these the mediascapes and

technoscapes are particularly relevant to the current study. These two “-scapes” involve not only

the media content (TV shows, pop songs) and technological devices (televisions, CDs,

computers) themselves, but the ways people construct meanings around them, the ways they

13
enable people to imagine their own lives and the lives of others.10 This dissertation addresses the

techno- and media-scapes through which Japanese pop reaches Koreans and questions whether

the process can be seen as “indigenization.”

These processes of experience increasingly occur outside the contexts in which the

cultural forms are produced and intended for consumption. Thus, Appadurai talks of

‘deterritorialization’—the delinking of cultural forms from the places and the peoples

responsible for creating them. This concept would seem to apply to the phenomenon of Japanese

pop spreading to Korea and other countries, but one needs to look carefully at the extent to which

the ‘deterritorialization’ of Japanese pop is planned and orchestrated by industry forces in Japan

and elsewhere. Ella Shohat’s and Robert Stam also emphasize deterritorialization in their

discussion of postcoloniality, along with the related trend in formerly colonized countries away
11
from discourses of anticolonialism. While anti-Japanese discourse in Korea has by no means

disappeared, it is markedly less prominent among young Koreans now than even a decade or two

ago.

The term globalization overtly conveys the notion of worldwide spread, but in many

cases, including the case under analysis in this dissertation, the spread is transnational, but still

restricted mostly to one or several world regions rather than the entire globe. 12 In this context,

two important books appeared in 2002. One is an edited volume clearly problematizing this

notion in its title: Many Globalizations: Cultural Diversity in the Contemporary World (Berger

and Huntington 2002). This work consists of an introduction laying out basic theoretical

concerns for the understanding of the globalization/localization process, followed by a collection

10
Arjun Appadurai, Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. (Minneapolis, MN: University of
Minnesota Press, 1996) p. 35.
11
Ella Shohat and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media. (London: Routledge,
1994) p. 38.
12
Appadurai (1996:32) is careful to point out that the indigenizing process may involve Westernization (or
Americanization) but also “Japanization” (in Korea), “Indianization” (in Sri Lanka), etc.

14
of essays addressing cases around the world. Of particular interest is the distinction made by

Berger in his introduction, differentiating “sacramental” and “nonsacremental” consumption. He

points out the reverence with which consumers may approach a newly imported form, treating

something that was “nonsacramental” in the originating culture, but “sacramental” in the new

one. Moreover, he notes that the status may change, usually from sacramental to

nonsacramental, over time. Related to this concept is the idea of “culturedness” discussed by

Tamotsu Aoki in his article in this collection, pointing out how Japan had adopted fast-food

hamburger eating by promoting this “’new Western culture’ as a fashion.” Simply put, to be

fashionable (and, by implication, modern), one had to learn not only to consume what

Westerners consumed, but also to do so “fashionably”—in the manner of Westerners. The issue

of culturedness, or fashionability, in Korea’s consumption of Japanese pop, forms one dimension

of my inquiry into what related aspects of Japanese behavior and belief are being adopted by

Koreans.

The other book is Japanese scholar Iwabuchi’s landmark study of Japanese cultural forms

in Asia: Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism, a work

that focuses on the influx of Japanese popular culture to Taiwan, China, and Southeast Asia, but

is ultimately a book about Japan’s changing sense of its own cultural self. Iwabuchi’s omission

of Korea is acknowledged, but not accurately justified, as he fails to note the extensive illegal

flow of Japanese popular forms into Korea. Nevertheless, his insights on globalization within

Asia—or, more accurately, as he puts it in his subtitle “Japanese transnationalism”—are

invaluable in shaping some of the basic questions I ask about Japanese popular music in Korea.

Already cited previously, and related to the notion of culturedness just mentioned in my

discussion above of Aoki’s article in Berger and Huntington (2002), is Iwabuchi’s notion of

cultural “odor.” Following the success of culturally odorless Japanese export products,

15
electronics and automobiles, Japan has expanded to forms that have clear cultural “odor”—

especially TV dramas and Japanese popular music. Iwabuchi’s cultural “odor” is comparable to

my notion of cultural “presence,” and helps make clear the varying degrees of perceivable

“Japaneseness” in different products. Even within the category of Japanese pop, can some

songs, or some performers, represent greater Japanese cultural “odor” (or presence) than others?

Also important in Iwabuchi’s work is the historically-informed discussion of Japan’s unique

positioning of itself with respect to the rest of Asia and to the West. Iwabuchi suggests that

Japan saw itself as “similar but superior” and “in but above” Asia. 13 Japan saw itself as best

equipped and most successful in modernizing “according to the Western standard” 14 —

successfully offering the “indigenization and domestification of foreign (Western) culture.” 15

This established what Iwabuchi sees as the Japan-Asia-West “triad.” Though originating in the

1930s, this posturing of Japan still seems relevant today, as Japan exports its modern and

postmodern forms to the rest of Asia, under the project known as Japan’s “return to Asia.” An

important question unasked by Iwabuchi is the extent to which Korea is part of that “rest of

Asia” and how it might differ from other Asian countries.

Iwabuchi and other scholars writing specifically about Japanese popular cultural flow in

Asia are, naturally, concerned with identifying and theorizing about which particular qualities

and characteristics contribute to its success abroad. Iwabuchi mentions the “visible [or audible?]

‘Japaneseness’” of popular music, TV dramas, as well as magazines 16 and later invokes

Baudrillard in talking about a postmodern image of Japan as a “’weightless artificial satellite,’

13
Iwabuchi Koichi, Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. (Durham and
London: Duke University Press, 2002) p. 8.
14
Ibid.
15
Ibid. p. 10.
16
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 34.

16
which is concerned neither with origin nor authenticity.”17 However weightless or unconcerned

Japanese pop may be, the question of audience perception remains: to what extent Koreans pay

attention to these issues. Craig, in the introduction to his collection of essays on Japanese

popular culture (in Japan and overseas) enumerates a number of reasons for the popularity of

Japanese dramas, popular music, and other forms, including Japan’s reputation for quality

(deriving from its reputation for electronics and automobiles), Japanese cuteness, the seeming

approachability of its star performers, the kinds of themes (human relations) and optimistic,

innocent, and unapologetic attitude pervasive in its dramas (and music). Some of these are also

presented in Ogawa’s essay on Japanese popular music in Hong Kong. 18 My efforts in this

dissertation to identify particular traits of Japanese pop that appeal to Koreans include, but go

beyond those mentioned by Ogawa and Craig.

When looking at processes of globalization/localization/indigenization, in addition to the

questions about the accessibility or attractiveness of a cultural form “as is,” or as initially

received, the question of adaptability and modification also arises, frequently under the general

rubric of “hybridization.” Appadurai invokes this term in relation to his preferred

“indigenization.” Iwabuchi also deals with the issue of hybridization, particularly in relation to

the Japanese notion of mukokuseki, a term “widely used in Japan in two different, though not

mutually exclusive ways” to suggest the mixing of elements of multiple cultural origins, and to

imply the erasure of visible ethnic and cultural characteristics.” 19 In the scrutiny of Japanese pop

in this dissertation, I will consider the issue of hybridity and mukokuseki both with respect to

17
Ibid. p. 62.
18
Ogawa Masahi, “Japanese Popular Music in Hong Kong: What Does TK Present?” in Refashioning Pop Music in
Asia: Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos and Aesthetic Industries, edited by Allen Chun, Ned Rossiter, and
Brian Shoesmith. (New York: Routledge Curzon, 2004) pp. 144-156.
19
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 71.

17
Japanese pop’s own mix of elements, as well as whatever kinds of accommodations have

occurred as Japanese popular music moves from Japan to Korea.

Japan’s longstanding claims to being modern, and now post-modern, are addressed in a

number of works, including Clammer 2001, Iwabuchi 2002, Morton 2001, Richie 2003, Thomas

2004, and are the primary focus of the 1989 volume edited by Miyoshi and Harootunian. This

challenging work analyzes and “deconstructs” the conception of Japan as “uniquely postmodern

and therefore superior to the West.” 20 It warns against the widespread notion of Japaneseness as

an “irreducible essence…unchanging and unaffected by history” 21 as a potentially dangerous

new form of “cultural exceptionalism (Nihonjinron) which Japanese have always appealed to as

a form of defensive reaction to distinguish Japan from the West” (and, I would add, from its

Asian neighbors). The questions raised by Miyoshi and Harootunian concerning “Japaneseness”

relate directly to my own inquiry into Korean conceptions of Japaneseness (particularly the

postmodern or, at least, non-traditional variety) as evident in Japanese popular music.

Dealing specifically with popular music throughout much of Asia, including Japan, the

2004 volume, Refashioning Pop Music in Asia: Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos and

Aesthetic Industries, edited by Chun, Rossiter and Shoesmith is an important contribution to

transnational flows in Asia. Ogawa’s article considers the case of Japanese pop

performer/promoter Komuro Tetsuya’s appearance in Hong Kong, while Yano’s article discusses

the problematic position of Korean pop music and musicians in Japan in the 1990s. Chun and

Rossiter’s introduction points to the “reterritorialization” of certain popular musics within Asia

(cf. Appadurai’s “deterritorialization” and “indigenization” mentioned earlier). And like

20
Miyoshi Masao and H. D. Harootunian, eds. Postmodernism and Japan. (Durham and London: Duke University
Press, 1989) p. xvi.
21
Ibid. p. xvi.

18
Appadurai 1996, Berger and Huntington 2002, and Iwabuchi 2002, they argue against the idea of

a single globalization, or Wallerstein’s idea of the “modern world-system.” 22

Finally, another important concept I draw upon in this dissertation is the notion of

“aesthetic communities”—discussed with respect to popular music by Veit Erlmann, 23 but

originating from the 19th century philosopher Immanuel Kant. This concept is quite similar to

what Appadurai calls “communities of sentiment” 24 —involving a shared imagination of reality,

very often built on their shared media experiences (pop music, TV, etc.). I am concerned with

audience identity and sentiment in Korea as such communities form around the consumption of

Japanese pop. Can one talk of a single international Japanese popular music community,

consisting of all who consume this music, or are there multiple communities even within a single

country, such as Korea, in which Japanese popular music is just one of a number of determinants

for “membership”?

1.3.2 Modern Political History of Korea and Japan: Colonial and Postcolonial

The modern political history of these two countries, Korea and Japan, has received the most

scholarly attention both from the two countries and from the West because of the Japanese

colonial invasion of Korea and other Asian countries during the first half of the twentieth

century. Since some important issues remain unresolved in relation to the colonial period,

including sex slavery (comfort women) and Japanese history textbook issues, some Korean and

Japanese publications (including the history textbooks) on their political history can be overly

22
Allen Chun and Ned Rossiter, “Cultural Imaginaries, Musical Communities, Reflexive Practices: An
Introduction” in Refashioning Pop Music in Asia: Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos and Aesthetic Industries,
edited by Allen Chun, Ned Rossiter, and Brian Shoesmith. (New York: Routledge Curzon, 2004) pp. 5-7.
23
Veit Erlmann, “How Beautiful is Small? Music, Globalization and the Aesthetics of the Local.” Yearbook for
Traditional Music 30: 12-21, 1998.
24
Arjun Appadurai, Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. (Minneapolis, MN: University of
Minnesota Press, 1996) p. 8.

19
nationalistic and require careful and critical examination to see beyond certain biases. Still, there

is plentiful material about modern political history of Korea and Japan (in Korean, Japanese, and

English) to draw upon to be able to offer in this dissertation a sense of the issues and their

background.

Among the English publications, Adrian Buzo’s The Making of Modern Korea (2002),

Pai Hyung Il and Timothy R. Tangherlini’s Nationalism and the Construction of Korean Identity

(1998), Lee Chong-Sik’s Japan and Korea: The Political Dimension (1985), Donald Stone

MacDonald’s The Koreans: Contemporary Politics and Society (1990), Eguchi Bokuro’s Gendai

no Nihon (1976), and Ann Waswo’s Modern Japanese Society 1868-1994 provide detailed

coverage of the two countries’ modern political history. The most useful work for this study is

Shin Gi-Wook and Michael Robinson’s Colonial Modernity in Korea (1999), which offers a

critical analysis of colonial and modern Korea. The focus of the work is primarily on modern

Korea’s social and political environment, but it also analyzes the chaotic residual effects

remaining from the Japanese colonial invasion, as they point out in the introduction “Rethinking

Colonial Korea.”

The problematic political relationship between Korea and Japan drew the attention of

many Korean scholars, as we can find a number of works on Japan and its relation to Korea.

Hong Jin-Hee’s Ilbonûn Han’guk Yôksarûl Wae Bitturo Karûchilkka? (Why Does Japan Distort

Korean History? 1992) attempts to analyze the issue of Japanese history textbooks and their

erasure of many aspects of Japanese subjugation of Korea and Korea’s resistance. This erasure,

as much as the brutal experiences themselves, has long been one of the most sensitive colonial

issues for many Koreans. Drawing on Hong’s and other sources to construct a background on

Korea-Japan relations, I document and interpret the import of Japanese pop as one new

development in the evolving relationship between these two countries, suggesting (somewhat

20
controversially, from a Korean perspective) that Korea has not been totally innocent of erasure or

distortion in the realm of acknowledging its own fascination and embrace of Japanese popular

culture.

Indeed, scholarly writings on Japan-Korea relations, important and insightful though they

may be, have barely begun to scrutinize the shifts in Korea’s stance vis-à-vis Japanese popular

culture, or even to delve into cultural implications of transnational popular culture tastes. Yi

Yon, et al. Ilbon Taejung Munhaw Pekkigi (Copying Japanese Popular Culture, 1998) offers

useful description of Korea’s borrowings from Japan in the realm of popular culture, but does so

matter-of-factly without offering critical interpretation or suggesting the implications for Korean

notions of Japanese-ness or of their own identity. It is my intention in this dissertation not only

to provide wide coverage of specific instances of Korean copying and imitating of Japanese

popular music and Korea’s changing patterns of consumption of Japanese popular music “as is”

but also to explore the deeper cultural implication of these behaviors.

1.3.3 Korean Popular Music and Culture

Until the debut in 1992 of Seo Taiji, one of the most important musicians in Korean popular

music history, Korean scholars and popular culture critics showed very little interest in popular

music and its important socio-cultural implications. As Seo Taiji’s influence on Korean youth

and general popular culture in Korea grew enormously within a month and continued even after

his initial retirement as a band member in 1996, Korean scholars and critics began to analyze the

meanings and impact of popular music through Seo Taiji’s music and audience behaviors. More

than a dozen books and major articles exclusively on Seo Taiji have been published in Korea,

and most publications on Korean popular music in general regularly include Seo Taiji’s impact

on Korean popular culture and music since the early 1990s. Kang Hun’s Seo Taiji:

21
Overthrowing Mainstream (1994), Kang Myong-Suk’s Seo Taiji rûl ilgûmyôn Munhwaga

poinda (Understanding Culture through Seo Taiji, 1995), Yi Yông-Mi’s Seo Taijiwa Kkottaji

(Seo Taiji and Flower Bouquet, 1995), and Yi Tong-Yun’s Seo Taiji nûn Uriege Muôsi yônna

(What was Seo Taiji for Us?, 1999) each provided a detailed study of the impact of Seo Taiji and

popular music more generally on the contemporary Korean society. 25

Among others, Pak Ae-Gyông’s Kayo, Ottôk’e Ilgûl Kôsin’ga (How to understand

Korean Popular Music, 2000), Sôn Sông-Wôn’s Taejung Umak ûi Ppuri (The Roots of Popular

Music, 1996), and Lee Young-Mi’s Han’guk Taejung Kayosa (History of Korean Popular Music,

1998) provide a history of Korean popular music, with particular attention to socio-political

conditions that are essential to understand as a basis for this study. Also, another book by Lee

Young-Mi’s other Hûngnam Pudu ûi Kûmsuninûn Odiro Kassûlkka (Where is Kûmsuni from

Hûngnam Wharf, 2002) attempts to evaluate popular musicians and musical styles in relation to

the social, political, and economic contexts of the periods. As she briefly points out, many TV

animations and their title songs since the late 1960s were directly translated to Korean from

Japanese without declaration of their origin. Unfortunately she did not go further on this issue.

The impact of such hidden presence of Japan in Korea is not a simple issue, because those

animation title songs are still widely sung by Koreans who grew up watching those animations,

and have become an important factor in their capacity to enjoy Japanese popular music as adults

(a kind of “built-in” familiarity with Japanese sound).

Since the study of Korean popular music in the field of ethnomusicology has barely

started, there are only few sources in English available. Among them, Keith Howard’s article

“Exploding Ballads: The Transformation of Korean Pop Music” in Global Goes Local: Popular

25
Also, see Eun-Young Jung, “Articulating Korean Youth Culture through Global Popular Music Styles: Seo Taiji’s
Use of Rap and Metal,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global
Oriental, 2006) pp. 109-122.

22
Culture in Asia (2002) 26 provides a brief summary of Korean popular music scenes in the 1980s

and the early 90s. The recently published book Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave (June

2006), which is the first English-language book on Korean popular music, covers various Korean

popular music genres and important socio-political issues from as far back as the early 1920s,

and it also covers the recent popularity of Korean popular music outside Korea, including China

and Taiwan.

1.3.4 Japanese Popular Music and Culture

Since the mid 70s, the Japanese record industry has been the second biggest in the world. 27 As a

result, compared to other Asian popular musics, Japanese popular music has received the most

scholarly attention in the field of ethnomusicology, and scholarly interest on Japanese popular

music seems to be growing each year in the West. However, as a preliminary investigation of

the literature in English, Japanese, and Korean shows, most writing in Japanese has remained

rather non-scholarly in style and coverage, and this condition has not improved much yet in

Japan.

Nevertheless, there are a few important scholarly works in Japanese that inform the

present study. Important preliminary sources include the following works: ethnomusicologist

Koizumi Fumio’s Kayokyoku no Kozo (The Structure of Pop Songs, 1984), which analyzes

melodic style in mainstream songs and enka of the 1960s to early 1980s, ethnomusicologist

Kitagawa Junko’s Nari-hibiku ‘sei’ – Nihon no Popyura Ongaku to Jenda (Resounding ‘sex’ –

26
Keith Howard, “Exploding Ballads: The Transformation of Korean Pop Music” in Global Goes Local: Popular
Culture in Asia, edited by Timothy J. Craig and Richard King. (Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies and
University of Hawaii Press, 2002) pp. 80-95.
27
Mitsui Toru, “Japan in Japan: Notes on an Aspect of the Popular Music Record Industry in Japan.” Popular Music
3: 107-120, 1983, p. 107.

23
gender and Japanese popular music, 1999), which is an anthology on gender issues in Japanese

popular music, and Sato Yoshiaki’s J-POP Shinka-ron: "Yosahoi-bushi" kara "Automatic" e

(Evolutionary Theory of J-POP from "Yosahoi-bushi" to "Automatic," 1999), which is an

anthology of over 500 post-WWII Japanese popular songs discussing historical development of

Japanese popular songs from nostalgic rhymes to contemporary Japanese pop. Also, sociologist

Ogawa Hiroshi’s edited book, Ongaku Suru Shakai (A Music-making Society, 1988) and Media

Jidai no Ongaku to Shakai (Music and Society in the Media Age, 1993) offer critical analyses of

Japanese popular music from various insiders’ points of view. In Ongaku Suru Shakai, each

author examines different genres and aspects of Japanese popular music in relation to different

social environments of the particular time periods.

Perhaps the most important work among the general and introductory writings on

Japanese popular music is A Guide to Popular Music in Japan published by IASPM-Japan in

1991, which is the first English-language book on modern Japanese music. It is organized by the

different genres of Japanese popular music from as early as the Meiji Era (1868-1912), offering

definitions and brief histories, but little cultural interpretation. 28 In addition to this guidebook,

there are substantial publications offering introduction to Japanese popular music both in English

and Japanese including McClure’s Nippon Pop (1998) and Hideki Take’s J-Pop Jihyo 1989-

2001 (Comments on J-Pop, 2001).

Among the studies on Japanese popular music, those on musical genre and music

industry have been the most frequent, both in English and Japanese. Although there are many

different popular music genres in Japan, the majority of the studies on musical genre are about

either enka or Idol-pop. Besides these two genres, in contemporary Japan, various different

28
The editors, Hosokawa Shuhei, Matsumura Hiroshi, and Shiba Shunichi, noted in the preface that the booklet is
intended “to be a brief outline of the most fundamental aspects of the music’s history, present state, and industry”
and to let overseas people know more about the popular music scene in Japan.

24
genres and hybrid forms of those genres exist, including the mainstream modern Japanese pop

(also J-pop 29 in a narrow meaning), rock, visual rock, hard rock, metal, electronic, techno, dance,

rap and hip-hop, R&B, computer game songs, and ethnic pop. Although Idol-pop and main

stream J-pop genres seemed rather popular in Korea during the early stage of the Open-Door

Policy, more and more diverse Japanese popular music genres, particularly visual rock (which is

quite a significant Japanese genre), have become popular most recently.

Among the studies on the Japanese music industry, Mitsui Toru’s 1997 article, which is

organized by different musical genres, covers important factual data about the music business.

Other works on the Japanese popular music business include Kawabata Shigeru’s “The Japanese

Record Industry” in Popular Music (1991), which analyzes various data on record sales and

productions in the Japanese music industry during 1989-1990 (produced by JPRA, the Japan

Phonograph Record Association), and Kimura Atsuko’s article “Japanese Corporations and

Popular Music” in the same issue of Popular Music, which investigates big companies’

advertising strategies through their sponsorships for popular music concerts in Japan. Kurata

Yoshihiro’s Nihon Rekodo Bunka-shi (A History of Japanese Record Culture, 1992) and

Mitsushige Takemura’s Utada Hikaru no Tsukurikata (How to Make Utada Hikaru. 2001) are

the most useful writings on the music business in Japanese. These sources are valuable for this

study as the two countries’ music industries engage in various kinds of collaboration/negotiation

as they grow closer together. Thus, what happens in the music business world in Japan may

have direct repercussions in Korea.

29
The term “J-pop” is often used outside Japan to refer Japanese popular music in general. However, the term also
refers the mainstream Japanese popular music as well.

25
 Karaoke (literally, “empty orchestra”) originated in Japan in the 1970s and has become

the number one leisure pastime in Japan and some other Asian countries since the early 1990s. 30

The best resource on karaoke is the famous book, Karaoke around the World: Global

Technology, Local Singing, edited by the two most prominent scholars in the field of Japanese

popular music, Hosokawa Shuhei and Mitsui Toru (1999). As the editors claimed, “it is a

medium which simultaneously evokes musical technologies, personal experiences and collective

memories which go far beyond microphones and pre-recorded accompaniment.” 31 Indeed,

karaoke experience can be understood in various social and cultural contexts as a specific

musical experience and its influence in Korea has been profound. In Korea, the Japanese word

“karaoke” has been replace by the Korean word “noraebang” (lit., “song room”) in general while

the Japanese word “karaoke” has been used to indicate nighttime adult-only karaoke places

(serving alcohol), which reflect the ironic response of Korean’s uneasy feeling toward using

Japanese language in Korea.

Among the few studies on gender issues relating to Japanese popular music, Fabienne

Darling-Wolf’s article “SMAP, Sex, and Masculinity: Constructing the Perfect Female Fantasy

in Japanese Popular Music” in Popular Music (2004) and James Stanlaw’s article, “Open Your

File, Open Your Mind: Women, English, and Changing Roles and Voices in Japanese Pop

Music” in the book Japan Pop! (Craig 2000) analyze the meanings of pop stars’ gender roles.

Darling-Wolf’s article suggests that the band SMAP gained extensive popularity by projecting

their images as sex objects to both male and female fans through performing all kinds of

recurring skits on TV variety shows. Since the band SMAP is one of the most popular Japanese

popular music groups in Korea, Darling-Wolf’s study is a useful one for the purposes of this

30
See Donald Richie, “Leisure Options” in The Image Factory: Fads & Fashions in Japan. (London: Reaktion,
2003) pp. 86-89.
31
Mitsui Toru and Hosokawa Shuhei, eds. Karaoke around the World: Global Technology, Local Singing. (London:
Routledge, 1999) p. i.

26
study. Unfortunately, Darling-Wolf’s attempt to analyze the band’s male sexuality and

androgyny in relation to Kabuki tradition seems overly simplified, writing from her Western

view on a very complicated gender issue in Japan.

Scholarly awareness of the important influences of Japanese popular music on local

popular music culture in other Asian countries, influenced by the popularity of globalization

issues in the field of ethnomusicology in general, is rapidly growing, as cultural exchanges

among those countries have been rapidly growing in recent years. Yet writings on this issue are

still relatively rare, with Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea being covered so far.

Meaningful research on this issue has likely been limited because of the fact that it requires equal

understanding of both Japanese pop and of local pop scenes at the same time. Published studies

include Benjamin Wai-ming Ng’s “Japanese Popular Music in Singapore and the Hybridization

of Asian Music” in Asian Music (2002/2003) and Ogawa Masashi’s “Japanese Popular Music in

Hong Kong: What Does TK Present?” in Chun et al. 2004. Ng compares Japanese pop concerts’

less successful environment in Singapore to Taiwan and Hong Kong, where various Japanese

pop concerts are regularly offered to fans. And Ogawa’s article analyzes the failure of Komuro’s

Hong Kong performance to live up to Hong Kong producers’ expectations.

Since the early 1990s, studies on Japanese culture and society began to increase, and as

Korea lifted the ban in the late 1990s a number of studies on Japanese popular culture, including

popular music, began to appear in Korea. Most of them give introduction to Japanese popular

music in general and some of them are even translated versions of Japanese publications. There

are a few books and articles that exclusively deal with the influence of Japanese popular culture

and music in Korea. However, they often only focus on one particular genre, Japanese enka, and

its connection to Korean t’ûrot’û or ppongtchak and fail to mention other important and more

recent influences on Korean popular music. Among the very few publications on the issue,

27
Korean popular music critic Im Jin-Mo’s chapter “Taejung Kayo, Kkût ômnûn Pyojôl ûi Segye

(Popular Music, World of Endless Piracy)” in Ilbon Taejungmunhwa Bekkigi (Copying Japanese

Popular Culture, 1998), which includes a list of pirated Japanese songs in Korea, provides

valuable information for this dissertation. Also, the other chapters in the book offer important

background information on the hidden presence of Japan in Korea before the Open-Door Policy

begun. Even though the scholarly situation seems to be improving, as some efforts have resulted

in establishing a journal for popular music studies (Popyura Ongaku Kenkyu) 32 since 1997 in

Japan and a society for Korea Association of Study Popular Music (KASPM) since 2005 in

Korea, still most important books and articles have been written in English and published outside

Japan--as pointed out recently by Japanese music scholar Hugh de Ferranti 33 —and outside

Korea.

1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Much of the material on which this dissertation is based was collected throughout my graduate

studies in the United States and during my visits to Korea and Japan as well as Korean and

Japanese communities in the United States since 1998. In addition to my personal accounts of

the hidden, illegal presence of Japan in Korea while I was growing up in Korea, I have actively

followed developments in Korea’s popular music world and the growing presence of Japan

through various media since I came to the United States in 1998. Aside from the relevant

literature discussed above, I draw from three types of sources to support this study: 1) primary

sources; 2) audio and video recordings; and 3) internet sources.

32
Popyura Ongaku Kenkyu (Popular Music Studies) is organized by Nihon Popyura Ongaku Gakkai in Japan.
33
Hugh de Ferranti, “Japanese Music Can Be Popular.” Popular Music 21(2), 2002: 198.

28
1.4.1 Primary Sources

Besides the scholarly writings on Japanese and Korean popular musics and cultures in English,

Japanese, and Korean which are available through library research, recent newspaper and

magazine articles have been essential for my research. Unlike traditional music, for popular

music studies, it is critical to note that researchers need to be self-sufficient and innovative in

acquiring various kinds of secondary resources, which can often offer more important

information than the available scholarly writings do. In the fields of Japanese popular music

culture in Japan and Korea, as well as Korean popular music culture in Korea and Japan, there

are numerous pyongnon (called hyoron in Japanese), that is, writings by music and culture critics

for a general readership. Along with other kinds of information about popular music, forms of

pyongnon (including reviews of recording and concert performance, interviews with musicians,

producers, and managers, and critical essays) for a general readership are commonly available in

Japan and Korea from daily newspapers, popular music and culture magazines, TV and radio

programs, and internet websites). I have been examining the major Korean newspapers

including DongA Ilbo, Hanguk Ilbo, Jungang Ilbo, and Korean Herald regularly, as well as the

Japanese Asahi Sinbun and Mainichi Sinbun from 1998 onward, mainly focusing on those

pyongnon on popular music.

Music magazines and fashion magazines are also important sources for this research

because pop music stars’ appearances (photos, interviews) in those magazines are directly related

to their promotion and reflect their popularity. Since many pop music stars’ commercial appeal

is more closely related to their image than to their musical talent, their appearance in fashion

magazines as fashion icon/leaders becomes critical to their success. I draw on around 100 issues

of Korean and Japanese music and fashion magazines (Korean: Junior, EnFant, Ceci, and 52

29
Street, Japanese: Myojo, Cancam, NonNo, Japan Entertainment, Potato, Arena37C, Fool’s Mate,

Girl Pop, K-Boom, and CD Data ) from 1998 onward.

1.4.2 Audio and Video Recordings

My research materials also include audio recordings of both Korean and Japanese popular

musics from the early 1980s to the latest CDs, purchased in Korea, Japan, and the United States.

Since I came to the United States in 1998, I have been watching Japanese music TVs and other

Japanese variety TV shows as well as Korean TV programs obtained from friends and local

Korean and Japanese markets that rent videos and DVDs. The Japanese music programs include

weekly programs, such as HeyHeyHey, Utaban, Music Station, and Count Down TV, which

contain pop stars’ live performances, the latest concerts and album promotions, interviews, and

game shows, as well as weekly music ranking charts. Since 2004, a few Korean cable TV

stations began to air some music programs, exclusively or partially, showing Japanese pop music

videos and introducing Japanese pop stars to Korean viewers. Those programs include M-net’s

J-Pop Wave and Pop-Japan, KMTV’s J-Pop Non-Stop and World Pops, 34 MTV Korea’s J-Beat,

and Channel [V] Korea’s J-Pop Zone and J-Pop Street. 35 Except for J-Pop Zone (which airs

Monday through Friday twice per day), these programs are usually aired twice per week: the

original broadcast and one rebroadcast. J-pop Wave, as an example, was hosted by Japanese

model Menjo Tatsuya from 2005 to 2006 offering exclusively Japanese pop--including several

music videos, general entertainment news, Oricon charts, new musicians and new albums, and

interviews with popular musicians. Most of these stations broadcast over the internet.

34
World-Pops has devoted exclusively to Japanese pop music more or less every other week from 2005.
35
J-Pop Street was aired until September 2004.

30
1.4.3 Internet Sources

Most Korean TV stations, cable or regular (“terrestrial”), offer internet service at little or no cost,

and this has allowed me to access the latest popular music news in Korea and Japan instantly. In

addition to the internet TV services, for contemporary Korean and Japanese popular music

research, some internet research is indispensable. Countless numbers of websites about Japanese

popular musical genres can be found, both in Korean and in Japanese (which can be translated to

Korean with a few clicks). These can roughly be divided into four categories: musicians’ official

sites, individual fan and fan club sites, entertainment news sites, and shopping sites. From these

websites, I have been able to obtain a wide range of information about Japanese popular music

and much more, including introductory information about Japanese pop in general, profiles of

singers, the most up-to-date discographies, concert and broadcasting schedules, audio and video

clips of newly released songs, lyrics, photos, cellular phone ringer service, ranking charts, fan

club meeting, forum, gossip, and shopping information. Indeed, the quantity of data available

on the internet is truly staggering, and it requires vigilance on the part of the researcher, as

content changes constantly and “archiving” of these materials is random at best. Also, I fully

recognize that the reliability of internet sources varies widely, and I have therefore exercised

diligence in evaluating the sites I have accessed for this study, giving emphasis to official

websites of major corporations, music labels, international organizations, as well as national

governments. For fan websites, I have drawn mostly on the opinions expressed and the images

presented. Yet because so much more information concerning recent popular music is available

on the internet than in printed sources, it is incumbent on any researcher with serious interest in

popular music to search far and wide on the internet. (We can see this trend already set in

31
motion a decade ago in the work of Timothy Taylor on global pop music, 36 and in numerous

more recent studies.)

1.5 CHAPTER OUTLINE

The dissertation encompasses six chapters beyond this introduction. I trace the “presence” of

Japan in Korea chronologically in the three core Chapters Three, Four, and Five. The four

research issues identified earlier in this chapter will emerge and be treated in each chronological

period, with further elaboration and interpretation in Chapter Six. In short, the chapter

organization is based not upon research issues, but on historical chronology, thereby providing

an important dimension to the study. Here, in Chapter One, it has been my intent to lay out the

basic rationale for the dissertation. It has presented some of the key concepts from recent

scholarship on globalization, transnational “traffic”, as well as Korean and Japanese popular

music sources, both scholarly and popular/commercial.

Chapter Two serves as the primary background chapter for the main body of the

dissertation. Here I discuss the historical relationship between Japan and Korea, going back to

the sixteenth century, but concentrating on the twentieth century, and particularly the post-

colonial period. A second section considers the present political environment and the

contradictory forces contributing to contemporary Korea-Japan relations, including the co-

hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, the objections raised by Korea over Japan’s

distortion of its colonial past in school textbooks, and Japan’s continued claims for

Dokdo/Takeshima Island. This chapter also provides basic introductions to Korean popular

36
See Timothy Taylor, Global Pop: World Music, World Markets. (New York: Routledge, 1997).

32
music and Japanese popular music, with mention of early roots and interactions, but mostly

focused on current popular music (1990s to present) and its most recent antecedents (1970s-

1980s). The sections on music incorporate some historical background on the music industries

of Korea and Japan (particularly the recording industries), providing some background to my

presentation of more detailed data in subsequent chronological coverage in following three

chapters.

Chapter Three, “Japan’s Illegal Presence” begins with an historical overview of

transnational traffic from Japan into Korea of a range of popular culture forms: manga/manhwa

(comic books), anime (animation), computer games, character goods, television, movies,

magazines, fashion, and cuisine. This serves as essential context for the subsequent coverage of

the illegal cassettes of Japanese popular music available in Korea in the 1980s and 1990s. The

chapter then looks in detail at a landmark incident in the history of Japanese musical presence in

Korea—the illegal cover version in 1996 by the Korean group Roo’Ra of a rather obscure

Japanese hit. The Korean public’s response to the controversial incident is discussed in detail.

This leads to a focus on the highly contentious issue of Korea’s ban on Japanese popular cultural

imports and the opinions for and against an Open-Door Policy that led to the lifting of the ban.

Chapter Four, “Japan’s Transitional Presence,” focuses on the period from 1998 to 2003,

the period during which the Korean government’s Open-Door Policy on Japanese imports was

implemented. Following an introductory section on the political and economic circumstances of

the late 1990s in Korea, I discuss the Four-Stage Plan of the Open-Door Policy, with emphasis

on the place of popular music. The discussion also addresses the contradictory responses to this

policy in the context of Koreans’ nationalistic attitudes, reinvigorated by the controversy over

Japan’s misrepresentations of its colonial history in government textbooks, but mitigated by

Japan’s and Korea’s successful collaboration in hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan.

33
The second main section of this chapter considers the rather narrow range of Japanese popular

music actually imported into Korea during this period. The kinds of media used were also

constrained, with imports of Japanese-produced CDs of Japanese popular music with lyrics sung

in Japanese still banned until January 2004. This section also addresses issues of audience

reception during this critical transitional phase, presenting evidence of great initial curiosity on

the part of the many listeners who were already actively consuming Korean popular music.

Chapter Five, “Japan’s Newly Sanctioned Presence and Two-Way Traffic” looks closely

at the era after the phasing in of the Open-Door Policy, after the lifting of nearly all restrictions

on the importing and dissemination of Japanese popular music and related forms in January

2004. I am concerned here with identifying the genres and performers that have been finding a

following in Korea, in the wake of the initial curiosity and enthusiasm over the new accessibility

of Japanese imports. I explore the full range of media exposure through which Koreans can

experience Japanese popular music. Here, I go beyond the initial discussion of the music

industries (in Chapter Two) to provide a closer view of industry policies and marketing strategies

in the post 2004 era, with focus on ways in which the Korean and Japanese music industries

collaborate and compete as the markets have become open. I also provide examples of the kinds

of information and opinions shared by members of the growing internet-based Japanese popular

music communities created by Korean fans and draw on these as well as direct interviews to

reach an understanding of which aspects of Japanese pop are attractive to Koreans (as well as

which ones are not). And because it is an integral aspect of the current popular cultural

environment in Korea recently, I consider Japanese popular music’s further success in Korea in

relation to the Korean Wave (Hallyu) in Japan, providing comparative data and questioning the

imbalance in Korean awareness and perceptions about these forms of transnational cultural

traffic.

34
 Following these three chronologically-based chapters, Chapter Six, “Transnational

Dynamics,” offers a more interpretive look at the descriptions and patterns that have emerged

over the last decade. Here I expand the inquiry to look beyond the singular instance of Korea’s

importation of Japanese popular music to consider other intra-Asian popular cultural traffic—

focusing on music, but touching on TV dramas and other forms. I compare the Korean case to

other areas in Asia that have developed strong markets for Japanese popular music, such as

Taiwan and Hong Kong, Singapore, and other Southeast Asian countries. In the second section

of this chapter, I venture into more interpretative territory, addressing issues of postcolonial

desire. Here I offer an overall evaluation of important themes relating to postcolonial and neo-

national dynamics in Korea itself, moving toward the core questions about the unique and

historically-contingent “presence” of Japan and Japaneseness in contemporary Korea. I do so by

first considering patterns of similarity and contrast between Japanese popular music and other

imported popular music in Korea, including items from the West, especially the U.S.A., and

from Hong Kong. I then draw together evidence from the previous chapters to create a sharply

focused picture of Koreans’ current perception of what is “Japanese” and what “Japanese”

qualities are especially appealing to Koreans, or, more complexly, might evoke resistance and

allure simultaneously. The Korean government’s frequent changes of cultural policies in

response to the “presence” of Japan in Korea in recent years are the evidence of Korea’s newly

re-invigorated nationalistic attitude, which I intend to document and analyze in this chapter.

In a final concluding chapter, I offer a brief summary of the key points of the previous

chapters and then draw back my lenses once again to consider the wider terrain of popular music

and contemporary Korean society, looking at the persistence of certain genres and styles over

time and the introduction of new ones (from Japan and elsewhere) and offering some likely

scenarios for the future of Japanese popular music in Korea and of Korea’s changing attitudes

35
towards Japan. I conclude with some reflection on the nature of “aesthetics” in transnational

cultural flows.

36
 2.0 KOREA AND JAPAN: CULTURAL RELATIONS AND POPULAR MUSIC

TRADITIONS

Before focusing directly on the presence of Japanese popular music in Korea, I present in this

chapter historical background, providing a context essential for understanding the recent cultural

traffic discussed subsequently. The first section covers the troubled historical relationship

between Korea and Japan from the colonial period, the second section introduces Japanese and

Korean popular music from the early twentieth century, and the third section offers brief

introductions to Japanese and Korean popular music industries. Though the focus of the

dissertation is on the contemporary situation and very recent past, the issues at stake have their

origin in developments taking shape through the politically and culturally tumultuous twentieth

century.

37
 2.1 RELATIONS BETWEEN KOREA AND JAPAN

2.1.1 Pre-Colonial Era to 1997

Relations between Korea and Japan have historically been strained ever since the Japanese

general Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) invaded Korea with his army in 1592, 37 wreaking

havoc on Korea before finally being repelled in 1598. As Japan’s imperial designs began to

develop again towards the end of the nineteenth century, Japan positioned itself as the beacon of

a Western-modeled modernity within the Asian region and proclaimed its interpretation of that

modernity (by force) to the rest of Asia. Colonial occupation and annexation of Korea by Japan

(1910-1945) kindled extreme resentment and hatred, while at the same time instilling a

ponderous sense of Japanese superiority. In order to understand postmodern Korea and its

continuously conflicting relationships with Japan, it is crucial to understand the unique nature of

the Japanese colonization of Korea and what it has meant to most Koreans even today. The

colonization ended more than a half century ago and the two countries have been attempting to

rework their relationship for the new century, at least on the surface, but underneath the friendly

political gestures, strong prejudices against each other have persisted.

Compared with Japanese colonialism in other East Asian countries, Japanese colonial

rule in Korea aimed to be an especially powerful program for demolishing its national identity

even in everyday life, beyond political and economic domination and brutal torture—a

systematic de-Koreanization and Japanization. 38 For example, all public officials, including

37
Exactly 200 years after the founding of the Yi dynasty, Korea’s longest continuous dynasty, lasting from 1392
until Japanese annexation in 1910.
38
Between 1895 and 1945, Japanese colonies included Taiwan, Korea, Sakhalin Island, the Kwantung territory in
Manchuria, and the South Sea Islands. See Edward I-Te Chen, “Japanese Colonialism: An Overview” in Japan
Examined: Perspectives on Modern Japanese History, edited by Harry Wray and Hilary Conroy. (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1983) p. 201.

38
school teachers, had to wear Japanese military uniforms and sabers to promote fear and

respect. 39 Also, the colonial regime abolished the rights of speaking and assembly and

prohibited political associations and mutual aid societies, including any kind of meetings

outdoors. In compliance with the rule, Korea (the Yi dynasty) was renamed “Chosen” based on

the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters for Korea. Thus, Koreans had to use the

term, which they pronounced as “Chosôn,” instead of Yi dynasty--after more than five centuries

of history.

As part of the de-Koreanization strategy, Japan forced Koreans to change their Korean

names to Japanese names. The renaming policy was considered to be one of the most successful

ones as many Koreans commonly used Japanized Korean names for many decades in Korea even

after the liberation. However, the most crucial attempt of Japan’s assimilation policy was the

prohibition of the Korean language, perhaps the most critical element of the national identity.

The process of de-Koreanization for a complete and permanent annexation was executed through

the educational system, which was controlled by thousands of Japanese teachers from Japan. All

textbooks were in Japanese, and all the books and other printed materials on Korean history and

biographies of illustrious Koreans were destroyed. Korean students were prohibited from

studying Korean history; instead, they were directed to study Japanese culture and history. In

addition to those prohibition orders, Japanese educational policy prevented most Koreans from

receiving a high level of education, so that Koreans would not use advanced academic

knowledge against Japan. 40 The racial discrimination through this policy of academic

suppression was strictly carried out during the colonial period.

39
Kim Han-Kyo, “Japanese Colonialism in Korea,” in Japan Examined: Perspectives on Modern Japanese History,
edited by Harry Wray and Hilary Conroy. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1983) p. 223.
40
See Juergen Kleiner, Korea: A Century of Change (New Jersey, London, Singapore, Hong Kong: World
Scientific, 2001) p. 35.

39
 It should be noted that while most Koreans claim themselves to be anti-Japanese and

show strong patriotic attitude against anything Japanese until today, a number of Koreans,

especially those of who were educated under the Japanese educational system during the colonial

period, became deeply Japanized, or at least accustomed to the Japanese system of education and

politics. This can be easily found throughout the post-liberation Korean society. Furthermore, a

number of the leading powers in various fields, including politics, economy, education, arts, and

religions after the liberation were actually pro-Japanese. 41 As international relations expert,

Juergen Kleiner, also points out, the Japanese educational system left affects that had reached to

the following Korean generations:

Quite a number of politicians of South Korea have received their training in

Mukden (in the Manchurian military academy in the allegedly independent
state of Manchukuo in Mukden), among others, President Park Chung Hee
and Chung Il Kwon, a Prime Minister and Speaker. To have received one’s
training in the military academy in Mukden was something to be proud of in
the Republic of Korea….What Koreans tend to overlook is how much the
ideology of their post-liberation leadership on running a state was shaped
during the Japanese period. The Japanese model of strict administration in
the absence of politics was revived later by Park Chung Hee. 42

Another important point in relation to the Japanese colonial period is that the racial

discrimination and academic suppression policies of Japan stimulated the Korean nationalism

that Koreans had retained from earlier centuries. Many scholars noted this as the least successful

aspect of the Japanese colonialism.

41
In Febuary. 28. 2002, the list of 708 pro-Japanese Koreans during the colonial period was announced by the Korea
Liberation Association and the members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, Hankyoreh News,
March 1. 2002.
42
Kleiner, op. cit. pp. 42-43.

40
 Colonial rule helped arouse Korean nationalism, albeit inadvertently.
Koreans had long had a sense of national identity even before the advent of
modern changes, perhaps because of the frequent incursions into their
territory by northern tribes and occasional invasions by Chinese and
Japanese. Japanese colonial rule in the twentieth century was more
systematic and effective than any previous experience; by the same token,
however, it helped bring forth a more virulent and more widely shared sense
of nationality among Koreans. Racial discrimination fed the fire of
nationalism among the discriminated. Throughout the colonial period
Koreans doggedly carried on, in Korea and abroad, political agitation and
activities of armed resistance against Japanese rule. 43

Following its surrender at the end of World War II, the Japanese nation abandoned the

military project and turned its efforts towards economic development. Japan’s successful

operation following the advanced Western economic model soon outshone its Asian neighbors,

who lagged far behind in terms of standard of living and international economic stature. As

Japan became the second biggest economic power in the world in the 1980s, Japan’s notion of

being superior to other Asian nations came to be reinstated. As Iwabuchi aptly puts it, Japan saw

itself once again as “similar but superior” or “in but above” Asia. 44

In Korea, since the end of Japanese colonial rule, Koreans have maintained a strong

nationalistic antagonism toward Japan and anything related to Japan, but at the same time have

unwittingly been envious of its international economic and political accomplishments and

fascinated as well as repulsed by its expanding cultural power. Koreans’ undeniable

“superiority/inferiority complex” (which became rather pride/shame and attraction/repulsion

kinds after the independence) towards Japan since the end of the colonization period has always

been one of the major driving forces for restoring Korean nationalism. Korea’s envy of Japan’s

international success became a positive motivation for Koreans to put their every effort toward

43
Kim Han-Kyo, op. cit. p. 227.
44
Iwabuchi Koichi, Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. (Durham and
London: Duke University Press, 2002) p. 8.

41
economic development from the early 1970s (shortly after Japanese-Korean relations were

normalized in 1965) under the Park Chung-Hee military regime (1963-1979), which took Japan

as a role model for political stability and economic development. The Korean elites that

emerged after the liberation of 1945 and assumed Korea’s leadership roles, especially under the

Park Chung-Hee regime, had an intimate knowledge of Japan. Like most of them, Park Chung-

Hee, who himself was educated in a Japanese military school and worked for the Japanese as a

military officer during the colonial period, took the Japanese model of industrialization when

Japan’s economy boomed in the 1960s and 70s.

Despite the Korean public’s deep hatred towards Japan, Park Chung-Hee normalized

relations with Japan in 1965 and turned to Japan for technology, equipment, and a model for

development. Since then, Japan has been a major investor in Korea, and the economic

relationship between the two countries has become exceedingly close despite their conflicting

political relationships and deep-seated prejudice against each other. Beginning in 1965, Japan

and Korea held annual foreign ministerial meetings in order to discuss trade.45 Because Japan’s

economy was much more advanced than Korea’s, the Korea-Japan trading relationship has

always been unbalanced. For example, Japan’s exports to Korea have been around twice as large

as Korea’s exports to Japan even during the 1980s and 1990s when Korea’s annual GDP growth

was 5.5%-9.0%. 46 However, Japan and Korea kept their close economic relationships as

primary trading partners with each other.

45
Along with other controversial matters including the Korean minority in Japan, the content of Japan’s history
textbooks, and Japan’s relations with North Korea.
46
See The Bank of Korea, www. bok. or. kr. (accessed July. 3. 2006).

42
2.1.2 Since the Beginning of the Open-Door Policy (in 1998)

Korea’s rapid economic growth in the 1980s and 90s was drastically reversed by Asia’s

economic crisis in 1997. In order to restore the nation’s economy, Korea had to change its

foreign trading policies, which had involved regulating foreign imports in order to protect the

domestic economic markets and to open its doors ever more widely to foreign economic forces,

including Japan. 47 In 1998, the newly launched Kim Dae-Jung government (1998-2003) began

to open the market for imports, and this also included the abolition of the limit, established in

1978, on Japanese goods being imported into the Korean market. In October 1998, President

Kim Dae-Jung visited Japan and agreed to the joint declaration on the “New Korea—Japan

Partnership for the Twenty-first Century” with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. 48 The

main agreement was that “in order to maintain and develop a free and open international

economic system and to achieve a recovery from the structural problems of the Asian economic

system, both countries have to overcome the current economic difficulties and consolidate their

balanced cooperative economic relations.” After the joint declaration, Japan’s investment in

Korea jumped from US$265 million, in 1997, to US$1.75 billion in 1999 and US$2.448 billion

in 2000. 49 Some of the planned actions included the following:

• Joint efforts to help Asia tide over its economic crisis.

• Japan will provide 3 billion dollars in united loans to Korea through the Japan
Export-Import Bank
• A revision of the double taxation avoidance treaty
• Mutual cooperation, including easing regulations on visa issuance and customs
clearance, on the occasion of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan
Tournament

47
Lee Hong-Bae and Okuda Satoru, “Possibility of Realizing a Japan-Korea FTA.” The Journal of East Asian
Affairs 18: 131-156, 2004, p. 134.
48
“Joint Declaration on New ROK-Japan Partnership for 21st Century.” The Korea Times, October. 8. 1998.
49
See Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, www. Mocie.go.kr/index.jsp (accessed July. 3. 2006).

43
 • Korea to end its 53-year ban on imports of Japanese popular culture. 50

As a result, Korea finally planned to open its doors to Japan, and economic and cultural

exchanges between the two countries started to burgeon as Korean society rapidly recovered

from the economic crisis. However, the two countries’ conflicts over a range of sensitive

historical-cultural issues, including the Japanese history textbook content, conflicting claims to

the tiny island of Dokdo/Takeshima, the sexual slavery of Korean women under Japanese

colonial rule, and shrine worship issues, have not been settled yet. Furthermore, their

longstanding antagonism is still strongly present in general, and in some cases those issues could

cause more than mere public concern and peaceful protests. In July 2001, the re-emergence of

the controversy over Japan’s refusal to reconsider the interpretation of the colonial history in

government textbooks led to the delay of the opening process, and a number of Koreans (not

only the older generation but also the young generation, who enjoy all kinds of Japanese cultural

products and high-technology) protested against Japan. However, the scheduled co-hosting of

the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan pushed Korea to resume the opening process soon again.

During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Korea and Japan not only worked together but also competed

against each other to produce a successful international event, seen around the world. As more

and more varieties of cultural products were freely introduced from Japan to Korea and from

Korea to Japan, with still more scheduled for the future, the Korean public’s concern over

potential detrimental intrusion into the Korean cultural market also rapidly increased. 51 This

intrusion, of course, included popular music. Japanese popular music, in various forms, had

50
“Highlights of Action Plan for ROK-Japan Partnership.” The Korea Times, October. 2. 1998.
51
I will discuss more details in Chapter Four.

44
been known in Korea for many decades, often serving as a model influencing developments in

Korea’s popular music genres.

2.2 INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE AND KOREAN POPULAR MUSIC

The origins of popular music in Japan can be traced back to the latter half of the nineteenth

century, and in Korea to the early part of the twentieth. In both countries a new foreign presence

(Japan’s opening to the West and Korea’s colonial subjugation by Japan) presaged the rise of

popular music. Following prevailing discourse in both the popular and scholarly realms, in this

dissertation, the terms “Japanese popular music” and “Korean popular music” are loosely

defined as mediated musics intended for commercial consumption, disseminated through

recording technology and broadcast technology, as they developed from the early twentieth

century. Each has been intended primarily for consumption in the country of origin (Japanese

popular music in Japan, Korean in Korea) and consisted mostly of songs whose lyrics employ the

national language. Though early instances of popular music (early enka in Japan, for instance)

may bear little if any influences from Western popular music, the music subsumed under the

category of popular music in both Japan and Korea has, at least since the 1920s, been limited to

music employing Western harmony and, almost always, at least some Western musical

instruments. Thus, as in Western countries, the term “popular music” conveys a notion of both

musical style and emphasis on commercialism. Other genres that have also come to be

disseminated through the recording and broadcast media, such as indigenous “traditional”

musical genres of Japan and Korea, as well as music introduced from outside (Western art

music) are excluded from the category “popular music” even though recordings of these genres

45
may gain some commercial success. And foreign popular music remains identified as such (e.g.,

American pop, Hong Kong pop).

2.2.1 Introduction to Japanese Popular Music

The Japanese music industry has been the second largest in the world, holding around 15% of

world sales, since the mid 1970s. 52 Despite Japan’s advanced audio and audiovisual

technologies, as well as its world-class music industry, however, Japanese popular music and its

scene have generally been unknown outside Asia (expect, perhaps, through recent video games).

While it is true that Japanese arts and culture in general have not had much exposure in the West,

and that Japanese cultural identity and aesthetics are quite different from Western standards, as

pointed out by Mitsui Toru, 53 one of the most prominent scholars in the field of Japanese popular

music, Japan has actively adopted foreign music since as early as the 1850s.

The beginning of Japanese popular music can be traced to the Meiji period (1868 -

1912). One of the earliest popular music genres in Japan is gunka (lit., “military songs”), which

were generally composed from the Meiji period to the end of WWII (1945). 54 Gunka’s musical

format was derived from Western concepts of military music, introduced in the mid-nineteenth

century in Japan, but also containing elements from traditional Japanese folk songs. 55 Although

not “mass-mediated” in the era of their origin, these military songs maintained their popularity

52
Mitsui Toru, “Japan in Japan: Notes on an Aspect of the Popular Music Record Industry in Japan.” Popular Music
3: 107-120, 1983, p. 107 and “Interactions of Imported and Indigenous Musics in Japan: A Historical Overview of
the Music Industry” in Whose Master’s Voice?: The Development of Popular Music in Thirteen Cultures, edited by
Alison J. Ewbank and Fouli T. Papageorgiou. (Westport. Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997) p. 152.
53
Mitsui Toru, “Introduction.” Popular Music 10(3); 259-262, 1991, p. 262.
54
For a brief account of military songs, see IASPM-Japan’s A Guide to Popular Music in Japan (Kanazawa:
IASPM-Japan, 1991) P. 5.
55
For more account on the musical styles of gunka from its beginning, see Junko Oba’s article “To Fight the Losing
War, to Remember the Lost War: The Changing Role of Gunka, Japanese War Songs” in Global Goes Local, edited
by Timothy J. Craig and Richard King (Vancouver and Toronto: University of British Columbia Press, 2001) pp.
227-230.

46
into the age of musical commodification, thus becoming “popular music” in the usual sense. In

the first part of the twentieth century these military songs continued among the generations who

were associated with the militaristic period culminating in World War II. As Junko Oba argues

in her article “To Fight the Losing War, to Remember the Lost War: The Changing Role of

Gunka, Japanese War Songs,” gunka were used for political purposes during war times and even

afterwards survived as a form of nostalgic entertainment among the older generations who had

experienced the war. 56 Like other more recent forms of popular music renditions of these songs

were recorded and disseminated commercially. Even among older Koreans, who learned these

songs during the colonial rule, it is not unusual to find people who sing these songs in nostalgic

remembrance of their youth. However, recordings of these songs are certainly not produced in

Korea and are, to my knowledge, have not even been sold illegally on the black market there.

Ryukoka, a form of sentimental narrative song accompanied by shamisen, was known to

have originated in the Kansai area in the mid nineteenth century. These songs are also called

naniwa-bushi, based on the genre’s origin in naniwa (Osaka’s old name). 57 Ryukoka (lit.,

“popular songs”) were particularly popular in the Taisho period (1912-1926) and known to be

closely related to enka.

In the 1880s, soshi, who were involved with the people’s freedom (rights) movement,

popularized a type of song known as enka (lit. “performance/act songs”). By the late Meiji

period, enka subject matter changed, as did the performers, and the street entertainers who took

over the genre came to be known as enkashi. As explained in the 1991 IASPM-Japan guide to

genres of popular music in Japan,

56
Oba, op. cit. pp. 225-245.
57
For a brief account of ryukoka, see IASPM-Japan’s A Guide to Popular Music in Japan (Kanazawa: IASPM-
Japan, 1991) P. 5.

47
 Gradually, the political flavour diminished, singers became more
professional, and began to accompany themselves with the violin when they
performed on streets. The performance then consisted simply of news of
contemporary events set to any of a multitude of existing melodies. 58

As described by Linda Fujie in her textbook chapter on Japanese music, and evidenced by the

recording of “Nonki-Bushi” (1918) she includes on the accompanying CD, early commercial

enka songs could also be humorous as well. 59 The enkashi, though a kind of “popular

musician,” used only a single instrument to accompany their songs—usually a Western violin, as

indicated in the citation above, or a shamisen—neither capable of providing chordal

accompaniment but providing, instead, a heterophonic variation of the vocal melody. As time

progressed, the topics of the songs changed again to emphasize matters of romantic love. 60 Only

later did the genre add typical Western harmonic accompaniment, played on a small combo of

Western instruments, with songtexts emphasizing the sentimental aspects of love, characteristics

which have dominated the genre for many decades. At least since the 1970s, this sentimental

variety of enka has come to be known as a kind of national popular music of Japan, promoted by

the Japanese media as even “the heart of the Japanese.” 61

Enka is now a “slow to medium ballad song,” whose lyrics usually depict “dark stories

such as the separation of lovers, loss of hope and despair, and cherished memories.” 62 Misora

Hibari (1937-1989), who was called “the queen of enka” or “the queen of the Showa era” 63 for

her last thirty years, sang many enka songs over her long career. Although each year around 10-

58
Ibid. p. 12.
59
Linda Fuijie, “East Asia/Japan,” Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples, 4th ed.
(Belmont, CA: Schirmer/Thomson Learning, 2002), p. 371-374.
60
Sôn Sung-Won, Ilbon Umaki Poinda: Japan Pops into Korea (Japanese Music Becomes Visible: Japan Pops into
Korea). (Seoul: Arûm Ch’ulpansa, 1998) pp. 36-37.
61
Ibid. p. 39.
62
IASPM-Japan, op. cit. p. 12.
63
Showa period (1926-1989).

48
15% of newly released songs in Japan have been enka, 64 the popularity of this genre has been

mostly associated with the older generation and mainly enjoyed through radio and karaoke (lit.,

“empty orchestra”). 65

In the 1960s, influenced by internationally popular groups, including the Ventures (who

visited Japan in 1965), the Animals (who also visited in 1965), and the Beatles (who visited in

1966), Group Sounds (or “GS”) music was developed in Japan. In addition to imitating those

foreign music bands’ musical sounds and images, the Japanese Group Sound bands adapted

English names, including the Tokyo Beatles, the Spiders (one of the most popular GS bands), the

Golden Cups, the Tigers, the Dynamite, the Blue Comets, the Idols, the Mops, the Out Cast, the
66
Carnabeats, and many more. In addition, in 1963, Sakamoto Kyu’s (1941-1985, known as

Kyuchan) “Ue wo Muite Aruko” (“I Look Up When I Walk,” but known as “Sukiyaki” in the

West) reached the top of the Billboard chart for three weeks, making it the most successful

international hit song by a Japanese popular singer to the present time. 67

In the 1970s, the rapidly expanded media and music industry in Japan began to produce a

number of superstars or pop idols (idoru/idoru kashu), 68 including male singers, such as Saijo

Hideki (1955-), Go Hiromi (1955-), and Noguchi Goro (1956-), and female singers, such as

64
http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/market/trend/industrial/pdf/jem0406-2e.pdf. Japanese Economy Division, Japan’s
Music Industry, (accessed February. 20. 2006).
65
For a more detailed and insightful account on enka, see Christine Yano’s book Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and
the Nation in Japanese Popular Song (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2002); Maki Okada’s article
“Musical Characteristics of Enka.” Popular Music 10/3 (1991): 283-303; Tetsuo Yamaori, Misora Hibari to
Nihonjin (Misora Hibari and Japanese), (Tokyo: Gendai Shokan, 2001); Debra Jane Occhi, Namida, Sake, and
Love: Emotional Expressions and Japanese Enka Music (Ph.D. dissertation, University of California-Davis, Dept. of
Anthropology, 2000).
66
See IASPM-Japan, op. cit. p. 15.
See also, http://www.pp.iij4u.or.jp/~marukazu/homepage/groupsounds.htm. (accessed February. 20. 2006).
67
http://www.sakamoto-kyu.com (accessed February. 20. 2006).
68
Japanese idol or idoru music is a kind of genre which is focused on showcasing singers’ unthreatening life-sized
looks, youthful cuteness, formulaic image, and approachable personae instead of singing ability. Idol singers’ are
expected to appear on various TV programs as a multi-tasking entertainer rather than a musician. Their musical
style is usually light (often danceable), happy, simple love songs. See also Hiroshi Aoyagi’s “Pop Idols and the
Asian Identity,” in Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture edited by Timothy J. Craig (Armonk,
NY and London: M. E. Sharpe, 2000) pp. 309-325.

49
Sakurada Junko (1958-), Mori Masako (1958-), Yamaguchi Momoe (1959-), and the duo Pink

Lady. 69 Pink Lady (Nemoto Mitsuyo and Masuda Keiko) debuted in 1976 and broke up in 1981.

Figure 2.1 Saijo Hideki's 1974 single cover, Namida to Yujo ("Tears and Friendship" left) and Pink

Lady's 1977 single cover, Challenge Concert (right)

During those years, Pink Lady appeared in numerous TV commercials, dramas, variety

shows, and music programs. The duo always wore skimpy mini-dresses or bikini-like clothes

and tried to fabricate girlish-sexy images through their bubblegum disco music. In 1979, Pink

Lady even debuted in America, and their debut song, “Kiss in the Dark” reached number thirty-

seven of the Billboard chart. 70

69
For more account on those singers, see their official websites at http://www.earth-corp.co.jp/HIDEKI/;
http://www.goro-net.com/; http://www.hiromi-go.net/; http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/momoe/ (accessed
February. 20. 2006).
70
Sôn Sung-Won, Ilbon Ûmaki Poinda: Japan Pops into Korea (Japanese music becomes visible: Japan Pops into
Korea) (Seoul: Arûm Ch’ulpansa, 1998) pp. 136-137. Also, for more details on Pink Lady’s history, see
http://www.bunbun.ne.jp/~tetsu/pinklady.htm (accessed February. 20. 2006).

50
 In Hiroshi Aoyagi’s article on Japanese pop idols, he argues that a fundamental
71
characteristic of Japanese pop idols is their image as “life-sized, cute, and above average.”

Aoyagi states:

Playing on young people’s social needs, Japan’s life-sized pop idols are
produced and marketed as personifiers of a typical “girl or boy next door,”
chosen to become “lucky stars” and to represent their generation…To
express cuteness, pop idols generally smile with bared (though often
crooked) teeth and clear, sparkling eyes. Female idols strike “coy” poses,
while make idols adopt a more “stylish” or “cool” appearance. Female fans
generally agree that trying to appear stylish is what makes male idols
cute…The autographs and handwritten letters of female idols often include
drawings of cute animation characters such as kittens and bunnies. It was
once common for female idols to dress up in “fake-child costumes” (buri-
buri isho) resembling European dolls. 72

Among the numerous pop idols, the most famous idol singer in the Japanese popular

music history (and especially in the 1980s), is known to be Matsuda Seiko (1962-), a female idol

who debuted in 1980 with the song “Hadashi no Kisetsu” (lit., “Barefoot Season”). Since her

debut, she has been the center of the Japanese media coverage. In the 1980s in particular, she

was the fashion leader of the young Japanese girls, who imitated not only her hair and fashion

styles, but also her liberal love life, which was a relatively controversial one at that time in

Japan. 73 Matsuda Seiko’s popularity has continued even after her first marriage (in 1985) and

becoming a mother (in 1986) as she kept showing her timeless, youthful cute look and making

her love life very interesting (creating a number of scandals). Unlike the other earlier idol stars,

Matsuda Seiko has continued her singing career until the present time without having much

71
Aoyagi Hiroshi, “Pop Idols and the Asian Identity.” In Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular
Culture, edited by Timothy J. Craig (New York: M.E.Sharpe, 2000) p. 310.
72
Ibid. pp. 311-313.
73
For a more detailed account of Matsuda Seiko and the other pop idols of the 1980s in Japan, see Inamatsu
Tatsuo’s chapter in Ongakusuru Shakai (Music Making Society), edited by Ogawa Hiroshi (Tokyo: Keiso Shobo,
1993) pp. 155-178.

51
interlude, having released a total of 41 regular albums, 59 singles, 28 “best” albums, 5 sound

tracks, and 33 music videos/DVDs from 1980 to 2004. 74 The male version of Matsuda Seiko in

the 1980s was Kondo Masahiko (1964-), one of the many male idol superstars produced by

Jonny’s Jimusho (“Jonny’s Entertainment/Office”).

Figure 2.2 Matsuda Seiko single covers, Squall (1980, left) and Supreme (1987, right)

The rock (and rock-pop) band Southern All Stars (who debuted in 1978 and are often

called Sazan) became the dominant Japanese group after releasing their first hit song, “Itoshi no

Eri-” (“Lovely Ellie”), in 1979. 75 For more than twenty-five years Southern All Stars have been

at the top of the Japanese popular music world and have created the unique Japanese band music

sound (called the Sazan sound), which has been beloved and followed by many Japanese.

74
See http://www.seikomatsuda.net/contents/discography/single/index.html (accessed February. 20. 2006).
75
In 1990, the famous American singer, Ray Charles, included the remake version of this song, titled as “Ellie, My
Love.”

52
Figure 2.3 Southern All Star's single covers, 10 numbers (1979, left) and Tsunami (2000, right)

In the 1990s, the Japanese popular music scene became more dynamic than in the

previous periods by the ever-expanding popular music industry. Also, production companies and

artists/producers became more powerful. Various new and revived genres were developed and

produced a number of new artists. In the early 1990s, the new marketing strategy “tie-up” was

introduced and has become the typical marketing strategy of the Japanese popular music industry

since then. This strategy involved the packaging (“tying up”) of a particular popular song or

album with a popular television drama, commercial film, television commercial, or computer

game. The popularity of the related product is intended to provide ample promotion to launch

the song or album, reaching far beyond what mere advertising or concert tours could achieve.

The most successful company in the 1990s adapting the tie-up strategy was the Being Record,

whose affiliated artists, including TUBE, ZARD, WANDS, and B’z, have been million-seller

makers without appearing frequently on television. 76

76
For extensive details on the Japanese music industry, see Umeda Koji, Nihon Ongaku Shiritai Kotoga
Suguwakaru (Tokyo: Kou-Business, 1997), translated into Korean by Kim Hyung-Chan (Seoul: People of Fresh
Mind Publishing, 1998) pp. 27-30. Also, see Steve McClure’s Nippon Pop (Tokyo, Singapore, and Boston: Tuttle
Publishing, 1998) p. 149.

53
 The early and the mid 1990s was known as the Band Boom period. Among the bands, X-

Japan (1992-1997), known as the pioneer of Japanese visual rock, became extremely popular not

only in Japan but also among the overseas Japanese popular music fans, including those in

Korea. 77 The year 1991 also saw the debut of the most successful super idol star band managed

and produced by the Jonny’s Jimusho, SMAP (derived from the first letters of the somewhat

enigmatic English phrase “Sports and Music Assemble People”). Its five members began to

dominate the popular media in Japan from that time, remaining popular today (2007). The most

popular member of SMAP, Kimura Takuya (1972-), was selected as the “sexist man in Japan” or

the “most desirable man in Japan” for many years, 78 attesting both to the prominence of popular

musicians in the public imagination and to the importance of image and personality in the

success of popular musicians in Japan.

The period from 1995 to 2000 was the era of Amuro Namie (1977-), who was the biggest

female star of Japan in the 1990s. Amuro Namie’s popularity led to her to be recognized widely

as the single most influential cultural phenomenon of Japan in the late 1990s. Her many young

female fans, who copied almost everything about Amuro Namie, were called amura, and those

amura copied Amuro Namie’s styles instantly. One of the most famous aspects of her “style”

was her long, colored straight hair and super mini-skirt with white long boots, with surprisingly

high platform soles and heels). Also, her thin body figure led young Japanese girls’ to lose

weight, and the average weight for girls actually decreased at that time. As her popularity arose

in the other Asian countries, she became the top icon of contemporary Japanese pop.

77
I will discuss more details on X-Japan in Chapter Three.
78
For more account on SMAP, see Fabienne Darling-Wolf’s article in 2004, “SMAP, Sex, and Masculinity:
Constructing the Perfect Female Fantasy in Japanese Popular Music.” Popular Music and Society. 27 (3): 357-370.
Darling-Wolf devoted the entire article to SMAP’s sex appeal.

54
Figure 2.4 Amuro Namie's album covers, Sweet 19 Blues (1996, left) and 181920 (1998, right)

Following Amuro Namie, Hamasaki Ayumi (1978-) debuted in 1998. Her instant

popularity made her the “Queen of J-pop.” Hamasaki Ayumi has been named the Artist of the

Year three times in the Japan Gold Disc Awards (2001, 2002, and 2004), an unmatched

accomplishment to date. The most recent superstar is, Koda Kumi (1982-), who struggled for a

few years since her debut in 2000, became the Artist of the Year in the Japan Gold Disc Awards

in 2006. Her overwhelmingly sexy outfits and dance movements, with easy-going, friendly

character has brought her massive popularity since 2005. Her fans have been calling her Ero-

Kawa and Ero-Kakko (“Sexy-Cute” and “Sexy-Cool”).

Among the foreigners who became very successful in the Japanese popular music world,

Vivian Hsu (known as Vivian Su in Japan, 1975-) from Taiwan was popular as a female member

of the comic band, Black Biscuits, from 1997 to 1999. Korean singer, BoA (1986-) initially

debuted in Korea at the age of thirteen, debuted in Japan in 2001. Under the dual management of

very powerful labels, SM Entertainment in Korea and Avex Entertainment Cooperation (or Avex

55
Trax) in Japan, BoA became the most successful foreign female singer of the mainstream

Japanese popular music. 79

Summary. With origins in the nineteenth century, Japanese popular music has developed and

proliferated along lines whose basic contours resemble those of many other countries outside the

West, but whose particulars are unique to Japan (though perhaps not “essentially” Japanese).

Primarily, we can point to the adoption of Western musical stylistic traits, especially functional

harmony and intervallic structure, and Western instruments associated with popular music in the

West—jazz combo instruments in the early twentieth century and electric guitar, bass, and

keyboards in the latter half. Direct imitation of jazz and rock ‘n’ roll (later “rock”) bands has

been evident from the end of World War II, when Japanese had ample exposure to a whole range

of American popular culture from the enormous American military presence there. As the

number of American troops grew less, through the 1960s and 1970s, Japan continued to imitate

American popular music, especially the mainstream “Group Sound” bands, but began also to

develop its own mix of pop music instruments and harmonies with the cute, amateurish public

image that came to define the idol culture, a popular cultural phenomenon with no real

counterpart in Western popular music (bubblegum music notwithstanding). Still reflecting

transnational flows between Japan and West, however, some of these female idol stars, such as

Amuro Namie, have outgrown their teenage cuteness and taken on some of the brazen sexuality

that has also become prominent among American female pop stars, such as Madonna and Janet

Jackson. Indeed, the continuing similarities between American popular music culture and

popular musical culture in Japan supports the notion of Japan’s ongoing emphasis on cultural

absorption, now seen by some scholars (Iwabuchi 2002, Miyoshi and Hartoonian 1989) to be

79
I will discuss more details on BoA in Chapter Four and Five.

56
occurring within a growing sense of irrelevance of origins and a postmodern embrace of

pastiche/bricolage (though these are more evident on the margins than in mainstream Japanese

popular music). As part of this postmodern mosaic, foreign singers such as Vivian Hsu and BoA

have become major figures in what is seen both in Japan and overseas as “J-Pop.”

2.2.2 Introduction to Korean Popular Music

Korea’s popular music has followed some of the same basic contours followed by Japanese,

though differing in some important details. Western influence has been evident from the early

days, complicated, as we might expect, from the direct colonial presence there of Japan in the

formative decades. For most of the twentieth century, domestic popular music in Korea, known

locally as kayo (or taejung kayo), has been distinguished from other forms of music: Western

popular music, known simply as p’ap song (Korean pronunciation of the English “pop song”);

Korean traditional music, known as kugak (lit. “national music”) uri ûmak (lit. “our music”) or

chônt’ong ûmak (lit. “traditional music”), and Western classical music (known as “k’ûllaesik”,

Korean pronunciation of the English “classic”). Yet the term “kayo” is directly derived from the

Japanese term for popular music, kayokyoku. As the term popyura ongaku (lit., “popular music”

or popusu lit., “pops”) replaced the term kayokyoku for popular music in Japan from around the

early 1990s, Korean popular music is often called K-pop particularly since the late 1990s outside

Korea, but in everyday speech, most Koreans continue to speak of their popular music as kayo. 80

The beginnings of Korean popular music date from the first decade of the twentieth

century, when foreign melodies were introduced and the texts translated into Korean. These

80
It should be noted that those terms, kayo and kayokyoku as well as K-pop and J-pop are extremely vague terms. In
this dissertation, I refer them as Japanese popular music or Japanese pop and Korean popular music or Korean pop
as opposed to the terms for traditional, western classic, or directly imported foreign musics.

57
songs, known in Korea as ch’angga (lit. “creative song”) were the first recordings released and

marketed in Korea. As Korean popular music scholar Lee Young Mee summarizes,

These songs were initially imported from Japan (where they were known as
shōka) and Europe, but they gained Korean lyrics for the first time in 1905.
No Korean appears to have been able to compose adequately in the new
idiom, hence Korean lyrics were added to foreign melodies. Early examples
featured edifying lyrics for the common people, but the themes changed as
the second decade of the century dawned, as sentiments of love, emptiness
and the beauty of nature became central. Many of the early songs were
designed for school use, but as they broadened their appeal they became
known as ‘popular ch’angga’ (yuhaeng ch’angga). These, recorded and
released on disc, marked the birth of Korean taejung kayo [popular music]. 81

Though Japan was not the only source for ch’angga melodies, it is significant in our

investigation into the Japanese presence in Korea that some, indeed many, of these songs were

from Japan, and entered Korea even before formal annexation in 1910. This was the first stage

in what would become an ongoing pattern of Japanese musical influences in Korea.

In the early 1930s, with Japanese colonial rule firmly established and Korea’s initial

resistance movement tightly suppressed, a new Korean music genre developed in close parallel

to the Japanese popular genre enka. Koreans refer to this genre either as t’ûrotû (from the

English duple-meter dance form “foxtrot”) or ppongtchak (an onomatopoetic reference to the

duple oom-pah bass pattern so dominant in much of this music). During the colonial period it

was also simply called yuhaengga (lit., “popular song,” “song in fashion”). The musical style

featured ornamented and openly emotional singing, pentatonic scales, with simple two- or three-

chord Western harmonic accompaniment on Western band instruments, usually with a strong

bass pattern. The only other significant category of Korean popular music during the colonial era

81
Lee Young Mee, “The Beginnings of Korean Pop,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith
Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) p.3.

58
was a genre of songs, also dating from the early 1930s, that combined Western and Korean

instrumental accompaniment with traditional Korean folksong style and whose name, shin

minyo, consists of the Sino-Korean (and Japanese) word for “new” (shin) and the Japanese

loanword for folksong (minyo, from Japanese minyō). While shin minyo declined in popularity

after the colonial era, tûrotû remained as literally the only Korean popular musical genre until the

late 1960s. 82 T’ûrotû is generally thought to be the Korean counterpart of Japanese enka and,

like enka in Japan, still exists as an important popular music genre in Korea and has been

extensively discussed (particularly in the 1980s) by a number of music critics and scholars in its

close connection to Japanese enka. With the rise of an economically powerful younger

generation and new genres of popular music in the 1980s and 1990s, the popularity of tûrotû has

diminished markedly since the early 1990s). 83

From the late 1960s, Korea’s economy began to grow, and Korean society became more

and more industrialized. By the 1970s, Korea began to establish a consumer-based market

structure, and as the general standard of living was steadily improving, the people’s demands for

various kinds of consumer products, cultural items in particular, began to increase rapidly. As a

result, Korea began to see forms of Korean popular culture’s formulation, especially among the

younger people who often tend to be at the forefront in seeking something new and different),

with which they (and not their parents) can be associated, such as new forms of popular culture.

What the young Koreans saw in the early decades after colonial rule as new/different/better was

American popular culture, which was directly brought to Korea by the American army forces,

beginning in the 1950s after the Korean War.

82
Yuhaengga (lit., ‘songs in fashion’ or ‘popular song’) was influenced by Japanese ryukoka, which is known as
enka’s predecessor in Japan. See Lee Young Mee, “The Beginnings of Korean Pop,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding
the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) p.2.
83
See Gloria Lee Pak’s article “On the Mimetic Faculty: A Critical Study of the 1984 Ppongtchak Debate and Post-
Colonial Mimesis” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global
Oriental, 2006) pp. 62-71.

59
 Though more insulated from the American military than the Japanese had been during the

1950s, Koreans nevertheless could not help but be exposed to the new popular music whose

influence was spreading around the globe. As in Japan and other countries worldwide, some

Korean musicians began to learn rock ‘n’ roll, adopting the vocal styles, instrumentation, even

styles of dress--such groups as ADD4, Key Boys, Five Fingers, He6, and Sarang kwa P’yônghwa

(“Love and Peace”).

Figure 2.5 Key Boys' 1964 album cover, Kûnyô Ibsurûn Talkome (“Her Lips are Sweet” left) and

ADD4’s 1964 album cover, Pisôgui Yôin (“Woman in the Rain” right)

But beyond the direct imitation of Western groups and songs in performances for the American

military (see further Chapter Six), Korean rock ‘n’ roll groups only began to create their own

rock ‘n’ roll-style songs in the latter 1960s, somewhat later than the Group Sounds bands in

Japan.

It was through the American presence that the genre known as t’ong kit’a (“acoustic

guitar”) music started in Korea. T’ong kit’a music was developed by young Koreans, most of

60
them college students, who were deeply influenced by the American folk song movement from

the late 1950s and 1960s. Most t’ong kit’a singers began their careers as underground amateur

singers in the small music salons/cafés (also called ûmak kamsangsil in Korean) in downtown

Seoul. The most famous music salon was called the Ssessibong (“C’est si bon”) which was the

Mecca of the young artists during the 1970s. A number of t’ong kit’a singers, including Song

Ch’ang-Sik, Cho Yông-Nam, Yun Hyông-Ju, Kim To-Hyang, Sô Yu-Sôk, and Kim Se-Hwan, all

performed at the Ssessibong and later became professional singers, radio DJs, or TV program

hosts. Most t’ong kit’a singers directly adopted American folk songs or simply add new Korean

lyrics to the same melodies. 84

In her article, “The Ascent and Politicization of Pop Music in Korea,” Hwang Okon

discusses one of the most important singers of the t’ong kit’a period, Kim Min-Gi (1951-), and

his music in relation to the political protest movement against the Yu-Shin (“Revitalizing

Reform”) by the Park Chung-Hee regime. As she argues:

While most t’ong kit’a singers avoided controversial issues, Kim’s open
display of protest stood out. Young intellectuals, agonizing over the political
situation resonated to the sentiments of Kim’s music. As a result, and despite
the government ban on his music, Kim’s songs were widely circulated
among students. Pirated reprints of his album became highly valuable, and
Kim emerged as an anti-government activist and cultural and political icon. 85

Kim Min-Gi’s songs were interpreted as anti-government protest messages to the Korean public.

However, ironically, Kim Min-Gi made himself clear on the issue that he never intended to make

protest songs and did not agree with his nickname “Chôhang kasu” (means “protest singer”) in

his interview in 1998. Instead, Kim states:

84
Lee Hye-Sook and Son Woo-Suk (ed), Korean Popular Music History (Seoul: Ries & Book, 2003) pp. 19-22.
85
Hwang Okon, “The Ascent and Politicization of Pop Music in Korea,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave,
edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) p.40.

61
 “None of the songs were intentionally made for protest. I expressed my sad
feelings or youth’s universal sorrow as I was looking around. I wrote the
song “Ch’in’gu” (“Friend”) as I missed my friend who was drowned in the
East Sea when we were high-school seniors. I made the song “Nûlgûn Kunin
ûi Norae” (“Old Solder’s Song”) when I was serving in the army. Also, I
only described the reflection of a hill’s image in the morning in the song
“Ach’im Isûl” (“Morning Dew”). But, those were interpreted as the spirit of
the times. Perhaps the recipients gave meaning in relation to the times
because the “story” of our images was incorporated in my songs. It is a great
honor if my songs could comfort them. 86

In any case, as Hwang Okon argues, his songs were interpreted as anti-governmental protest

songs by the Korean public during the darkest political hardships in the 1970s and early 1980s.

His most famous song, “Ach’im Isûl” (“Morning Dew,” 1971), was banned for unspecified

reasons by the revised Public Performing Law (Kongyôn bôp) in 1975, when the Park Chung-

Hee regime tightened the censorship on music for the purposes of political stabilization. 87 But in

1987, with the lift of the ban, the song was released and became a kind of anthem especially

among the college students and factory workers, who were at the forefront of protest movements,

until the early 1990s. As Korea became more politically stable from 1993, with the

establishment of Korea’s very first civil government, the song “Ach’im Isûl” became less

symbolic politically, but began to be used as a popular cheering song for various kinds of public

events and gatherings throughout the 1990s in Korea.

86
“Kasu, Jakk’oga, Kim Min-Gi” (Singer, Writer Kim Min-Gi), JoongAng Daily, September. 28. 1998.
Translated by the author.
87
“Noraehaji Annûn Kasu, Kim Min-Gi” (Kim Min-Gi, the Singer Who Does Not Sing). Segye Daily, February.
18. 1998.

62
Figure 2.6 Kim Min Gi's 1971 album cover, Kim Min Gi (left) and handwriting of the lyric, “Ach’im

Isûl” (“Morning Dew” right)

During the 1970s, the genre known as palladû or palladû kayo was also developed,

consisting of songs usually in slow tempo, with simple structure, and sentimental love themes.

The vocal style uses much less vibrato than is typical of tûrotû, and the Western harmonies are

far more varied, making palladû sound much closer to mainstream Western popular music than

earlier Korean genres. Palladû kayo was usually sung by stars who were promoted and marketed

by the state- operated television stations during the 1970s and the 1980s. 88 Palladû kayo place

considerable emphasis on the text, with stock melodies and harmonies used again and again in

different songs. The love depicted in the text is romantic, but not erotic or overtly sexual; it

contains nothing that would go against Korea’s moralistic censorship laws. In general, the

musical structure of palladû kayo is simple. It contains a regular four-line stanza set to a single

melody in a basic, steady rhythm, usually in duple meter. In the 1970s, palladû kayo were

88
For a further account of a “star system,” see Keith Howard’s “Exploding Ballads: The Transformation of Korean
Pop Music,” in Global Goes Local: Popular Culture in Asia, edited by Timothy J. Craig and Richard King
(Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2001) pp. 81-83.

63
usually accompanied by the television stations’ own pop orchestras, but in the 1980s, piano and

synthesizer became the main accompaniment. 89

The popularity of palladû kayo kept increasing throughout the 1980s and has clearly

became one of the most prominent Korean popular music genres, if not the dominant genre,

since then. Among the palladû kayo singers, the most popular singer of the 1980s was Cho

Yong-Pil (1950-), who dominated the Korean popular music scene for nearly a decade and was

very popular in Japan in the mid 1980s. The other popular singer was Lee Sun-Hee (1964-), who

debuted in 1984 by winning the grand prize at the Fifth MBC Kangbyôn Kayoje (“MBC

Riverside Song Festival”) in Korea. 90 Keith Howard compares Cho and Lee:

Cho was a teeny-bop idol, mobbed by screaming fans wherever he went…He

was slightly plump, and there was nothing provocative in his performance
style; he sang into his microphone with his face and hands adding expression,
but with little body movement…If Cho Yong Pil’s conservative “safe”
romanticism kept him popular, Lee Sun-hee might be a female version of the
same cautious star image, though her music goes further politically. Lee
Sun-hee won the grand prize at the First Riverside Song Festival with her
song “Dear J” in 1984…Lee dressed casually, like a university student, and
wore delicate, thin-rimmed spectacles. This created an image, not just of
Confucian studiousness, but of someone people wanted to be like. There was
nothing provocative in her performances; rather, she was, as Kawakami and
Fisher rightly characterize her, “the chaste girl-next-door.” Her audience was
older than Cho’s; whereas he catered to high-school girls, Lee’s fans were
university students and recent graduates…Koreans could and did associate
with Lee, not as a teeny-bop idol like Cho Yong Pil, but as a peer, someone
who shared the same feelings and experiences as her audience. 91

However, while it could be true that both of them did not show particularly provocative

performance styles, Cho Yong-Pil was not simply a teeny-bop idol who could only cater to high-

89
See Lee Hye-Sook and Son Woo-Suk (ed), op. cit. pp. 174-176.
90
MBC Kangbyon Kayoje (“MBC Riverside Song Festival”) was launched in 1979 and Lee Sun-Hee participated as
a member of Samak O’jang (the music circle at Incheon City College) in 1984, which was the fifth festival (1980
was skipped). http://tour.hsc.ac.kr/sdc_festival.asp?id=1 (accessed February. 23. 2006).
91
Howard, op. cit. pp. 83-85.

64
school girls. Unlike Lee Sun-Hee, Cho Yong-Pil was a singer songwriter and a leader of his own

band Widaehan Tanaseng (“Great Birth”). He has incorporated various music styles besides

palladû kayo, including t’ûrotû, minyo (folk songs), pop, rock, and fusion jazz, which actually

enabled him to appeal to all ages of fans among the Korean audience.92 Although Cho Yong-

Pil’s lyrics approved the standard romantic themes, Keith Howard’s view of him as a simple

teeny-bop idol is inaccurate. Because of the governmental censorship, most popular song texts

were based on standard romantic themes in the 1980s (including Lee Sun-Hee’s songs). 93

Figure 2.7 Cho Yong-Pil's seventh album cover, Nunmullo Poinûn Kûdae (“Looking at You through

Tears” 1985, left) and Lee Sun-Hee's first album cover, J ege/A! Yennariyô (“Dear J/Ah! The

Old Days” 1985, right)

Cho Yon-Pil has sold the most albums in the Korean popular music history (over

20,000,000 copies, including the sales in Japan). In 2005, he was distinguished by the Korean

Government Press Releases as one of the “revolutionaries of Korean popular music” along with

92
For more details on Cho Yong-Pil’s various musical styles in his seventeen albums from 1980 to 1998, see the
chapter three in Lee Hye-Sook and Son Woo-Suk (ed), op. cit. pp. 92-119.
93
Howard, op. cit. p. 83; Lee Young Mee, Han’guk Taejung Kayosa. (Seoul: Sigongsa, 1998) pp. 255-263.

65
the 1990s superstar Seo Taiji. 94 Among the large number of hits by Cho Yong-Pil, one of the

most famous songs (both in Korea and Japan) has been his debut song “Torawayo Pusanhange”

(“Come Back to the Pusan Harbor”), which was first released in 1975 and then included in his

first album in 1980. 95

Figure 2.8 Cho Yong-Pil's first album cover, Ch'angbakkui Yôja (“Woman outside of the Window”

1980, left) and second album cover, Ch'oppul ("Candlelight" 1980, right)

Alongside palladû kayo, t’ûrotû temporarily regained its popularity in the 1980s. T’ûrotû

had been denigrated and officially discouraged due to its Japanese style, which was one of the

elements that the Korean government attempted to control and even eliminate from Korean

culture through its strict censorship policy. 96 Songs could be, and were, banned based solely on

perceived Japanese influence, a quality referred to in Korean by the term waesaek—consisting of

a colonial-era derogatory term for Japanese, wae (lit. “little”) and the Korean word for color

94
“Taejung Kayo” (Popular Music), Government Press Releases – Korea Plus News, July. 6. 2005.
95
Lee Hye-Sook and Son Woo-Suk (ed), op. cit. pp.97-98.
96
See Gloria Lee Pak’s article “On the Mimetic Faculty: A Critical Study of the 1984 Ppongtchak Debate and Post-
Colonial Mimesis” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global
Oriental, 2006) pp. 62-71; Fumitaka Yamauchi, “Ch’angga and Yuhaengga: A Historical Study on Korean Response
to Japanese Popular Culture.” M.A. Thesis (Seoul: Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, 2000).

66
 (saek), here meaning tone or feel. In 1984, Ju Hyun-Mi (1961-), as an unknown singer, released

a t’ûrotû medley album “Ssang Ssang Party” (“Couple’s Party”), which became a big hit and

enabled her to make her major debut in the following year.

Figure 2.9 Ju Hyun-Mi's first album (1984) and second to fifth albums (1985) covers, Ssang Ssang Party

("Couple's Party")

Different from the earlier melancholy t’ûrotû style, her songs incorporated happy,

cheerful rhythms and whimsical texts that appealed to many working class people who listened

to her songs while they were at work. Taxi drivers, apparently, were especially avid fans 97 At

the time she gained her fame as a singer, she was also running a pharmacy as a pharmacist and

was, thus, often called yaksa kasu or yaksa ch’ulsin kasu (lit., “pharmacist singer”). This

professional status also helped her to be more appealing than previous t’ûrotû singers, who

97
Lee Young Mee, Han’guk Taejung Kayosa (Seoul: Sigongsa, 1998) pp. 277-278.

67
usually began their career from the bars or clubs. Ju Hyun-Mi was popular until 1990, when the

genre itself began to lose popularity again.

By the end of the 1980s, dance music (taensû) became very popular among young

Koreans, who grew up watching the clips of Michel Jackson’s “Thriller (1982),” “Beat It

(1982),” and “Billie Jean (1982)” music videos and performances and Madonna’s “Lucky Star

(1983)” and “Like a Virgin (1984).” 98 Influenced by the international boom in disco music,

dance music became a common musical mode for the young Korean audience. Also with the

rapid economic development during the 1980s, most Korean households owned a TV set which

provided a better medium for local dance musicians to offer a more visually entertaining and

interesting form of performances for the viewers. Hence, dance music began to broaden its

market, targeting specifically teenagers. During the late 1980s Kim Wan-Sun (1969-), who

started her career as a backup dancer, successfully imitated Madonna’s style of dancing and

fashion, with her debut song “Onûl Pam” (“Tonight”, 1986, a techno pop style dance song). Her

sexy presentation of female sexuality by dynamic dancing on the stage was something new to

Korean audiences. Despite some controversies over her “overly” sexual performance and poor

singing technique, her popularity continued to spread until 1992, and she has been called

Han’gugûi Madonna (lit., “Madonna of Korea”) and “dancing queen.” 99

98
Lee Hye-Sook and Son Woo-Suk (ed), Korean Popular Music History (Seoul: Ries & Book, 2003) pp. 194-196.
99
Ibid.

68
Figure 2.10 Kim Wan-Sun's second album cover, Nahollo Ttûrapesô (“Alone at a Grden” 1987, left) and

her photo in 1992 (right)

During the 1980s most popular musicians were exclusively created and promoted by the

two state operated TV and radio broadcasters, KBS and MBC. Many popular singers came from

various competitions and festivals organized by those broadcasters. Under the Chun Doo-Hwan

administration (1980-1987), all production was subject to censorship and tightly controlled by

the state. The commercial stations were closed down leaving only the state-operated networks

and stations to broadcast what the government wanted the people to see and hear. Mainstream

music production was based on the state broadcasters’ management system, which employed

resident studio bands, music arrangers, conductors, dance groups, choruses, and selected singers

to perform with them. 100 As media expert Chung Jae-Chol pointed out, mass culture in the

1980s was formulated in a specific political and economic context such that the media system

was rearranged to enhance the military government’s political and economic power. As a result

of this, the mass culture of Korea became a “full-scale, industrialized pleasure-seeking

culture.” 101 This “pleasure-seeking culture” was reflected in the scenes of Korean popular music

100
Howard, op. cit. pp. 81-83.
101
Chung Jae-Chol’s article provides a through chronicle of Korean media system. He defines the mass culture in
the 1980s as “characterized as the industrialization of pleasure-seeking culture, the deepening of cultural

69
that had fixed standard themes, like the “love” theme for Korean palladû kayo under the

government control media system.

The early 1990s in Korea was very different from the previous decades. As Korea was

finally released from decades of authoritarian military regimes by the launching of the first civil

government by Kim Young-Sam (1993-1998), Koreans had less incentive for political protest

and began to enjoy the booming economy that were available to most classes. As a result,

Koreans’ consumerism on popular cultural products rapidly increased not only with desire for

domestic popular culture but also for the global popular culture (mostly American and Japanese),

received through various routes (advanced communication technology, direct/indirect imports of

cultural goods, oversea tourism, study abroad). 102

The 1990s in the Korean popular music history can be largely summed up with the two

words, “Seo Taiji” and “piracy,” as popular music critic Im Jin-Mo states:

When we talk about Korean popular music of the 1990s, the Seo Taiji
phenomenon and the piracy problem must be discussed. The Seo Taiji
phenomenon, which created an explosion of popular culture in Korea, should
be understood within the contexts of the expansion of the popular music
industry, the full-scale consuming power of the shinsedae (lit., “the new
generation”), and the rise of American black culture, all of which were new
to the Korean popular music world. However, some people, who consider
the problem of piracy to be more important than the Seo Taiji phenomenon,
assert that the nature of the popular music industry has been extremely
unhealthy because of the deepening “copying culture” in spite of the growing
market volume. In any case, while the Seo Taiji phenomenon is the positive
side of the Korean popular music world, the piracy problem is its negative
side. 103

colonization and commercialized culture” and criticizes the “low-quality Western culture” imported through illegal
videos and movies. See Chung Jae-Chol’s article “Mass Culture, Media and the Popular Cultural Movement in
Modern Korean Society” in Elite Media amidst Mass Culture. ed. Kim Chie-Woon and Lee Jae-Won (Seoul: Nanam
Publishing House, 1993) pp. 309-312.
102
Jung Eun-Young, “Transnational Popular Music Culture and Local Cultural Politics: Korea’s Open-Door Policy
on Japanese Popular Culture (1998-2004) and its Antecedents.” Asian Musicology (9): 63-99, 2006, pp. 70-71.
103
Im Jin-Mo’s “Deajung Kayo, Kkûdômmûn P‘yojôrûi Segye” (“Popular Music, Endless Piracy World”) in Ilbon
Munhwa Pekkigi (Copying Japanese Popular Culture), (Seoul: Namu-wa Sup, 1998) pp. 161-162, translated by the
author.

70
 In 1992, the shinsedae (the new generation), whose values, customs, life-styles and mind-

set were particularly different from the kisûngsedae (the older generation), found its

representative voice in Seo Taiji (1972-), who in 1992 adapted rap music via hip hop culture

through his debut song “Nan Arayo” (“I Know”) with two members who were mainly backup

dancers. Despite the older generation’s criticism on Seo Taiji’s unconventional styles of music,

dance, and fashion--as well as his educational background (he was a high school dropout)--Seo

Taiji’s success was the most revolutionary one in the history of Korean popular music. That is,

the exclusively palladu kayo-centered Korean popular music world was overturned by the rap

and dance music styles of youth-oriented popular music he introduced, and this has been the

major trend even up to now (2007). What is unfortunate is that, unlike Seo Taiji, who not only

composed and sang all of the songs but also played the main role in recording, rearranging,

designing, and even marketing, the countless numbers of other singers and groups only tried to

copy Seo Taiji’s style under the control of the instant-profit-seeking entertainment companies.

Although some of the boy bands, such as H.O.T. (High Five Of Teenagers) under the smart

management of Lee Soo-Man, were quick to grab the very opportunity provided by Seo Taiji’s

initial retirement in 1996, the band’s bubble popularity was soon diminished after a series of

suspected piracy issues arose in relation to their songs and to their visual images.

Seo Taiji’s effort to speak up for the young Koreans, who were suffering from an

authoritarian educational system, was what the young Koreans wanted—and needed-- the most.

Through his music, Seo Taiji not only criticized the older generation and the “older” social

systems, but also encouraged the younger generation to find a way to face their reality and to try

harder to survive within the social system. After his release of the songs, “Kyoshil Idea”

(“Classroom Ideology”) in 1994 and “Come Back Home” in 1995, Seo Taiji became known as

71
sibdaedûrûi taebyônin (lit., “spokesperson of the teenagers”), sibdaedûrûi taet’ongryông (lit.,

“president of the teenagers”), and sibdaedûrûi usang (lit., “hero of the teenagers.”). 104 Seo

Taiji’s initial retirement in 1996 as a band member again surprised the Korean audiences since it

was the time when he was at the top of the Korean popular music world. As mentioned in the

literature review (Chapter One), Seo Taiji became the first popular cultural icon to grab the

Korean scholars’ and cultural critics’ attention, as the number of books and major articles on him

proved.

Figure 2.11 Seo Taiji wa Aidûl photos in 1993 (Seo Taiji in the middle, left) and in 1994 (Seo Taiji in the

front, right)

Since Seo Taiji’s arrival in the Korean popular music world, rap and dance-based music

became the center of the mainstream popular music in Korea, although the palladu kayo style

104
For more on the musical details of Seo Taiji’s two songs, “Kyoshil Idea” (“Classroom Ideology”) in 1994 and
“Come Back Home” in 1995, see Jung Eun-Young’s article “Articulating Korean Youth Culture through Global
Popular Music: Seo Taiji’s Use of Rap and Metal,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard
(Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) pp. 109-122.

72
retains a strong presence in the mainstream as well. Beside those two main genres, there have

been some new attempts to incorporate different genres, including rock, jazz, reggae, soul, and

traditional Korean music, since the late 1990s, but most of them were still within the formats of

the two main genres, palladu kayo and dance with rap/rap with dance.

Beside the dramatic economic downfall of the music industry caused by digital file

sharing through the internet since the late 1990s, the boom of Korean Wave (Hallyu) a craze for

Korean popular culture around the East and Southeast Asian countries, started also in the late

1990s and brought some new aspects to the Korean popular music world. Although there were

some singers, Cho Yong-Pil in the mid 1980s and Seo Taiji (to a lesser less degree) in the mid

1990s, who gained popularity outside Korea—primarily in Japan--most Korean popular music

had been a domestic affair until the boom of hallyu first occurred in China (called hanliu) in

1997. 105 However, as the international media showed great interest in the boom of hallyu, and

more and more Korean entertainers became big stars in countries including not only China, but

also Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, and even Japan, the Korean

popular music industry began to seek its means to survive and thrive in the global market rather

than the domestic market.

105
For more explanation on the early period of hallyu in China, see Rowan Pease’s article “Internet, Fandom, and K-
Wave in China,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental,
2006) pp. 176-189.

73
Figure 2.12 Rain's 2004 album cover, It's Raining (left) and BoA's 2003 album cover, Atlantis Princess

(right)

Among the singers at the forefront of the hallyu boom are Pi (a male singer, born in 1982

and known also as “Rain,” the English translation of his Korean stage name; hereafter Rain) and

BoA (a female singer, born in 1986 and especially active in Japan). Rain has a strong following

in many Asian countries, and has even performed at Madison Square Garden in New York

City—in a calculated attempt to spread the Korean Wave beyond Asia to the shores of the United

States. BoA’s CDs and videos sell throughout East and Southeast Asia, but especially in Japan,

where she has lived, gained native-speaker fluency in Japanese, and performs so many songs in

Japanese that her music is often shelved along with other Japanese popular music rather than

Korean popular music. 106

Summary. From its beginnings in ch’angga in the early twentieth century, Korean

popular music has drawn much of its stylistic inspiration and often even its repertory from

foreign sources. The form that maintained the strongest traditional stylistic elements, shin

minyo, proved less durable than the still-popular t’ûrot’û, whose style has, from its beginnings,

106
I will discuss these singers in more detail in Chapter Four and Five.

74
been very close to Japanese enka. While scholars may argue over the directions of cultural flow

(whether primarily Japanese enka to Korean t’ûrot’û or from t’ûrot’û to enka), both genres owe

clear stylistic debt to the harmonic language and instrumentation of Western popular music.

While direct American influence was preceded by European and Japanese, it became

increasingly strong in the years following the Korean War, with Korean musicians learning

American jazz and, especially, rock ‘n’ roll, though Koreans relied mostly on cover versions

until the late 1960s. From that time on, Koreans have adopted a number of American popular

musical styles, from commercial folk music (t’ong k’ita) in the 1970s to mainstream, “middle-of-

the-road” (MOR) ballads, rhythm and blues (R&B), hip-hop/rap, and even heavy metal. These

genres have become indigenized, however, or at least “de-Americanized” in the sense that most

songs in these genres that appear as kayo are not cover versions of American, or other foreign,

originals. They are sung in Korean, with harmonies and instrumental accompaniment that

listeners are far more likely to identify as “modern” or “international” than simply as American

or Western. And thus the music that is undeniably the most “popular” in Korea—i.e., that the

largest number of people enjoy and pay to enjoy, and which Koreans are now very culturally

proud to see finding popularity in other Asian countries through the Korean Wave—is kayo.

2.3 INTRODUCTION TO POPULAR MUSIC INDUSTRY IN JAPAN AND KOREA

Above I have offered brief histories of the popular music in Japan and Korea, focusing on the

styles, genres, and individual artists and groups. Before turning our attention to the changing

presence of Japanese popular music and culture in Korea in the following chapters, it remains for

us to consider briefly the history of the music industry itself in both countries—i.e., the changing

role of technology and business in the popular music of Japan and in Korea, beginning from the

75
first commercial recordings dating from the early twentieth century. Because the recording

industry itself was introduced by Japan into Korea during the colonial period, it is necessary to

take a look at the interactions between the two countries’ music industries from the colonial

period.

2.3.1 Brief Outline of Popular Music Industry in Japan

The first hit Japanese song was released by the Orient Recording Company, a small-scale

company established in 1913 in Kyoto. This company was having financial difficulty until their

hit song, “Kachusha no Uta” (“Kachusha’s Song”), was released in the following year. 107 It was

sung by Matsui Sumako (1886-1919), who was a leading actress in the theater company led by

Shimamura Hogetsu (1871-1918). 108 The original title of the record was “Fukkatsuno Uta”

(“Resurrection Song”) and derived from the play, Resurrection (based on the novel by Leo

Tolstoy), which was performed by one of the troupes influenced by the New Theatre Movement

in Japan, during the latter part of the first decade of the twentieth century. 109 According to the

descriptions by both Toru Mitsui and Nakamura Toyo, the song’s popularity resulted from the its

new hybrid sound, created by mixing together Western “lied” style with Japanese folk song. The

mixture was requested for the troupe’s tour in early 1914 by the troupe’s leader Shimamura

Hogetsu when he commissioned the song from the composer Nakayama Shimpei, who studied

Western classical music at the Tokyo College of Music. 110 According to Mitsui’s findings,

about 20,000 copies of the record were sold, despite its expensive price at that time (about 10%

107
Toyo Nakamura, “Early Pop Song Writers and Their Backgrounds.” Popular Music 10(3): 263-282, 1991, p. 263.
108
Ibid. p. 264.
109
Mitsui Toru’s “Interactions of Imported and Indigenous Musics in Japan: A Historical Overview of the Music
Industry,” in Whose Master’s Voice?: The Development of Popular Music in Thirteen Cultures, edited by Alison J.
Ewbank and Fouli T. Papageorgiou. (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997) p. 155.
110
Toyo, op. cit. p. 264, Mitsui, op. cit. p. 155.

76
of an elementary school teacher’s initial salary). The song lyrics, about a painful farewell, were

written by Soma Kyofu and were also used for a cosmetic manufacturer’s advertisement in a

newspaper. Thus, it also became one of the earliest advertisement songs in Japan. 111

Another early hit song by Nakayama Shimpei, “Sendo Kouta” (“A Boatman’s Song,”

initially released in sheet music in 1921) was recorded in 1923; based on this song’s popularity,

the film, “Kare Susuki” (“Withered Eulalia”), was made. 112 Hosokawa notes that the huge

success of the film “Kare Susuki” led the film industry to take popular songs seriously and to

follow the trends in popular songs. Growing popularity of Western-influenced Japanese songs,

along with the film industry’s expansion, became an important force in the development of the

Japanese music industry.

The Japanese recording companies, which were suffering from high taxation on direct

imports of foreign records after the great Kansai earthquake in 1923 (which worsened the

economic condition of Japan), began to join with foreign firms for local pressing, an arrangement

that lowered the cost dramatically. 113 As a result, the major recording companies were

reestablished between 1927 and 1928, including Nippon Columbia (Japan Columbia), Nippon

Victor (Japan Victor), and Nippon Polydor (Japan Polydor), and the Japanese music industry

began to develop. 114 Besides pressing foreign records, those companies began to make domestic

“cover” versions of original records including “My Blue Heaven” (recorded by many musicians,

including Gene Austin, Paul Whiteman, and Dick Lucas). 115 Soon after, those recording

companies began to produce their original hits: one of the first hit songs was “Kimi Koishi”

111
For more about the song “Kachusha no Uta,” see So Nishizawa. Nihon Ryukoka Kayoshi: Ryakushi (A History of
Modern Japanese Songs), (Tokyo: Ufusha, 1990) p. 3007.
112
Shuhei Hosokawa, “Cultural History of Kouta Ega (Song Films) in 1920s: Popular Songs and Movies at the End
of the Silent Film Era” Nichibunken Newsletter 59: 5, 2005. p. 5.
113
Mitsui, op. cit. pp. 158-159.
114
Toyo, op. cit. pp. 266-267.
115
Mitsui, op. cit. 159.

77
(“Yearning for You”) by Nippon Victor in 1929. 116 Since then, more and more original

productions of new songs were produced and the music industry continued to expand.

After World War II, more cheerful sounding songs were popular, including the first

postwar hit song, “Ringo no Uta” (lit., “Apple Song”), by Nippon Columbia in 1946; however,

the total production of postwar Japan was only one-third of prewar Japan. 117 Beginning in 1951,

as the Japanese economy began to thrive through the Korean War, the music industry began to

flourish and many popular singers began to appear, including the exceptionally talented singer,

Misora Hibari, who achieved life-long popularity since her debut at the age of twelve in Japan. 118

Besides NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation, established in 1926), which had mainly

broadcast Western classical music, commercial broadcasting stations began to launch in the early

1950s, and many music TV shows were created. Among them, NHK radio’s Nodojiman Shiroto

Ongajukai (Amateur Singing Contest) was a very popular one, on which people sang their

favorite popular songs. As many Japanese scholars have noted, including Toru Mitsui, Toshihiro

Tsuganesawa, and Hideo Watanabe, karaoke’s instant and extensive popularity from its

inception in the 1970s in Japan is due in large measure to the fact that singing in public (at social

gatherings and festivals) is a favorite leisure activity of Japanese people. 119 However, the

Japanese public’s enjoyment of public singing not only boosted the popularity of the TV contest

programs and karaoke, but also led the recording companies to work closely with the popular

broadcast media, including television, as a way of promoting records. As a result, popular music

became the center of those forces, the production, the media, and the consumer (who not only

116
Mitsui, op. cit. 160.
117
Kurata Hoshihiro. Nihon Record Bunkashi (A History of Phonograph Culture), (Tokyo: Tokyo Shoseki, 1979).
P. 481.
118
Mitsui, op. cit. 160.
119
Mitsui, op. cit. 165); Tsuganesawa Toshihiro, Karaoke as Popular Culture (Tokyo: Shibundo, 1993) pp. 99-101;
Watanabe Hideo, “Karaoke Learning in Japan.” Japan Studies Review 9: 59-80, 2005, p. 65.

78
enjoy listening but also singing them in public for many years even before the creation of

karaoke in Japan).

As TV sets began to spread in Japan from the 1950s, a number of music TV shows were

produced, some lasting for decades. For example, the famous music show by NHK, Kohaku

Utagassen (lit., “Red and White Song Battle,” annual New Year Eve’s show) started in 1951 and

has been the most highly regarded music show in Japan.

From the late 1960s, as the Japanese economy grew rapidly, foreign capital investment

also increased, and the major foreign record companies merged with the Japanese companies.

The newly merged companies included CBS Sony (1968), Toshiba EMI (1969), Nippon

Phonogram (1970), Warner Pioneer (1970), and RVC (1975). 120 By joining with the foreign

companies, the Japanese music industry became even more stable and began to extend their

market internationally.

The two major musical instrument manufactures in the 1970s, Yamaha and Kawai, drove

Japan to become an amateur music-making country by giving demonstrations, sponsoring classes

and contests, and selling cheap keyboard instruments. More than a million students joined the

two companies’ music classes during this decade. 121 These extremely popular classes, provided

a foundation for many young Japanese becoming musicians. Their music-making experiences

since they were young also became an important factor in broadening their appreciation for

various kinds of musical genres. Since the mid 1970s, Japan’s has been the second biggest

120
Mitsui Toru, “Japan in Japan: Notes on an Aspect of the Popular Music Record Industry in Japan.” Popular
Music 3: 107-120, 1983, p. 108.
121
Mitsui Toru’s “Interactions of Imported and Indigenous Musics in Japan: A Historical Overview of the Music
Industry,” in Whose Master’s Voice?: The Development of Popular Music in Thirteen Cultures, edited by Alison J.
Ewbank and Fouli T. Papageorgiou. (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997) pp. 170-171.

79
music industry in the world (based on sales, holding around 15%), and its success has been based

primarily on the domestic consumption of Japanese popular music. 122

During the 1980s, as VCR players were found in more than 50% of Japanese households,

producing music video became very important in the popular music industry, and many music

TV programs became less popular than the previous decades.123 However, in the mid 1990s, the

TV show Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ was produced and which has been one of the most

popular TV program in Japan until present day. As I mentioned in the previous section, during

the 1990s, an important market strategy, “tie-up,” was introduced by the Being Record company.

This company was focused on producing TV commercial songs with affiliated producers and

singers. As the company’s “tie-up” strategy became extremely popular for the TV commercial

songs, the company’s singers became popular too. Since then, the “tie-up” strategy has become

a standard, and the competition among these songs has become critical to the financial success of

this and other companies.

In the mid 1990s, the Japanese music industry began to identify computer games and

animations as important new vehicles for music promotion and has been expanding into these

fields. Music for the popular games and animations’ original sound track albums often became

big hits through this kind of “tie-up.” From 1997, the top selling record company in Japan was

AVEX, which achieved its success by selling dance music, created by Komuro Tetsuya, the most

powerful producer and singer at that time, producing most of the top singers in the late 1990s in

Japan, including Amuro Namie. 124 Although the internet’s initial impact constituted a major

challenge to the music industry in Japan, particularly the rampant file-sharing of the late 1990s,

122
Kawabata Shigeru, “The Japanese Record Industry.” Popular Music 10: 327-345, 1991, p. 327.
123
Umeda Koji, Nihon Ongaku Shiritai Kotoga Suguwakaru (Tokyo: Kou-Business, 1997), translated into Korean
by Kim Hyung-Chan (Seoul: People of Fresh Mind Publishing, 1998) pp. 25-26.
124
Ibid. p. 107.

80
companies like AVEX and Being’s (B-Gram Record) have managed to remain successful in the

market.

In summarizing briefly the main contours of the music industry in Japan, several notable

features emerge. First, we find a precursor to the “tie-up” strategies used by today’s Japanese

music industry companies in the rise to popularity of Japan’s first recording hit being based on a

drama, and subsequent hits coming from early films. The “tie-up” with other popular forms

reached new intensity in the last two decades as popular music has gained enormous exposure

through anime films and television shows, and through computer game soundtracks. From early

on we see business links between Japanese recording companies and those of the Western world,

particularly the United States, such as Nippon Victor, resulting in the local pressing of Western

popular music as well as Japanese. Only from the 1980s, though, do we find Japanese popular

music establishing much of a presence overseas, as the Japanese market has been substantial

enough to sustain a diversified and creative popular music output. The visual dimension of

music personalities has long played an important role in popular music in Japan. Beginning in

the very early years of television in Japan, we find, much more so than in the West, a strong

popular support for music shows, setting the stage for the emphasis on visual appearance that

typifies much of the popular music Japan would develop in the 1970s and after.

2.3.2 Brief Outline of Popular Music Industry in Korea

The first hit Korean song, Yûn Sim-Dôk’s “Saûi Ch’anmi” (“Glorification on Death”), was

recorded by the Japanese record company (Nitto) in Japan and released in Korea in 1926. 125

Although there were earlier recordings of ch’angga from 1925, the song “Saûi Ch’anmi” has

125
Lee Young Mee, “The Beginnings of Korean Pop,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith
Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) p. 3.

81
often been considered the beginning of the record industry’s history in Korea because of its

popularity. The melody of the song was taken from the famous waltz “The Waves of the

Danube” (1889), by Rumanian composer Ion Ivanovici (1845-1902), but the writer of the Korean

lyrics was unknown. 126 After she recorded the song in Osaka, Japan in 1926, Yûn Sim-Dôk, a

famous actress as well as singer, joined in a double suicide with her lover Kim U-Jin, a famous

playwright, on the way back to Korea. The publicity from this tragedy contributed to making the

song very popular. 127

After this big hit by Yûn Sim-Dôk, the Japanese record companies began to open

branches in Korea. Following those initial openings, Nippon Victor (1927), Nippon Columbia

(1928), and Nippon Polydor (1930) began to sell records from Japan in Korea. The first record

company based in Korea was Okeh Record, established in 1933 through a technical cooperation

with Japan. It began to produce its own SP (78 rpm) albums from 1945, including Chang

Sejông’s “Urôra Ŭnbangul” (“Cry, Silverbell”) and “Paekp’albonnôi” (“108 Anxiety”). 128

In the 1950s, a few new Korean record companies, including King Star, Sinsegi, Oasis,

Universal, Taedo, Midopa, Seoul, Asea, and Omega, started to sell SPs and LPs; however, it was

the 1960s when the Korean record industry really began to develop substantially. 129 Also, after

the Korean War as the American army established its bases in Korea, AFKN (American Forces

Korea Network) was established and broadcast its own TV station (from 1957) and FM station

126
Lee Young Mee, Han’guk Taejung Kayosa (Seoul: Sigongsa, 1998) pp. 50-52 and Hûngnam Pudu ûi
Kumsuninûn Ôdiro Kassûlkka (Seoul: Goldenbough, 2002) pp. 15-23);
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Ivanovici (accessed September. 15. 2006).
127
Based on their famous love story, the movie “Saui Ch’anmi” was produced in 1991. See
http://kr.movies.yahoo.com/movie/detail.html?movie_id=4394 (accessed September. 15. 2006).
128
“Hanguk Ŭmak Sanôp Hyôpôi” (“Music Industry Association of Korea”), http://www.miak.or.kr (accessed May.
3. 2006).
129
Ibid.

82
(from 1964). AFKN introduced various kinds of American popular culture, including music, TV

dramas, movies, and animations, profoundly influencing Korean popular culture. 130

In 1964, the very first organization of the Korean record industry, Taehan Rekodû

Chejakjahyôpoe (lit., “Korea Record Manufacturers”) was launched, and earned the sanction of

the Ministry of Culture and Information in 1972.131 The biggest hit in the 1960s was “Tongbaek

Agassi” sung by Lee Mi-Ja (1941-) and released by Jigu Rekodû (lit., “Earth Records”), a

company that produced a number of huge hit songs with top singers until the early 1990s in

Korea. 132

In the 1970s, as the Korean economy began to improve, many new record companies

were established and began to expand their market volume through the licensing agreements

with the foreign companies. For example,

In 1973, Sông Ŭm Rekodû made licensing agreements with Philips, Deutch

Gramophon, Polydor, A&M, Argo, and Mercury and began to concentrate on
the music business. Jigu Rekodû made licensing agreements with RCA in
1972 and CBS Sony in 1974……Also, Oasisû Rekodû made licensing
agreements with EMI, WEA, and Pony Canyon Records. Besides those
major companies, many other Korean companies began to join the music
business in Korea, including Taedo, Asea, Taegwang Ŭmban, Yeûmsa,
Sôrabôl, Hyundae Ŭmhyang, Hanguk Ŭmban, Taesông Ŭmban, Taeyang
Ŭmhyang, Ŭnsông Ŭmban, and Saehan Ŭmban. The Korean music industry
was also influenced by the introduction of cassettes (also called MC/Music
Cassette in Korea). 133

130
For more account on AFKN, see Roald Maliangkay’s “Pop for Progress: Censorship and South Korea’s
Propaganda Songs,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global
Oriental, 2006) pp. 21-33.
131
“Hanguk Ŭmak Sanôp Hyôpôi” (“Music Industry Association of Korea”), http://www.miak.or.kr (accessed May.
3. 2006).
132
I discuss more details on Lee Mi-Ja’s “Tongbaek Agassi” and the record company in Chapter Three.
133
“Hanguk Ŭmak Sanôp Hyôpôi” (“Music Industry Association of Korea”), http://www.miak.or.kr (accessed May.
3. 2006), translated by the author.

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 From the late 1980s, besides those record companies, many major corporations in Korea

began to join the music business and expanded the market. The corporations’ music industry

sectors including SKC (1987) by Sôngyông, Cheil Kihoek (1992) and Samsung Chunja (1993)

by Samsung, Orikom (93) by Tusan, Hyundai Chunja (1993) by Hyundai, Seûm Midiô (1993) by

Daewoo, LG media (1993) by LG (Lucky Gûmsông), and Taehûng Kihoek (1994) by Lotte.

During the 1980s, a large number of music TV programs were produced and were very

popular. One of the programs, KBS’ Chôn’guk Noraejarang (lit., “Nation Singing-vanity”),

started in 1988 and was broadcast every Sunday. This amateur singing contest TV show travels

around to cities in Korea and invites the local residents to join the show and compete in their

singing skills. These shows are very similar to the Japanese TV program, Nodojiman (lit.,

“Voice Vanity”), by NHK (which started as a radio program). 134 Also, another popular music

TV program, Kayo Top 10 (lit., “Popular Song Top 10,” from 1980 to 1998, broadcast by KBS)

was a Korean version of the popular Japanese music TV Program in the 1980s, Za Besuto 10

(“The Best 10”) broadcast by TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System). 135

CD Album sales continued to grow until the mid 1990s, around the time of Seo Taiji’s

initial retirement. However, from the late 1990s, with Korea’s economic downturn in 1997 and

illegal downloading, copying, and sharing of music files through the internet, the Korean music

industry was rapidly reduced and a lot of companies were bankrupted. According to the

Han’guk Ŭmak Sanôp Hyôp’ôe’s statistics, in 1999 a total of 12 albums sold more than 500,000

copies, but in 2003, only one album sold more than 500,000 copies in Korea. This downturn led

to the abandonment of 500,000 as a benchmark of an album’s success. In 2004, the top category

134
See the official websites of the Korean program “Chônguk Noraejarang” (www.kbs.co.kr/1tv/enter/jarang) and
the Japanese program “Nodojiman” (www.nhk.or.jp/nodojiman).
135
http://www.tbs.co.jp/program/bestten.html (accessed November. 11. 2006).

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was adjusted to albums selling 200,000 (nine in 2004, but only four in 2006). The sharply

downward trend in domestic sales pushed some companies to internationalize, as the Korean

Wave has been booming in many Asian countries for the past a few years. The frontrunners in

this new direction include SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment, all of

which were launched by former popular singers. Among then, JYP and YG have focused on

China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines; and SM was focused on

Japan until 2005. By concluding a licensing agreement with AVEX, the giant entertainment

corporation of Japan, Korea’s SM Entertainment has been especially successful in the

internationalization of their production.

The popular music industry in Korea, then, could be said to have grown and shifted

markedly from its origins 100 years ago. In actuality, of course, the companies producing and

selling Korea’s first popular music were Japanese. Only after independence was Korea able to

establish its own record companies, and these were of little economic consequence because the

nation, following the devastating Korean War, was largely impoverished, and very few Koreans

could afford to buy records or the equipment on which to play them. The Korean recording

industry became a substantial one only from the 1970s onward, and became enormously

successful as increasing numbers of younger Koreans came to have money to spend on

entertainment. With the rise of the internet in Korea, music consumption of recordings has

dwindled and shifted to internet downloads (at first free or illegally acquired for free, now mostly

requiring payment). Though piracy is not officially part of the Korean music “industry” and

impossible to measure reliably with statistics, I would be remiss not to mention here the

substantial instance of music (and video) piracy that has pervaded Korea at least since the 1970s,

and through which, as we will see in the following chapter, many Koreans first came to know

and appreciate Japanese popular music.

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 2.4 SUMMARY REMARKS

As we have seen, Korea and Japan have had a troubled history of international relations going

back many centuries. In particular, the forceful annexation of Korea by Japan during the

twentieth century, and the systematic attempts to undermine Korean cultural identity and pride,

not only stimulated the rise of an intensified sense of nationalism among Koreans, but also a

pernicious and deep sense of cultural inferiority. But the twentieth century not only brought

colonialism to Korea, it also brought Western-style “modernism” and capitalist culture to Korea

and other countries in Asia. Among the many cultural developments in Korea and Japan was the

birth of popular music and the music industries that shaped and supported it. Though interrelated

both during and after the colonial period, Korea’s and Japan’s popular musics grew from rather

similar origins (enka and tûrotû) into distinctive styles and genres. The heavy influences of

Western, primarily American, popular forms, from jazz and rock to rap and metal, have been

fundamental stylistic influences in both Korea and Japan, but both countries differentiate their

own popular musical traditions from those of the West. And the popularity of American pop

music in both countries diminished as more and more local artists rose to the top of the local

charts.

One of the key differences between Korea’s and Japan’s popular music histories,

however, is the hard line Korea took with respect to censorship of particular songs and the

comprehensive banning of Japanese popular music and other cultural products. What was

illegal, however, was not unknown. Yet what was Japanese was almost automatically

controversial, openly reviled by some, but often enhancing its appeal to some Koreans by the

very nature of its belonging to a forbidden realm. It is to this condition in Korea, the illegal

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presence of Japanese music and related cultural products, that we now turn in the following

chapter.

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 3.0 JAPAN’S ILLEGAL PRESENCE

Popular music from Japan has clearly occupied a prominent position in Japan’s presence in

Korea. Long before Korea initiated its Open Door Policy, Korean youth were purchasing and

listening to pirated Japanese pop cassettes and CDs. It is the main task of this chapter to trace

the transnational cultural traffic in the music that created this illegal presence and to inquire into

its implications for Korean conceptions of Japan. But before I address that traffic specifically,

something needs to be said about other popular cultural products from Japan, as music is not the

only product involved in this traffic by any means, and the notions Koreans have of things

Japanese derives not from any single form, but their composite presence. Further aspects of the

traffic in these other forms will emerge in my discussion of popular music itself, but here I would

like to introduce these other forms and comment on their importance as an essential context in

which we can understand the presence of Japan through its popular music.

3.1 ILLEGAL PRESENCE OF JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE IN KOREA

AND CULTURAL “ODOR”

Modern Japanese popular culture began to penetrate into Korea through the economic

partnerships established in 1965 under the Park Chung-Hee regime. Although the Korean

government’s official banning policy on the import of Japanese cultural products lasted from the

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liberation of Korea in 1945 until 1997, various kinds of Japanese cultural products found their

way into Korea even during this period and influenced contemporary Korean popular culture

through various legal and illegal routes. Among the Japanese cultural products, what Iwabuchi

defines as “the odorless products” including “comics/cartoons (animations), consumer

technology, and computer games” 136 were spreading rapidly in Korea, some as early as the late

1960s.

Because the boundaries of the Korean government’s ban on imports of Japanese cultural

products were never clearly defined in detail, the banning policy was a rather cursory guideline

in most cases. Also, the intensity of the Korean government’s execution of the banning policy

was different case by case and often changed along with the political and economic

circumstances of the time. Thus, the banning policy was not infrequently ignored and

manipulated by the participating import industries. Because the Korea’s banning policy did not

consider the Japanese consumer technologies (radios, stereos, VCRs, the Walkman, video

cameras) as “cultural” products, most of them were legally imported from Japan to Korea with

the original maker and place of manufacture declared and labeled as they really were. Although

the Japanese consumer technologies were usually more expensive than those produced in Korea,

Japanese products’ internationally recognized high quality and famous brands were preferred by

Koreans over domestic products until the early 1990s.

Ironically, the Korean consumers who were most able to afford the expensive Japanese

consumer technologies during the period as well as those who could only desire but not actually

buy these products shared a typical and paradoxical Korean attitude toward Japan: i.e., Koreans

dislike Japan and the Japanese people, but love the Japanese products. However, this kind of

136
Iwabuchi discusses Japan’s marketing strategy on popular cultural products in relation to Japan’s “return to Asia”
project. See Iwabuch’s article, “Return to Asia?: Japan in Asian Audiovisual Markets,” in Consuming Ethnicity and
Nationalism: Asian Experiences, edited by Kosaku Yoshino (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999) pp. 182-
184.

89
Korean contradictory attitude toward Japan and Japanese products has also been repeatedly

criticized by the Koreans themselves, especially when their nationalistic support has become

necessary against Japan. Koreans’ contradictory attitude toward Japan has been like a “love and

hate relationship.” It also reflects Koreans’ “inferiority complex” toward “Japanese superiority”

that developed during the colonial period and has been reinforced in the post-colonial era due to

Japan’s economic success. And such complex and contradictory responses by Koreans to Japan,

Japanese, and Japanese products are still evident to a certain extent. Most Koreans would

certainly deny their “inferiority complex” toward Japan in public even though it has obviously

been shown through Koreans’ strong sense of rivalry with Japan in almost every sphere

(economy, technology, sports, etc.). Moreover, whenever the relationship between the two

countries has deteriorated because of political and/or economic troubles, particularly during the

1980s, the Korean public routinely has conducted anti-Japanese products campaigns: ilje

anss’ûgi undong (lit. “Movement not to use Japanese-made products”) or ilje pulmae undong

(lit. “Movement not to buy Japanese-made products”). These movements have usually been

short-term, but their recurrence is a clear sign Korea’s sense of competition with and animosity

towards Japan.

3.1.1 Manga/Manhwa

Comics/cartoons (manga in Japanese, manhwa in Korean) have been one of the most successful

modern popular cultural products of Japan in Asia, and its popularity even in the United States

has been rapidly growing in recent years (as we can now easily find a separate section devoted

exclusively to the Japanese manga in the large bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble and

Border’s). In Korea, since as early as the 1950s, Japanese manga and its contents and styles

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have been illegally reproduced. 137 Though officially banned in Korea, many of the manga were

simply copied, but with the texts translated into Korean. At first very few Koreans were even

aware of the Japanese origin of these manhwa (Korean term for comic books), enjoying them as

indigenous popular culture. While animated shows and movies from Japan (anime, see below)

were so costly to reproduce that most Korean production companies could not even afford to

undertake all the necessary repackaging, manga could be easily copied by individual cartoonists

and delivered to the publishing companies.

By the 1970s, there were more than 20,000 manhwa rental stores (formerly called

manhwa kage, and since the early 1990s called manhwabang in Korean) and Koreans’

reproduction of Japanese manga became a major industry. 138 Beginning in the 1970s, reading

manhwa became one of the most popular pastimes among Korean youth. 139 In 1977, as some

adult content and violent scenes became more and more evident and problematic in the Korean

manhwa, the Korean government took action on the contents of manhwa. The government’s

tough rules on this matter left the Korean cartoonists with limited subject matter, mostly material

that was suitable only for children. The government rules remained in force until 1997. As a

result, many Korean comic fans turned their back on the Korean manhwa and enjoyed illegally-

copied Japanese manga, which had been spreading throughout Korea through direct and indirect

copying since the late 1970s. 140 In 1990, as the Korean government finally allowed Ilbon

manhwa tanhaengbon (translated version of independent volumes of Japanese manga), the

137
Kwak Tae-Won, “Ilbonmanhwaga Ch’arminanûn Iyu Myôkkaji” (A Few Reasons of Japanese Manga’s
Popularity) in Ilbon Munhwa Bekkigi (Copying Japanese Popular Culture), (Seoul: Namu-wa Sup, 1998) pp.191-
192.
138
Ibid. p. 195.
139
Kim Kyong-Hwa, “Hanbandoe Ch’arijabûn Ilbon Ch’ôngsonyôn Munhwa” (“Japanese Adolescents Culture
Rooted in Korea”) in Ilbon Munhwa Bekkigi (Copying Japanese Popular Culture), (Seoul: Namu-wa Sup, 1998) p.
41.
140
Ibid. pp. 202-208.

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bestseller Doragon Boru (known as the “Dragon Ball,” 1984-1995) written by Toriyama Akira

was imported right away by the major publisher, Seoul Munhwasa in Korea and was a major hit.

Figure 3.1 Korean Version, Dragon Ball (1990), vol. 19, p. 73 (left) and covers of vol. 41 and vol. 42

(right)

The Japanese manga has helped many young Koreans to be familiar with other kinds of

Japanese popular culture, particularly anime and its associated characters, artistic style, and

music, and led Koreans as they became adults to adopt a view on Japan in general that was more

favorable than that of their parents and grand-parents.

3.1.2 Anime

Soon after the arrival of manga, Japanese animated cartoons and movies (anime) found

popularity in Korea, beginning as early as the 1960s. Anime could not be so easily copied, but

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became available in Korea as television broadcasters simply cut the Japanese voice-tracks,

replaced them with Korean ones, and broadcast them, in spite of the Korean government policy

forbidding Japanese imports. All imports of Japanese animation, which were supposed to be

illegal but somehow “officially” entered into Korea due to inconsistent application of the

banning policy, went through a makeover process first. They were all translated into Korean,

and the characters’ names were changed to Korean names (or some other foreign names) in order

to conceal their Japanese origin. 141 Certain elements implying Japan and/or Japanese culture

were modified to appear more Korean or eliminated from the content. However, much of the

Japanese animations’ content has tended to be rather universal (especially the very popular

fantasy stories) instead of being particularly Japanese. 142 Also, the names of the writers,

producers, voice actor/actress (dubbing artists), musicians, and production studios were simply

cut from these products from the late 1960s until the late 1990s. As a result, many of the

Koreans who grew up watching these animations on TV misunderstood their origins, taking them

to be Korean even today.

In the case of music for the animations, all the lyrics were translated into Korean (or

sometimes rewritten in Korean), but the original melodies were usually used. More than ninety

percent of the animations broadcast on TV (Terebi anime in Japanese, TV Manhwa yônghwa in

Korean) since the late 1960s have been Japanese animation, and they have been extremely

popular among young Koreans. 143 The impact of those animations’ extreme popularity has not

been limited to the animations themselves but has also included the theme songs of those

141
See Hô In-Uk, Hanguk Animation Yônghwasa (Korean Animation Film History), Seoul: Sinhan Media, 2002) p.
61.
142
According to Iwabuchi Koichi, Japanese animation films have intentionally erased or subdued particular racial or
ethnic differences in order to be exportable. See Iwabuchi Koichi, “Return to Asia? Japan in Asian Audiovisual
Markets,” in Consuming Ethnicity and Nationalism: Asian Experiences, edited by Kosaku Yoshino (Honolulu:
University of Hawai’i Press, 1999) p. 183.
143
See Hô In-Uk, op. cit. pp. 67-71, and Kwak Tae-Won, “Ilbonmanhwaga Ch’arminanûn Iyu Myôkkaji” (A Few
Reasons of Japanese Manga’s Popularity) in Ilbon Munhwa Bekkigi (Copying Japanese Popular Culture), (Seoul:
Namu-wa Sup, 1998) p. 153.

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animations since the late 1960s. The theme songs were extremely popular among Korean

children during the 1970s and beyond, and they were often used as cheering songs for school’s

field days because almost all Korean child knew them. As they became adults, they still favored

those animations’ theme songs as cheering songs for various meetings and festivals and as

popular repertories at karaoke (or noraebang in Korean). To this day, customers at Korean

noraebang can choose these songs, which are listed under the genre entry manhwa norae, (lit.,

“animation songs”). One of the earliest Japanese animations broadcast in Korea was

“Hwanggûm Pakjui” (lit., “Golden Bat”, called “O-gon Batto” in the Japanese broadcast April

1967 to March 1968 by the Yomiuri TV). It was the first animated program broadcast weekly in

Korea, shown from September 1968 to August 1969 by the Tongyang Pangsong (TBC-TV), and

its extreme popularity led the TV station to rebroadcast it a few times in the 1970s and the

1980s. 144 In addition, its theme song became one of the most famous animation theme songs in

Korea.

144
Kang In-Chun, “Kû Yennal TV Manhaw Yônghwa, “Hwanggûm Pakjui ui Ch’uôk” (The Old Day’s Animation,
Memory of the “Golden Bat”), OhMyNews, October. 12. 2005.

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Figure 3.2 Animation “Hwanggûm Pakjui” (“Golden Bat” first aired in 1968 in Korea)

Among the many popular Japanese animations, one of the most famous was the

“Ujusonyôn Atom” (original title “Tetsuwan Atomu” in Japan, also known as “Astro Boy” or

“Mighty Atom” in English). It was first broadcast in 1970 and, showing remarkable comeback

power, most recently rebroadcast by the SBS-TV from November 2003 to July 2004.145 As can

be seen in the illustration provided here, the hero, Astro Boy, has features that suggest a

Caucasian rather than an Asian racial identity. His hair is jet black, but his eyes are round and

his skin the pinkish “flesh” color of a European or an American. This is a typical strategy used

by the creators of Japanese popular cultural products—the erasure of Japanese (or even East

Asian) odor, which thereby widens the potential market. That the choice is Caucasian rather

than Asian or African, for example, has clear implications of the West’s dominance in the global

145
“Ujusonyôn Atom, Anbange Tasi Sogae” (Ujusonyôn Atom Introduced to Home Again), Yonhap News,
November. 2. 2003.

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popular culture market and ongoing vestiges of a Euro-American presence in Asia’s post-

colonial mentality.

Figure 3.3 Animation “Ujusonyôn Atom” (“Astro Boy” first aired in 1970 in Korea)

Large numbers of Japanese animations have been broadcast and rebroadcast in Korea

since the late 1960s, and the theme songs of those animations have been favorite popular songs

of viewers not only during their childhood, but also during their 20s and 30s, as nostalgic triggers

of their childhood memories. What is more important here is that this kind of intimate

familiarity that many young Koreans had with the Japanese animation songs (just like many old

Koreans’ familiarity with Japanese enka-related Korean t’ûrotû) naturally led them to be open to

other kinds of Japanese popular music and Japanese popular musical sounds in general, as they

shared familiar stylistic traits with the animation songs. Moreover, the younger generation’s

emotional and physical distance from the older generation’s bitter experience from the colonial

history with Japan has led them to be more active in consuming Japanese popular culture. Thus,

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what Iwabuchi defined as one of the “non-smelly” (odorless) products of Japan, animations, in

Korea has become a rather “smelly” cultural product in the close relationship of the theme songs

to Japanese popular music.

3.1.3 Character Goods

In addition, such “character goods” as the Hello Kitty 146 line and a range of items bearing the

images of various anime and manga characters have been popular in Korea since the 1970s,

unlike the forms that inspired many of them, were not officially banned by the Korean

government. Most of the character goods marketed in Korea, in fact, are manufactured there.

By conscious design, these character goods have born very little Japanese cultural odor, likely

contributing to their wide appeal in many countries outside of Japan, including the United States,

where the average consumer has no idea of their Japanese origin.

3.1.4 Computer Games

Since their first appearance in the early 1980s, Koreans have become avid devotees of computer

games, and many of these also have been created in Japan. The arcade machines of the 1980s

were directly imported, mostly from Japan, but because most of the lettering was in English and

the graphics avoided clear indications of racial or cultural identity, most Korean consumers were

not aware of their Japanese origins. Computer games came to be as popular as comics (manhwa)

in Korea. Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, manhwa kage (or manhwabang, “cartoon rental

stores”) and oraksil (or keimbang, “game arcades”) were the two popular inexpensive

146
Hello Kitty is a white cat with a big red ribbon on her left ear, created by Sanrio Company Ltd. in 1974 in Japan.

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entertainment spots for many Korean in their teens and 20s. These were taken over in the late

1990s by PC pang (lit., “computer [PC] rooms”), the ubiquitous public internet-access facilities

found on almost every city block in Korea’s cities and towns, as more and more of the games are

played on-line.

Most of the computer games played by Koreans have been Japanese, including the most

popular games in the 1980s, “Galaga” and “Pac-Man” (both by Namco Ltd., one of the major

computer and video game companies in Japan). These early ones were graphically simple and

gave no indication of racial, cultural, or national origin. The highly sophisticated graphics of

more recent computer games, however, bear clear resemblance to anime, which, as I have

suggested above, does not represent characters whose physical features are clearly Japanese, or

even Asian, but whose Japanese origins is increasingly known to Korean consumers. The

Japanese origin of these games is certainly more obvious now than for the games of the 1980s.

Some games accessed on line even employ Japanese language, or offer Japanese language as one

of several options. This, coupled with the frequent use of Japanese theme songs (in Japanese,

not translated), makes the Japanese identity of these recent and current computer games quite

obvious. In historical perspective, then, we can find a strong shift from the culturally “odorless”

games of the early 1980s to games that now bear strong Japanese cultural odor.

3.1.5 Television and Film

The “smelly” products of Japanese popular culture, including TV dramas, movies, and popular

music, were all over Asia during the 1990s. However, Korea was still under the banning policy

prohibiting the TV dramas, movies, and popular music along with some of the “non-smelly”

products. As a result, like the consequences from banning the Japanese animations and manga, a

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number of Korean TV dramas and movies have copied various aspects from the popular

Japanese TV dramas and movies, and, I should add, also from manga and animations.

3.1.5.1 Television.

As Korean media expert Lee Dong-Hoo discusses, the Japanese “generic discourses, production

practices, and drama texts” have been adopted by the Korean media industry.147 Most of the

popular Japanese dramas in the 1990s (known as “trendy dramas,” dealing with youth-oriented

love stories, usually 24 to 28 episodes), including Tokyo Love Story (1992), Women of Tuesday

(1994), Long Vacation (1996), Love Generation (1997), and Hitotsu Yane no Shita (“Under One

Roof” 1999), were partially or entirely copied by many Korean dramas in the 1990s, including

Chiltu (“Jealousy” 1992), Kûmyoirui Yôja (“Women of Friday” 1994), Pyôrûn Nae Kasûme

(“Wish upon a Star” 1997), Yegam (“Hunch/Presentiment” 1997), Misûtô Kyu (“Mr. Q” 1998),

Ch’ôngch’un (“Springtime” 1999), and Haep’i Tugedô (“Happy Together” 1999). 148 From

specific scenes, title, characters, settings, music, to main plot, a number of Korean dramas in the

1990s took the popular Japanese dramas as a model.

The Korean television industry has actually taken advantage of the government’s banning

policy, which blocked the Korean public from knowing Japanese TV dramas directly. As a

result, the Korean television industry has copied not only the dramas but also the other genres of

TV programs, including news programs, comedies, quiz shows, variety shows, and music

programs. Instead of trying to create original works, many Korean producers and writers were

busy copying popular Japanese programs for quick results. Although some Korean viewers

147
For more account on Japanese TV dramas’ impact on Korean TV dramas, see Lee Dong-Hoo’s “Cultural Contact
with Japanese TV Dramas: Modes of Reception and Narrative Transparency,” in Feeling Asian Modernities:
Transnational Consumption of Japanese TV Dramas, edited by Iwabuchi Koichi (Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 2004) pp. 252-274,
148
“MBC Tûrama, Yegam” (“MBC Drama, Hunch”), Cine 21, November 4. 1997; Lee Dong-Hoo, op. cit. p. 264.

99
began to realize some obvious cases of piracy through the internet and some illegal video copies

from the black market, there has been only one Korean drama cancelled because of piracy. The

drama, Ch’ôngch’un (March 1999), was cancelled only after eight episodes shown. Although

the producer admitted that he borrowed a few ideas from the Japanese drama, Love Generation,

its main plot and four characters’ love relationships were basically the same. The Japanese

drama, Love Generation (also Long Vacation), featured Kimura Takuya (member of the popular

male group, SMAP, in Japan), who has been the most famous Japanese male actor/singer in East

Asia since the mid 1990s. Since he was also well-known in Korea among the Japanese popular

culture fans, who could easily watch the original dramas through the internet), the Korean drama

Ch’ôngch’un’s obvious piracy was not tolerable by the Korean public, unlike the other Korean

dramas.

In both countries, the TV dramas are generally categorized as “historical” or

“contemporary” and this similarity in categories has led to similar sets of characteristics in what

viewers expect in TV dramas. However strong the popular cultural influences have been from

the West, particularly the United States, the focus on family and dealing with personal challenges

found in many Japanese and Korean dramas does not have a corresponding niche in American

TV dramas. Moreover, most American TV dramas are single episode, rather than the serial

approach of Japanese and Korean dramas (with sometimes more than 50 episodes in a single

drama). Much has been made of Japan’s recent infatuation with Korean TV dramas, particularly

Winter Sonata (Kyôul Yôngga), but the influence in the other direction has been considerable,

and more than Koreans would generally acknowledge. Because even the instances of direct

copying involve translation of the dialog and relocalization of the plot to Korea, viewers may not

aware of the Japanese origins of the Korean copies. Thus, it would be hard to argue for a strong

Japanese “odor” in this case—the obvious cultural markers (language and location) having been

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removed and replaced. But this kind of surreptitious use of Japanese popular cultural materials is

more and more widely known. Many instances are painstakingly researched and exposed by

Korean scholars and journalists, who see as their nationalist duty the revelation of Japan’s

insidious presence in contemporary Korea. And more directly, more and more of the Korean

public gained the capability of accessing Japanese television shows through the circulation of

pirated video tapes and DVDs, as well as on-line viewing.

3.1.5.2 Film.

Japanese commercial films, also banned in Korea until very recently, have also been shown

rather convincingly by some observers to have served as direct models for some Korean films.

Korean film critic Yang Yun-Mo provides a list of twelve Korean films clearly influenced by

Japanese originals, even going so far as to rate the percentage of copying, from 20% to 90%. 149

What does this say about Japanese “presence”? Again, if the Korean public is unaware of, or

does not sense or feel, the Japanese origins of a particular Korean film, what is the effect of

watching and enjoying it? Does one become, unknowingly, Japanized in some sense? Opinions

differ on the answer to this type of question, but it is clear that a concern for Korean cultural

subservience to a more dominant Japan runs deep in Korean consciousness. Like the other

authors of the articles in the 1998 collection of essays on Korean copying of Japanese originals

in various popular cultural forms, Yang is driven by an abiding concern over Korea’s apparent

inability to refrain from this kind of borrowing and copying from Japan. 150 Nevertheless, the

matter of copying and the matter of Japanese presence need to be carefully distinguished.

149
Yang Yun-Mo, 1998, “P’yojôl Nonjaengûro Pon Haebang Hu Han’guk Yônghwa,” (Post-Liberation Korean
Movies Considered with respect to the Piracy Controvery). In Yi Yôn et, al. Ilbon Munhwa Pekkigi (Copying
Japanese Popular Culture). (Seoul: Namu-wa Sup, 1998). P. 58.
150
Yi Yôn et at., op cit. Other realms of popular culture covered in the book besides movies are TV programs,
animation (anime), comic books (manga), fashion, TV commercials and magazine advertisements, newspaper
content, popular music, and food.

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Koreans are not forming ideas of Japan, Japanese culture, or Japanese people through consuming

and reacting to films or television shows that have been made in Korea but based on Japanese

models. What worries the culture critics like Yang is that the media-fed images Koreans are

developing of themselves are too often coming from Japan. Does the success of these shows and

films mean that Korea and Japan share many cultural traits that make it easy for Koreans to find

meaning and relevance for their own lives in viewing shows whose plots, scenarios, and

characters were created by Japanese? Or does it mean that Korea’s national cultural identity is

dangerously weak--too easily subsumed, or even transformed, by the images that they believe are

Korean but in fact derive from Japan?

3.1.6 Magazines, Fashion, and “Style”

Japanese popular culture magazines, though written in Japanese and officially banned until very

recently, were sold illegally in Korea for several decades. Containing copious color photo

illustrations of Japanese pop stars, the latest Japanese fashions, and advertisements for a myriad

of Japanese goods, these magazines found their way into the hands of eager Korean teenagers,

along with pirated Japanese popular music cassettes, through black market sellers in large market

areas of Seoul, such as Namdaemun and Chongno, and in Pusan. 151 As early as the mid-1980s,

magazines such as Non-No and MORE were spreading a fascination with things Japanese among

a growing fan base in Korea. These illegal items had especially strong Japanese odor, as there

could be no doubt about their origin. And the appealing images contributed very substantially to

151
In Pusan, the nearest big Korean city to Japan, Japanese cultural products were easily found and Japanese
presence was such that Japanese tourists could even use Japanese yen without exchanging their money for Korean
won even in the late 1980s.

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shape a mindset among younger Koreans to desire Japanese goods, Japanese fashions, 152 and,

more abstractly, a Japanese “style”—characterized by cuteness, a non-critical, a-political

worldview, infatuation with physical appearance (body, clothing, and accessories). This style,

while first and foremost Japanese, was attainable also by Koreans, whose physical and cultural

resemblance to Japanese was evident.

3.1.7 Cuisine

Food is a basic human need and has evolved complex symbolic and cultural meanings. Up until

fairly recently, one found very little in the way of “foreign” cuisine in Korea, other than Chinese

restaurants, but even these were mostly “Korean-Chinese” restaurants, serving specialties one

might not find in most Chinese restaurants in China or other countries (such as the noodles-with-

black-sauce favorite, chajang myôn). In contemporary Korea one finds a wide range of

restaurants serving various non-Korean foods, from Europe, the United States, and many other

Asian countries. Again, however, the presence of Japan is strongly felt here as ch’obap/sushi,

udong (Korean rendering of Japanese “udon”) and k’asû (Korean rendering of Japanese “katsu”)

restaurants are especially numerous. Though identified not as “Japanese” restaurants as such,

but rather as k’asû or udong restaurants, for example, the public is almost universally aware that

the food they will encounter there is Japanese. And since the late 1990s, many restaurants

serving Japanese cuisine do use an obvious Japanese place name in their name (e.g., “Osak’a

k’asû,” “Tok’yo udong,” “Sapporo,” etc.).

152
The issue of fashion is a complicated one, as clothing is both a human need and a complex symbolic system for
expressing identity and presenting oneself to the public. Korean fascination with foreign fashion in general goes
back many decades and today certainly includes the fashion centers of Europe (esp. France and Italy) as well as the
United States. But, not surprisingly, Japan looms very large in Korean notions of fashion as well.

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 As I have suggested here, and will elaborate further, the cultural odor and resulting

perception of Japanese presence varies considerably from one type of popular cultural product to

another. In some cases, such as TV dramas, movies, anime and manga/manhwa, the potential for

strong Japanese cultural odor is almost completely erased through translation and

(re)localization. In others, such as early computer games and character goods, Japanese odor is

weak, if evident at all, in the originals. Now that Japanese TV dramas, movies, as well as

popular music can at last be imported and consumed legally in Korea, Japanese presence in

Korea has the potential to be much more strongly perceived. And among these forms, it is

popular music that seems to be the most widely accessible and known to the Korean public,

particularly its youth.

3.2 ILLEGAL PRESENCE OF JAPANESE POPULAR MUSIC IN KOREA AND

CULTURAL “ODOR”

The transnational cultural traffic in popular music between Korea and Japan had started during

the colonial period. However, as the colonial period ended, the remains of Japanese presence in

the Korean society and culture became a very troublesome and sensitive matter for Koreans.

Furthermore, the two countries’ ongoing political conflicts have made Koreans keenly sensitive

to the presence of Japan, a presence which became deeply rooted in the Korean society and

culture from the colonial period and has been revitalized again recently (although this time

largely by their own will). In this section, I will discuss postcolonial Korea’s effort to eliminate

the remains of Japanese presence in popular music, starting from 1960s, and the contrary process

of gradually growing illegal presence of Japanese popular music from 1980s until 1997,

especially among the young Koreans.

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3.2.1 De-Japanizing Korea and Purifying Korean Popular Music

The presence of Japan in the popular music of postcolonial Korea was all but inevitable, because

Korean popular music first appeared and developed during the colonial period, and its music

industry was established by Japan during that time. Since the colonial period, the revitalization

of Korean cultural identity by abolishing the legacy of Japanese colonialism has been an integral

part of Korean cultural policy. The Korean government has sought to restore the national culture

from deteriorating by reevaluating and funding traditional culture and to protect popular culture

by monitoring its content. Besides the banning policy on the imports of Japanese popular culture

to prevent further “Japanization” of Korean culture, the Korean government’s internal efforts on

de-Japanizing postcolonial Korean popular culture through the censorship policies clearly proved

the Koreans’ concern over the deeply ingrained presence of Japan in Korea.

After the liberation and the Korean War, Koreans could not afford to spend much of their

mony on leisure activities, such as the consumption of popular music. Personal financial

resources were mostly spent on basic necessities, and national financial resources were devoted

largely to rebuilding the nation from the ruins of the war. Nevertheless, Korean popular culture,

including music, did manage to grow gradually as Korea’s economy began to improve by the

1960s. In 1965, when the Park Chung-Hee regime normalized relations with Japan for economic

support, despite the Korean public’s strong opposition, he saw the need for a quick and efficient

plan to suppress the public’s anger toward the government. Korea’s popular culture, which the

government saw as potentially harmful and thus in need of the strict monitoring, came under

very tight government control in order to suppress the anger as well as the growing anti-

government force within the Korean public.

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 In the 1960s and the 1970s, the Park Chung-Hee regime established the various

censorship policies and organizations to monitor and to “purify” (chônghwa in Korean)

postcolonial Korean society and culture. Among them, two censorship organizations, the

Pangsong Yulli Wiwônhoe (the Korean Broadcasting Ethics Committee) and the Han’guk Yesul

Munhwa Yulii Wiwônhoe (the Korean Arts and Culture Ethics Committee) have specialized in

censoring popular music for broadcasting and recording through Sajôn Simuije (Preliminary

Review Policy, which was abolished in 1996), which covered not only the de-Japanization issue

but also anti-communist content (for example, the use of the color red in song lyrics was

restricted, called pangong in Korean), anti-government (panjôngbu), defeatism (paebaejuûi),

decadence (toepyejuûi), et al. 153

As a result, not only were Japanese popular songs prohibited from being directly

imported or reproduced in Korea but also the Korean popular songs that were deemed “too

Japanese” or “waesaek” (a derogatory term, translating as “Japanese color/taste/style”) were

banned by the government policies from 1965 until 1987.154 Not surprisingly, many of the

prohibited songs were t’ûrotû, which was the most clearly Japanese-influenced and widely

exposed popular music genre in the 1960s. 155 One of the best known examples is Lee Mi-Ja’s

song “Tongbaek Agassi” (the “Camellia Lady”). Lee Mi-Ja has been known as the “Ereji ui

Yôwang” in Korea since the 1960s to the present day (means the “Queen of elegy,” which the

word Ereji is a Japanese pronunciation for “elegy” used to describe enka in Japan and also used

in Korea from the 1960s). The song, “Tongbaek Agassi,” was released in 1964 but prohibited in

153
For more account on the censorship on popular music in 1965, see Roald Maliangkay’s “Pop for Progress:
Censorship and South Korea’s Propaganda Songs,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard
(Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) pp. 50-51.
154
In 1987, the Chun Doo-Hwan regime declared its landmark decision (June 29, 1987) to grant some additional
freedom of the press, of speech, and of public opinion as a proper gesture before hosting the Olympic Games in
1988. See Adrian Buzo, The Making of Modern Korea. (London and New York: Routledge, 2002) pp. 158-161.
155
The 1960s was called the golden period of t’ûrot’û. See Sôn Sông-Won, Taejung ûmak-ûi Ppuri (The Roots of
Korean Pops), (Seoul: Kkun, 1996) pp. 295-296.

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December 1965. The song was initially included in the sound track of the big hit movie,

Tongbaek Agassi (1964), which was featured by the most popular actor (Sin Sông-Il) and actress

(Ôm Yông-Lan) at that time. 156

Figure 3.4 Movie Poster of Tongbaek Agassi (1964)

Along with the movie’s hit, Lee Mi-Ja became the most popular singer and was known to

be the very first singer to sell more than 100,000 albums, including pirated copies. 157 Even

156
The plot of movie, “Tongbaek Agassi,” is about a young girl falling in love with a college student, who came
from Seoul the small town of an islet. After being pregnant, she went to Seoul to find her love, but he went to a
foreign country to study. She began working at the bar called “Tongbaek Suljip” (“Tongbaek Bar”). When they
met again, he was already married. Then, she gave her baby to his family and came back to her hometown.

107
though the song was prohibited by the government because of its “waesaek,” the t’ûrotû genre

itself was still allowed and many t’ûrotû songs used the word “ereji” for their titles from the mid

1960s until the 1980s. As this case showed, the conscious/unconscious use of the Japanese

words was deeply-rooted in Korean society. Although the government attempted to “purify” the

Korean language (Kugô chônghwa undong) since 1976, the presence of Japan in the Korean

language has not been completely eliminated but became even stronger after 1997.

After the enormous popularity of the song “Tongbaek Agassi,” its licensing record

company, Midopa (established in the 1950s), was divided into two separate record companies,

Jigu Rekodû (lit., “Earth Records”) and Kûraendû Rekodû (“Grand Records”) in 1965. The Jigu

Rekodû started as the major record company from its beginning by taking the copyright of the

song “Tongbaek Agassi” and its exclusive contract with Lee Mi-Ja (who has released thousands

of songs since her debut). 158 Because only that the song was prohibited, Lee Mi-Ja was able to

continue her musical career as a t’ûrotû singer for the next four decades. Although a total of

about 150 songs (a lot of them t’ûrotû songs) were prohibited by the government because of their

“waesaek,” the t’ûrotû genre itself was not eliminated from Korea and remains one of the most

durable genres in Korean popular music history. 159

During the early 1970s, while the American influenced t’ong kit’a music was booming

among the young Koreans, along with blue jeans, and mini-skirts, t’ûrotû songs became the

favorite only of the older generation and were pushed aside from the main spotlight. Under the

government’s emphasis de-Japanizing Korea, t’ûrotû became something vulgar and a low taste

157
“T’ûrot’û ui Yôksa” (The History of T’ûrot’û), Hanguk Ilbo, July. 24. 2003.
158
“Lee Mi-Ja ui Samgwa Norae” (The Life and Song of Lee Mi-Ja), Seoul News, April. 22. 2006.
159
Im Jin-Mo’s “Deajung Kayo, Kkûdômmûn P‘yojôrûi Segye” (“Popular Music, Endless Piracy World”), in Yi
Yôn et, al. Ilbon Munhwa Pekkigi (Copying Japanese Popular Culture). (Seoul: Namu-wa Sup, 1998) pp. 165-166,
translated by the author.

108
kind of music during the 1970s. As a result, t’ûrotû singers came to be less respected by most

Korean audiences since then.

While the other kinds of popular culture, including cartoons and animations, were deeply

influenced by the Japanese counterparts and less controlled by the government censorship, the

popular music and musicians were rigorously screened. In the mid 1970s, a few t’ong kit’a

singers and rock group musicians were caught smoking marijuana in an incident known as the

Taemach’o Sagôn (lit., the “Marijuana Incident”). Most of the popular t’ong kit’a singers and

writers were either imprisoned or/and prohibited from making music based on presumed

association with the Taemach’o Sagôn, although they might not actually have smoked marijuana.

It was simply because they were the t’ong kit’a singers.

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Figure 3.5 The Taemach'o Sagôn (The “Marijuana Incident”) in 1975

Like the t’ûrotû singer Lee Mi-Ja’s case, the Taemach’o Sagôn was something that the

Park Chung-Hee regime wanted to use to demonstrate the government’s unconditional power

over the Korean public in a frightening way, in fact very much like the Japanese colonial policy.

As the t’ong kit’a music became popular gathering the young Koreans together, the government

began to see the popular music’s potential threat and considered it as more decadent than other

popular cultural forms. As a result, the strong censorship on Korean popular music in the 1970s

left an extremely limited space for creativity and pushed many talented musicians away from the

popular music scene. Although those t’ong kit’a singers were not directly related to the presence

of Japan, and their music did not contain Japanese “odor” the way the t’ûrotû songs often did,

110
the government’s censorship on music in order to “de-Japanize” and “de-colonize” Korea

through such militaristic ways showed the deeply remaining presence of Japan in Korean politics

in its relation to popular music. It was a period called Hanguk kayo ui amhûkgi (lit., “dark

period of Korean popular music”) in the Korean popular music history.

Since the 1970s, the Korean record companies began to sign contracts with foreign record

industries, including the Japanese company SONY, for sale of foreign popular music and

Western classical music albums. The Jigu Rekodû, which was one of the biggest record

companies dating from the 1960s, signed contracts with RCA (America) in 1972 and CBS

SONY (Japan) in 1974. Also, the other Korean record company Oasis signed a contract with the

Pony Canyon Records (Japan) in the late 1970s. With the introduction of cassettes in the mid-

1970s, the Korean music industry began to grow rapidly, through the1980s. 160 However, it was

also a period when a number of small factories illegally reproducing music cassettes began to

spread in Korea.

3.2.2 (Un) Hidden Presence of Japan and Pirated Cassettes in Korea

The 1980s were perhaps the most turbulent years of Korea’s post-war history as the period began

with the assassination of President Park Chung-Hee (December 1979) and the imposition of a

cruel military regime under Chun Doo-Hwan. However, it was also the period of an ever-

growing economy, which provided rapid improvement in the standard of living. During the

Chun Doo-Hwan regime, the educational system was ever more tightened by strict rules and

conditions.

160
“Hanguk Ŭmak Sanôp Hyôp’ôi” (“Music Industry Association of Korea”), http://www.miak.or.kr/, (accessed
December. 11. 2006).

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 The educational system required young students to devote most of their time to preparing

for entrance exams, which were required at each level. This extremely authoritarian educational

system created an enormously competitive environment not only for the students but also for

their parents. Parents, who believed that the high education of their children was their primary

responsibility, supported their children with anything available for obtaining maximum results.

Although cassette players were not produced for the purpose of study, but for music, they

became a popular device for enhancing school performance results. 161 Besides learning at

school and having private teachers (which was illegal and expensive), many students used a

number of secondary textbooks, which came with cassettes containing voice lectures. Not

surprisingly, those young Koreans began to listen to music with the cassette players as well.

Although it was not the only factor, the young Koreans’ easier access to music in the 1980s

influenced the overall development of the Korean music industry.

Various pirated items, including popular music, from Japan were available on the black

market in the big cities from the mid 1980s. While the regular cassettes of Korean popular music

and legally imported foreign music, most of which was American or European popular music or

classical music) sold at around US$4-5, the reproduced illegal copies of those cassettes and the

pirated Japanese popular music cassettes were sold at a much more affordable US$1. Those

illegal music cassettes were found at every corner of the urban commercial centers and were sold

by countless vendors from their street carts, called riôka (Korean pronunciation of the Japanese

word riaka, which is derived from the English words “rear” plus “car”). From these street carts,

in Korea as in Japan, all different kinds of cheaply (re)produced small goods like jewelry, toy,

clothing, snacks, and music cassettes were sold.

161
See Jung Eun-Young’s article “Articulating Korean Youth Culture through Global Popular Music: Seo Taiji’s
Use of Rap and Metal,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global
Oriental, 2006) pp. 110-111.

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 Around 1984, the popular idol star of the 1980s in Japan, Kondo Masahiko’s 1981 song,

“Gingiragini Sarigenaku” (lit., “Sparkling Boldly”) became extremely popular at disco clubs, and

it could also be heard blaring from the riôka carts, which also played the song on the streets of

Korea. Most people in their 30s in Korea remember, this song whether they were the fans of the

illegally pirated Japanese popular music or not, because the song could be heard virtually

anywhere the street carts were selling them. The song was a fast-tempo dance song to which the

young students often danced disco at school festivals or on group trips. 162 Whether they could

actually understand the lyrics or not, they could follow (and mumble) its catchy phrase

“gingiragini” and the English parts “I got you baby, I need you baby, I want you baby, Right

on!” However, most of them did not even know who the singer was at that time and just called

the song “Gingiragini.”

While pirated photos of Japanese singers were rather less popular (poorly-done

reproduction was not so appealing in the case of photos), mostly it was the sound of the songs

which the young Korean fans were into. Those young Koreans were the generation watching the

repackaged Japanese TV animations and singing along with the theme songs almost everyday

when they were little kids. Although those animation theme songs were translated into Korean,

the original melodies were directly copied. The simple but catchy melodies, which were similar

but different from the Korean sounds, had already become something very familiar to the

generation. Thus, when the melody of the song, “Gingiragini Sarigenaku,” was copied with

slight revisions by a Korean singer/dancer, Ham Yun-Sang, in his song “Ppaljunochopanambo”

(meaning “all of the rainbow colors”) in 1984, the song was quickly caught by those young

Koreans’ ears. However, as the Korean singer simply denied its piracy, no further action was

taken by the media or the government, who had claimed to be eliminating the presence of Japan

162
JAVE Entertainment, Ilbon Ingi Kasu Kôlleksyôn (Collection of Popular Japanese Singers), (Seoul: Munjisa,
1998) p. 177.

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from the Korean popular music since the 1960s. Because of the government’s insufficient

banning policy, which officially prohibited but also failed to punish some illegal actions at the

same time, both the popular music makers and the audiences became more and more insensitive

about participating in the illegal production and consumption of the illegally flowing Japanese

popular music, which was not only a legal matter but also an important cultural matter for the

postcolonial Korea.

Figure 3.6 Kondo Masahiko's "Gingiragini Sarigenaku" (1981, left) and the pirated versions by Ham

Yun-Sang, “Ppaljunochopanambo” (1984, right)

Among the other popular Japanese groups and singers in the mid and the late 1980s, a

male band Anjônjidae (Anzenchidai in Japanese, debuted in 1982) was very popular in Korea.

The band’s 1983 song, “Wainredono Kokoro” (lit., “Red Wine-color’s Heart”), which was very

popular all over Asia at that time, became one of the most famous Japanese popular songs in

114
Korea in the 1980s. 163 The style of the song was similar to the Korean palladû kayo style, and

its moody and gloomy sounding catchy melody was easy to hum along with. Most of the young

Korean audiences at that time can easily named the Japanese band, Anzenchidai, which is still

one of the most favored Japanese popular music bands in Korea. 164 Also, their other albums,

including All I Do (1987), were popular in the late 1980s.

The band’s popularity was recently reaffirmed as many Korean singers, including the

popular band Position, hurried to remake the band’s popular songs, as well as the lead singer

Tamaki Koji’s solo songs, when the second stage of the Open-Door Policy allowed the import of

Japanese song melodies to Korea in 1999. In addition, among the Korean Wave stars who

became popular in Japan in the past couple of years (from 2004), including Park Yong-Ha

(singer/actor) and Ryu (singer), stated on the Japanese music TV programs (Hey!Hey!Hey!Music

Champ and Utaban) that they knew the band and the song very well, and both of the Korean

stars actually sang the song in Japanese on those shows. Since the song was quite old (more than

20 years old) and the band has not been active for many years, the show hosts were surprised by

the Korean stars’ familiarity with that particular song and the band from the 1980s.

A number of the Korean popular songs from the late 1980s have been suspected by many

young Korean audiences to be partial or complete copies of popular Japanese songs. For

example, the popular female singer, Lee Sang-Eun, debuted by winning the grand prize at the

Ninth MBC Kangbyôn Kayoje in 1988 with the song, “Tamdadi” (known as “Damdadi,” the

singer explained the word as a humming sound, dance music written by Kim Nam-Kyung).

After the debut song became a big hit, she became a top star, with her unique boyish appeal. In

163
JAVE Entertainment, op. cit. p. 191.
164
In the Japanese music TV programs, Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ and Utaban, the Korean Wave singers/actors
often mentioned this song and sang the song at those shows in Japanese. (from personal collection).

115
the following year, based on the song and her popularity, a movie with the same title,

“Tamdadi/Damdai,” was released with the singer featured as the main actress.

Figure 3.7 Lee Sang-Eun's first album cover, Happy Birthday (1989, left) and the movie poster of

Damdadi (1989, right)

However, in December 1989, a few months after releasing the second album’s title song,

“Saranghalkkôya” (“I will love,” written by Won Kyông) which became an instant hit, she left

Korea, moved to Japan and later to America, renamed herself as Lee-tzsche, and only returned

three years later. The song “Saranghalkkôya” was a fast-tempo dance song, whose melody was

almost identical to that of a song by one of the most famous musicians in Japan, Kuwata

Keisuke. The song was “Kanashii Kimochi - Just a Man in Love” (“Sad Feeling – Just a Man in

Love”), which had been released in 1987 by his other band, the Kuwata Band. The lyrics of the

original Japanese version are about the sad feelings of a broken heart missing the old love: the

lyrics of the Korean version are about the new beginnings of love once passed. Although the

116
rumor of piracy of the Japanese song was circulating at that time, the truth of the rumor was not

acknowledged by the singer, by the writer, or by the record company, Jigu Rekodû, with which

she was associated at that time. More importantly, the popular media did not react to the rumor;

and, thus, there were no disciplinary actions on the song, and it has been considered to be one of

her most important songs. Because she left Korea soon after the song’s release, the rumors not

only about the song “Saranghalkkôya” but also about her other songs on the first and second

albums in 1989 quickly disappeared in Korea.

After studying music in Japan and America for a few years, she returned to Korea with

different musical styles (from dance and palladû kayo to alternative, experimental, and fusion

music) and has been actively performing--but mostly in underground--both in Korea and Japan.

In 1997, she released her eighth album “Lee Tzsche,” made with Japanese producer Takeda

Hajimu, her musical partner since 1995. All the titles and lyrics of the songs are neither in

Korean nor in Japanese, but in English. 165 Her fans both from the late 1980s and the 1990s

seemed not mind much about the piracy issue from 1989. Moreover, they seemed eager to enjoy

the newly developed Japanese influences in her recent works, resulting from her living and

performing as a musician in Japan. Her release of the 1997 album, which had been released in

Japan in 1995, was known to be the result of her fans’ request to the record company, Toshiba-

EMI, to release the album in Korea. 166 Although the banning policy had not been abolished at

that time, meaning the album was not supposed to be released, the Korean government’s

regulation on the imports of Japanese cultural products was much loosened during this year

before the opening, due both to the rapid growth of piracy and to the uncontrolled and

uncontrollable burgeoning of internet music and file sharing.

165
http://www.mymusic.co.kr/portal/album/album.html (accessed January. 21. 2007).
166
http://www.tubemusic.com/magazine/review (accessed January. 21. 2007).

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Figure 3.8 Lee Sang-Eun's second album cover, Saranghalkkôya (1989) and eighth album cover, Lee-

Tszche (1997)

Although the most powerful “odor” of Japanese presence, the language, was

eliminated because of the banning policy, her fusion style songs produced by the Japanese

producer Takeda Hajimu in Japan earlier represented a definite presence of Japan, which was

very much appreciated by her enthusiastic Korean fans in Korea. In her interview with the

newspaper, she mentioned that she did not want to be associated with her earlier songs, including

“Tamdadi” and “Saranghalkkôya,” even though most Koreans still connected her with those

songs, more so than with her recent works in Korea and Japan 167 In any case, it seems that her

fans have forgotten (or forgiven) the piracy issue and supported her works, which incorporated

more and more Japanese elements.

167
“Lee Sang-Eun kawui Intôbyu” (Interview with Lee Sang-Eun), Seoul News, July. 21. 2005.

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 Besides the cases I have discussed above, there are a number of Korean popular songs

that have been suspected of piracy, either at the time of release or sometime later. Shin Yong-

Hyun, a former SBS radio producer who lived in Japan for many years, told Im Jin-Mo that:

He [Shin Yong-Hyun] defined the piracy of Japanese popular music as a kind

of “social crime” created by the three elements of producers, writers, and
consumers. From his point of view, those consumers, who prefer Japanese
popular music because they are familiar with the Japanese style and try to
support their favorite singers by arguing “why just blame my favorite star
since the other singers all do copy,” cannot be exempted from being
criticized. After spending many years in Japan, when he had just returned to
Korea, he felt confused and angry but now he was giving up. He asserted
that the Korean popular music market is the mimeograph of the Japanese
popular music market……He claimed that because of the ban on imports of
Japanese popular music, Korean composers saw Japanese popular music as
safe to copy. Thus, he argues that Korea should open its doors to Japanese
popular music as soon as possible. 168

Shin Yong-Hyun’s list in Im Jin-Mo’s 1998 article included the hit songs of many top Korean

stars from the late 1980s. He created a rough listing that included 25 Korean singers’ names and

the pirated song titles with the 25 Japanese singers’ names and the titles (including cartoons and

animes in some cases). For example, with the Korean song listed first, followed by the Japanese

song:

168
Im Jin-Mo, op. cit. pp. 170-171, translated by the author.

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 Table 3.1 Selected Songs from the Shin Yong-Hyun's List (1998)

Original Japanese Version Pirated Korean Version

Saito Yuki: “Zyonetsu” (“Passion”) Pyôn Chin-Sôp: “Lora” (“Laura”)

Zard: “I Can’t Let Go” Su: “Ŭnjangdo” (“Ornamental Silver-
Knife”)
Amuro Namie: “Taiyouno Shizun” Jam: “Namanûi Iyu” (“My Reason”)
(“Sunny Season”)
Amuro Namie: “Try Me” NRG: “Ibônen Halsuissô” (“Can Do It
This Time”)
Matsuda Seiko: “You’re My World” Lee Mu-Song: “Above the Sky”
T.M.Revolution: “Telephone Line” The Blue: “Ch’in’gurûl Wihae” (“For
Friend”)
Southern All Star: “Sonna Hiroshini Cheksû Kisû: “Sanai Kanûngil” (“Man’s
Tamasarete” (“Being Cheated by such Pathway”)
Hiroshi”)
X-Japan: “Endless Rain” Noksaek Chidae: “Chunbi ôpnûn Ibyol”
(“Unprepared Farewell”)
Miyazaki Hayao’s anime “Tenku no Shiro Yoon Sang: “Ibyôrûi Kûnûl” (“Shadow of
Rapyuta” (“Laputa: Castle in the Sky”): Farewell”)
the main title song

Besides Shin’s list, as Im Jin-Mo pointed out, many Korean popular songs were being questioned

by many young Koreans from simple suspicions to detailed analyses posted on the internet. 169

Although Shin’s list only compared the piracy of the melodies, from the early 1990s as

stars’ visual images became more and more important in the Korean popular music, many

Korean singers not only copied the Japanese singers’ fashion and hair styles, but also the images

from the various kinds of the Japanese popular cultural products, especially from anime and

cartoons.

169
Ibid. pp. 173-176, translated by the author.

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3.2.3 Roo’Ra Incident in 1996 and the Hiding Ninja in Korea

In January 1996, one of the top Korean popular music groups, Roo’Ra, was nearly disbanded

after a young fan discovered that their newly released song, “Chônsangyuae” (“Love in Heaven,”

produced by the band leader Lee Sang-Min), had the same melody as the Japanese popular song

“Omatsuri Ninja” (“Festival Ninja”), by the Japanese idol group Ninja, in 1990. 170 The Roo’Ra

song “Chônsangyuae” was the title song of their third album, Reincarnation of the Legend,

which was released in December 1995 and also included the remix version of the song

“Chônsangyuae.”

After their second album, Nalgae Irûn Ch’ônsa (lit., “Lost-Winged Angel”) was released

in March 1995, the group’s fun reggae rhythm and the female member’s sexy “Ǒngdôngi

Ch’um” (lit., “Bottom Dance”) became an instant and huge hit, selling more than 1,500,000

copies. Although there was a little wondering about the song’s overly familiar sounds among

some Korean fans (known to be similar to the Jamaican reggae singer Shaggy’s “Oh, Carolina,”)

the group’s popularity continued. 171 However, after realizing that Roo’Ra had copied the

Japanese song almost entirely, a fan posted a message on the internet alerting the public.

Roo’Ra’s song was immediately banned from being sold and broadcast, and the incident raised

public debate about the issues of Korean popular music’s piracy and influences from Japanese

popular music. Roo’Ra’s song not only copied the basic melody, but also a short enka-style

interlude and some vocable sounds from the lyrics of the Japanese song. The texts of the two

songs are completely different: Ninja’s song depicts the wild, exciting mood of a matsuri

(traditional Japanese shinto festival) and Roo’Ra’s song is about eternal love.

170
This is their romanization; the standard McCune Reischauer romanization would be “Rulla.” The group’s name
was from their first album title, “Roots of Reggae,” released in 1994. Ninja’s 1990 song “Omatsuri Ninja” is a
remake of Misora Hibari’s “Omatsuri Mambo” (1952).
171
Im Jin-Mo, op. cit. p. 168.

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Figure 3.9 The Korean group Roo'Ra's "Chônsangyuae" (“Love in Heaven,” 1996, left) and the

Japanese group Ninja's "Omatsuri Ninja" (“Festival Ninja,” 1990, right)

Although earlier there had been many other Korean songs that copied from Japanese

songs, this 1996 incident was the very first time both the media and the Korean public expressed

interests and concerns together. The group leader and composer of the song, Lee Sang-Min

(calling himself “Season” as a writer), who first denied his piracy, tried to commit suicide as the

band’s piracy issue spread through the media, and the angry public did not tolerate the band this

time. One of the reasons that the band was severely exposed to the media in relation to the

piracy at that time was that many young Koreans began to learn a lot more about the Japanese

popular music easily through the internet, and the information was being passed around

extremely fast and on a grand scale. Unlike the earlier rumors of piracy, which briefly circulated

among the fans and the music professionals, the Roo’Ra incident became national news in the

beginning of 1996. Furthermore, it was the time when the illegal presence of Japan was more

and more coming into the mainstream Korean popular culture and many Koreans began to
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realize how, unconsciously, they had been becoming familiar with the Japaneseness and

becoming comfortable living with the illegal presence of Japan.

The illegal presence of Japan in Korean popular music and culture remaining

unproblematic until 1996 with the Roo’Ra incident was like the appearance of Japanese ninja.

Like ninja, the illegal presence of Japan had been hiding in the dark but gradually expanding its

authority then when its power became so overwhelming that the entire nation could not ignore it.

Furthermore, while most older Koreans have ignored or did not realize the very existence of the

illegal presence of Japan in their native country, just like the hiding ninja, many young Koreans

had even been eagerly enjoying their secret discovery of the ninja, the illegal presence of Japan,

and playing with it.

3.2.4 X-Japan and Korean Fans

X-Japan, known as the pioneer of Japanese visual rock, was extremely popular in Korea during

the early and the mid 1990s. Besides the fact that many Korean popular songs copied their

melodies and musical style (rock-ballads), most of the X-Japan’s albums were available in Korea

through the black market during the time. According to an unofficial research report, a total of

more than 500,000 of X-Japan’s pirated albums were sold in Korea before the banning policy

was abolished in 1998. Until X-Japan became popular in Korea, most of the Korean audiences

of Japanese popular music were not selectively listening to any particular singers’ songs, but

rather to something Japanese. Their options as consumers were limited because of the banning

policy. However, as the Japanese popular music consumer base began to expand in Korea, a

greater variety of the Japanese popular songs were illegally reproduced and marketed

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 X-Japan’s popularity became legendary by the mid 1990s in Japan, and more and more

Korean audiences began to hear about them and their music in Korea even though they might not

have been particularly interested in Japanese popular music more generally.

Figure 3.10 X-Japan's 1991 album cover Jealousy (left) and 1993 album cover Art Of Life (right)

Among the many reasons for their popularity in Korea, their personal charisma through

their powerful rock music, which had been a weak genre in Korea, was known to be the main

one. The band achieved a major debut in America, by the invitation, due primarily to their rock

sound.) The band’s first-rate musical techniques, coupled with their unique fashion, hair styles,

heavy makeup--the essential elements of the visual rock genre in Japan--were very influential on

the young Korean audiences. Their feminine appearances made them look like the cartoon

characters from the Japanese shojo manga (lit., “teenage-girl cartoon”). The plot and drawing

for this genre of manga are particularly beautiful. Although many of the Korean fans of X-Japan

were school girls, who liked to read Japanese shojo manga, the band’s impressive musical

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techniques and powerful sounds in different genres, including rock, hard rock, and rock ballads,

were more than enough to create over 100 fan clubs in Korea even before 1998. 172

Since the X-Japan’s introduction to Korea, Japanese visual rock became one of the most

popular Japanese music genres in Korea. And the fact of its being unique to Japan caused many

young Koreans to find them especially fascinating. During the late 1980s and the early 1990s,

the popular Japanese songs in Korea, or popularly pirated Japanese songs, were similar in sound

to the popular genres in Korean popular music at that time--ballad and dance styles. However,

with X-Japan’s arrival in Korea, visual rock, which was a popular music genre new to Korea,

became very popular, especially among the younger Korean fans of Japanese popular music--

roughly those of who were born after 1980. Those younger fans were even more familiar with

the Japanese popular culture than the previous generation and more eager to learn about the

country as well as the culture.

3.3 SUMMARY REMARKS

In this chapter, I have discussed the illegal presence of Japan in Korea through various kinds of

Japanese popular cultural products, available in Korea as early as from the 1960s, and Japanese

popular music, which spread by the pirated cassettes and the piracy of the songs by Korean

popular singers from the mid 1980s. By tracing the examples of the illegal presence of Japan in

the various aspects of the Korean popular culture, it is clear that the Koreans’ attempt to de-

Japanize the country and themselves since after the liberation from Japan was far from

completely successful. Furthermore, the young generation’s mental and physical distance from

172
Sô Ch’ang-Yong, Chaepaen Pijuôllakui Hyosi,, X-Japan (The Pioneer of the Japanese Visual Rock, X-Japan),
(Seoul: Munjisa, 2000) p. 306.

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the older generation’s strong antagonism toward Japan caused by their bitter colonial experiences

led them to enjoy the Japanese popular cultural products relatively unproblematically. As Korea

finally decided to open its doors legally to Japanese popular cultural products, a number of

voices from the Korean public were aroused, expressing a range of reactions. In the following

chapter, “Japan’s Transitional Presence,” I will explain the details of the Open-Door Policy and

the Four-Stage Plan, with emphasis on the place of popular music.

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 4.0 JAPAN’S TRANSITIONAL PRESENCE

4.1 PUBLIC DEBATES ON THE OPEN-DOOR POLICY

The Open-Door Policy was set in motion in 1998, but against a backdrop of renewed cultural

nationalism in Korea. 173 This nationalism has been extremely important in forming the bonds

that hold Koreans together, and it has been necessary for them to identify themselves as “one,”

especially during and after Japanese colonization.174 Koreans nationalism is based on a

conception of the Korean people (Taehan minjok) not as a legally bound group of people

residing in a particular territory, as in the United States, or in such post-colonial countries as

India, Zimbabwe, or the Philippines, but as a primordial people/race/ethno-linguistic group

(minjok) who naturally belong together and whose one-ness as a nation is a fact of human nature,

with a strong instinct for self-preservation. Since the colonial period, the bitter experience of

Japanese colonization became a symbolic force to strengthen Korean nationalism, which was

used as a basic motivation for Korea to compete against Japan’s economic and cultural

domination. For this reason, scholars like Shin Gi-Wook and Michael Robinson gave equal

attention to both colonialism and nationalism in Korea.

173
The official name for the policy in Korean is Ilbon Taejung Munhwa Kaebang Chôngch’aek.
174
Lee Yong-Hee’s “Modern Nationalism-In the Context of Historical Reality,” in Nationalism in Korea edited by
Chung Chong-Shil and Ro Jae-Bong (Seoul: Research Cetner for Peace and Unification, 1978) p. 7.

127
 The nationalist paradigm has dominated the historical presentation of modern
Korea. It presupposes an unproblematized sense of the Korean nation, a nation
that is assumed to have existed in a “natural” form in the pre-modern era and
emerged in the late nineteenth century coeval with the modern stimuli of
external political pressure, especially Japanese aggression. The process of
rethinking Korean politics and culture in national form accelerated with the
failure of the ancient regime’s reforms and inability to defend its sovereignty.
With formal colonization in 1910 by the Japanese, nascent Korean nationalism
flowered in different directions—as cultural, political, and social revolutionary
impulses—all focused on a reshaping of Korean society and consciousness in
order to create an independent nation-state. 175

This Korean nationalism has been maintained through several generations under the nationalist

education system since liberation, in order to support Korea’s economic development as well as

political stability. As a result, Korean nationalism, I would argue, has become one of the most

distinctive features of Korean cultural identity. This nationalism plays out as a sense of devotion

and duty to the nation, which is touted to be based on primordial ties dating back 5,000 years.

As Korea tried to rebound from the economic downfall in 1997, Korean nationalism

came quickly to the fore. Thus, when President Kim Dae-Jung (1998-2003) agreed to accept the

joint declaration on the “New Korea—Japan Partnership for the Twenty-first Century” in

October 1998, the majority of Koreans were concerned about its potentially overpowering

impact on Korea’s cultural identity. 176 Since the colonial period, as we have seen, the

revitalization of cultural identity by abolishing the legacy of Japanese colonialism has been an

integral part of cultural policy. The Korean government has sought to restore the national culture

from deteriorating by reevaluating and funding traditional culture and to protect popular culture

by monitoring its content. Also, the government encouraged intensive research and education on

175
Shin Gi-Wook and Michael Robinson’s “Introduction: Rethinking Colonial Korea,” in Colonial Modernity in
Korea edited by Shin Gi-Wook and Michael Robinson (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Asian
Center, 1999) p. 3.
176
“Dawning Korea-Japan Partnership for 21st Century” The Korea Times, October, 9, 1998.

128
Japanese colonialism. However, Kim Dae-Jung, who had been close to Japan since the early

1970s, saw the opening as an important step for Korea becoming a more internationally

competitive country in terms of its economy and quickly negotiated the opening agreement with

Japan in 1998. 177

Until 1997, the banning policy towards Japanese culture and arts was mainly based on

Korea’s national prejudices against Japan as a whole since liberation. In other words, any

appearance of Japaneseness was sufficient grounds for banning, regardless of any particular

content. Yet the Japanese popular cultural products sold illegally in Korea were often considered

to be overly violent and/or overly sexual; and these qualities have underscored the Korean

public’s uneasy feeling towards Japanese cultural imports. But at the same time, the indiscreet

piracy practices of the Korean popular culture industry, which had been continuously taking

advantage of the inefficiencies and inconsistencies in the banning policy, led the Korean public

to a basic agreement on the need for opening the door to Japan, though not without some

dissenting voices. The Korean public’s debates on the issue of Japanese cultural imports were

raised from the late 1980s as the Japanese satellite broadcasting began to reach Korean viewers.

Japanese NHK and WOWOW (entertainment channel) were available and watched with

considerable curiosity. 178 Also, Japan had been requesting Korea to open the economic door

since after the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1965. However, until 1997, the policy

makers tried to avoid this extremely sensitive issue as their main agenda in order to avoid

fomenting unnecessary conflict among the Korean public. Instead, the policy makers often used

the issues related to Japan as their way to convince the Korean public’s nationalism to support

the government’s focus on political stability and economic development.

177
See Chapter Two.
178
Kim Kyông-Hwa’s “Hanbandoe Charijabûn Ilbon Ch’ôngsonyûn Munhaw” (“Japanese Youth Culture Seated in
Korea”), in Yi Yôn et, al. Ilbon Munhwa Pekkigi (Copying Japanese Popular Culture). (Seoul: Namu-wa Sup,
1998) pp. 16-17.

129
 According to a 1995 public opinion survey of Koreans ranging from junior high school

students to people in their 50s on the issue of Japanese cultural imports, conducted by the

Ministry of Culture and Sport, 179

Table 4.1 1995 Public Opinion Survey 180

Immediate open 15.2%

Open within 2-3 years 22.3%

Delay the opening time 43.6%

Opposed to the opening itself 18.3%

The result of the survey indicated that more than 81.1% of Koreans did not oppose to the

opening. Also, the survey showed that among the Japanese cultural products, popular music was

the most familiar product that Koreans had been obtaining. The percentages of Koreans who had

purchased illegal products were as follows:

179
The Ministry of Culture and Sport became the Ministry of Culture and Tourism since February 1998.
180
“Ilbon Munhwa Kaebang Nollan” (Controversy on the Japanese Cultural Imports), Hankyoreh News, January. 24.
1998.

130
 Table 4.2 Percentage of Illegal Japanese Products Purchase 181

Popular music recordings 33.5%

Manga 31.6%

Videos 20.1%

Movies 13.6%

Furthermore, it is significant that the distribution of these patterns of consumption varied

rather markedly by age bracket. A large majority (72.6%) of the junior-high school and high

school students had acquired illegal Japanese cultural products, and their first two choices were

popular music (first) and manga (second). 182

In 1998, only three years after this first major opinion poll, the Ministry of Culture and

Tourism conducted another major survey of the Korean populace.

Table 4.3 1998 Public Opinion Survey

Immediate open 21.4%

Open within 2-3 years 14.6%

Delay the opening time 49.6%

Opposed to the opening itself 15.5%

181
“Ilbon Munhwa Kaebang Yôronjosa” (Public Opinion Survey on the Japanese Cultural Imports), Seoul News,
March. 1. 1995.
182
“Ilbon Munhwa Kaebange Taehan Uisikjosa” (Public Opinion Survey on the Japanese Cultural Imports), Segye
Ilbo, April. 20. 1995.

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The results showed that the overall percentage of Koreans with a positive opinion, in favor of

opening, had increased slightly, from 81.1% to 84.6%. 183 When asked to rank which particular

Japanese cultural products they were in favor of Korea importing, the rankings were as follows:

60.2% for TV programs, 19.0% for movies, 17.5% for popular music, and videos for 2.4%. 184

While these results might at first seem mystifying when considered in the context of the clear

evidence of junior and senior high school students favoring popular music, the realities of late-

1990s Korea and the impact of the internet helps explain these figures. The primary reason for

the lower percentage for popular music was that obtaining Japanese popular music became very

easy through the internet, in addition to the continued wide availability of pirated copies at that

time. In the following section, I will discuss the two conflicting standpoints of the Korean

public’s debate on the issue of the Open-Door Policy prior to opening. Although the Korean

public’s standpoints on the issue of the Open-Door Policy cannot always be reduced to a simple

black-and-white binary set of opinions, it is important to understand the main reasons for basic

opposition vs. basic support.

4.1.1 Anti-Open-Door Policy

Among the reasons given by Koreans who were opposed to the Open-Door Policy, roughly five

main ones emerge. 185 The most frequently stated reason (31.0%) was historical: their

183
See the Hanguk Munhwa Kwangwang Yônguwon (Korea Culture and Tourism Institute) website at
http://www.kcti.re.kr/statistics_db.htm (accessed January. 12. 2007).
184
Ibid.
185
The details of the surveys are slightly different according to the different sources. See “Ilbon Munhwa Kaebang
Yôronjosa” (Public Opinion Survey on the Japanese Cultural Imports), Seoul News, March. 1. 1995; “Ilbon Munhwa
Kaebang Nollan” (Controversy on the Japanese Cultural Imports), Hankyoreh News, January. 24. 1998; “Ilbon
Munhwa Kaebange Taehan Uisikjosa” (Public Opinion Survey on the Japanese Cultural Imports), Segye Ilbo, April.
20. 1995; “Ilbon Taejung Munhwa Kaebange Taehan Yôronjosa” (Public Opinion Survey about the Japanese
Popular Cultural Imports), DongA Ilbo , November, 21, 1997; Hanguk Munhwa Kwangwang Yônguwon (Korea
Culture and Tourism Institute) website at http://www.kcti.re.kr/statistics_db.htm (accessed October. 5. 2006).

132
antagonism against Japan resulting from the persistent memory of the unforgettable experiences

of the Japanese colonial rule. The bitterness made it difficult for Koreans even to tolerate, let

alone welcome, any kind of Japaneseness within Korea’s borders.

The second reason (28.0%) given was concern for the cultural flows that would result

from the Open Door policy. In this instance, respondents expressed their aversion specifically

against Japanese popular culture, which was generally viewed as offensive and decadent because

of its frequent emphasis on excessive violence and overly lewd sexual expression. Most of these

respondents opposed the import of Japanese culture because they felt that it would be a reversal

in the direction of long-standing cultural flow in history, which had been mostly from Korea to

Japan (including court music, musical instruments, Buddhist teachings and practices, etc.).

They expressed a fear of the “bad influence on the Korean youth” of Japanese popular culture.

The third reason (20.5%) given was the continuous stream of conflicts in the political

relationship between the two countries. These include the unwillingness of Japan to

acknowledge and apologize for the practice during colonial times of forcing Korean (and other)

women into sexual slavery (the “comfort women”), the unwillingness of Japan to report honestly

about Japan’s colonial aggression and wartime atrocities in Japan’s secondary school history

textbooks, the ongoing dispute over Korea’s vs. Japan’s rightful possession of the small island

(“Dokdo” in Korean; “Takeshima” in Japanese) in the sea located between Korea and Japan

(known as the “Japan Sea” in Japan and the “East Sea” in Korea), and the ongoing worship by

Japanese, including the prime minister, of Japanese war heroes on behalf of the Japanese

emperor at the Yasukuni war shrine.

The fourth reason (20.3%) given was economic. Respondents expressed concern over the

impact on Korea’s domestic markets of Japanese imports, since the Japanese cultural industry

was far more powerful and highly financed than its Korean counterpart. Among the four reasons

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cited, three (together 79.5%) are closely related to aspects of Korea’s colonial history and

subsequent political and cultural conflicts, which leads us back to the fundamental matter of

Koreans’ concern over being “Japanized.” Many Koreans were concerned that Korean popular

culture would become “Japanized”—or, for those who were aware of Japan’s substantial

presence in Korea’s popular culture already, become “more Japanized.” Only one reason given

(by 20.3% of the respondents) was based on concerns over economic competition and,

presumably, would be leveled against any other country, regardless of its history, that threatened

any of Korea’s industries. The Open-Door Policy was, in this category of response, going to be

bad in particular for the Korean popular cultural industry. 186

4.1.2 Pro-Open-Door Policy

Among the reasons given by Koreans who supported the Open-Door Policy, roughly four main

ones emerge. 187 A majority of the respondents believed that the door should be equally open to

any foreign country, including Japan, because such a move was essential to Korea’s position as a

country of more than regional significance, in keeping with Korea’s vision of its own

internationalization in the context of globalization. Most of them criticized Korea’s longstanding

political tendencies toward exclusivism and seclusionism, which date back many centuries,

although Korea was open to China before the founding of the Yi dynasty (i.e., before what

186
Hanguk Munhwa Kwangwang Yônguwon (Korea Culture and Tourism Institute)
http://www.kcti.re.kr/ssdb/ssdb_result.html?KorEng=1&A_UNFOLD=1&TableID=MT_DTITLE&TitleID=E5&FP
ub=3 (accessed January. 23. 2007).
187
The details of the surveys are slightly different according to the different sources. See “Ilbon Munhwa Kaebang
Yôronjosa” (Public Opinion Survey on the Japense Cultural Imports), Seoul News, March. 1. 1995; “Ilbon Munhwa
Kaebang Nollan” (Controversy on the Japanese Cultural Imports), Hankyoreh News, January. 24. 1998; “Ilbon
Munhwa Kaebange Taehan Uisikjosa” (Public Opinion Survey on the Japense Cultural Imports), Segye Ilbo, April.
20. 1995; “Ilbon Taejung Munhwa Kaebange Taehan Yôronjosa” (Public Opinion Survey about the Japense Popular
Cultural Imports), DongA Ilbo , November, 21, 1997; Hanguk Munhwa Kwangwang Yônguwon (Korea Culture and
Tourism Institute) website at http://www.kcti.re.kr/statistics_db.htm (accessed January. 23. 2007).

134
historians would call the “modern” period”). They also cited the undesirability of Korea’s

heretofore unequal attitudes toward American popular culture and Japanese popular culture. 188

The second reason given was that the Korean public has a right to enjoy various kinds of

culture, and can do so without becoming “Japanized” (or “Americanized” or “Sinicized”). The

third reason given was that they expect the problem of illegal piracy can be greatly reduced by

importing the Japanese popular culture directly. The fourth reason given was that by competing

with Japanese popular culture, the quality of Korea’s domestic popular culture and the industry

that supports it can be improved. In relation to this reason, many of the younger respondents

indicated that they favored the Open-Door Policy because the Japanese popular cultural

products, manga and anime in particular, are “fun.” 189

What we can see from these surveys of the public opinions on the issue of the Open-Door

Policy is that the Korean government’s banning policy was indeed flawed—both in conception

and in implementation. Also, not surprisingly, the Korean youth, who grew up with various

kinds of Japanese popular cultural products, seemed not so bothered by the historic and political

issues, whereas the older Koreans recognize these issues but want to find some conclusion, or

successful resolution. Many of the older Koreans showed a great concern for the Korean youth

becoming a “little pro-Japanese.” 190 In reality, it would seem that the very fact of these cultural

products being “Japanese” was at the root of the uneasy feeling. Nevertheless, despite clearly

articulated and heartfelt opposition by some, the majority were favorably disposed, and the four-

stage plan of the Open-Door Policy was put into place from 1998 to 2004.

188
Although some degree of anti-America has existed in Korea, it has been a mainly political one.
189
http://www.kcti.re.kr/munhwa_sangse.htm?num=174 (accessed January. 18. 2007).
190
Kim Kyông-Hwa, op. cit. pp. 15-18.

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 4.2 PROCESS OF THE OPEN-DOOR POLICY

This section offers a detailed account of the four stages of the Open-Door Policy between 1998

and 2004. Since October 1998, under the Kim Dae-Jung government, which emphasized cultural

exchanges with foreign countries as a way of developing and globalizing the nation, Korea’s

economic, foreign, and cultural policies have been extensively modified. The schedule of the

Open-Door Policy toward Japan was often renegotiated by Korea in response to lingering anti-

Japanese sentiment there in relation to political and economic dynamics in Japan. The opening

process was delayed because of the re-emergence of the controversy over Japan’s

misrepresentations of its colonial history in government textbooks in July 2001. Yet it was soon

resumed as Korea and Japan successfully collaborated in hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup

Korea/Japan. The first round (1998) permitted a few films, videos, and cartoons. The second

round (1999) permitted more films, the staging of small, indoor popular music concerts

(maximum audience of 2000), and some publications. The third round (2000) allowed the

importing of additional films, animation, video, computer games, and a few TV programs

(sports, documentary, news programs). For popular music, both indoor and outdoor music

concerts and imports of instrumental versions of Japanese popular music CDs were permitted.

The fourth round (2004) finally allowed the sale of Japanese popular music CDs, complete with

original Japanese-language vocals, but most of the TV programs and some animation films are

still banned.

4.2.1 The First Round/Stage (from October 1998)

The first round of imports began on October 20, 1998 and was limited to a few films, videos, and

cartoons. The policy on films at this point limited Japan’s exports to Korea to (1) award-winning

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films from the four major international film festivals (Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International

Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and Academy Awards), (2) jointly produced films (limited

to Japanese films directed by a Korean director or with Korean actors/actresses playing the main

characters), and (3) Korean films with Japanese actors/actresses. 191 As a result, some older as

well as recent Japanese films were shown, including Kurosawa Akira’s Kagemusha (Shadow

Warrior, 1980), Imamura Shohei’s Unagi (The Eel, 1997), and Kitano Takeshi’s Hana-Bi

(Fireworks, 1997), all of which mainly used instrumental music played by orchestras.

Figure 4.1 Kurosawa Akira's Kagemusha (1980, left), Imamura Shohei's Unagi (1997, middle), and

Kitano Takeshi's Hana-Bi (1997, right)

Also, Korean director Park Chul-Soo’s Kajok Sinema (Kazoku Cinema/Family Cinema,

1998), which was jointly produced, was shown in Korea. During this first stage, video sales

were limited to only those films that had already been shown at theaters in Korea. 192

191
“Ilbon Munhwa Kaebang Pangan” (Open-Door Policy toward Japanese Culture), DonA Ilbo, October. 20. 1998.
192
“Ilbon Munhwa Kaebanggwa Yônghwa” (Open-Door Policy and Movie), DongA Ilbo, December. 28. 1998.

137
 Although the release of Japanese-language songs was not yet allowed, Japanese popular

songs were locally reproduced and introduced to Korean audiences. The latest Japanese popular

songs were compiled and released, without the original lyrics, as instrumental version recordings

(also called “the karaoke versions” in Japan). 193 These CDs began to appear in 1998 and were

widely available in Korea at least through 2003 (during the prohibition of Japanese language

songs). Compilation recordings of Japanese TV drama title songs were particularly popular

during this period.

For example, instrumental versions of the title songs from popular Japanese dramas,

including Long Vacation (1996) and its title song “La La La Love Song” (sung by Kubota

Toshinobu and the famous model Naomi Campbell) and 101st Proposal (1991) and its title song

“Say Yes” (sung by Chage & Aska), were regularly included in compilation recordings until

2003 (and then, from 2004, with the original lyrics). Although Chage & Aska’s song “Say Yes”

was known among some Korean fans earlier through illegal copies, with the Open-Door Policy

the duo became quite popular in Korea. However, in Japan the duo has not been very active

lately. The Japanese drama 101st Proposal (Fuji TV), which recorded the highest audience

rating (36.7%) in 1991, was remade twice in Korea. 194 Both of the movie version (1993) and the

TV drama version (2006 by SBS TV) used the same title, 101st Proposal, and the original title

song, “Say Yes.” In the 2006 drama, three different versions (vocal, piano, acoustic guitar) of

the original title song, “Say Yes” were used. 195

193
The literal meaning of karaoke is “empty orchestra”—i.e., with no vocal track.
194
“SBS 101bôntche Pûropojû, Sinsedae Immasûro Saedanjang” (SBS 101st Proposa;, Newly Designed for the New
Generation), Goodday Entertainment News, May. 23. 2006. The original Japanese version was also broadcast in
Korea in May 2004 by MBC Drama channel. See http://drama.tv.co.kr (accessed January. 3. 2007).
195
“TV wa Sûkurin, Ilbon Bekkigi Nômu Simhada” (TV and Screen, Copying Japan Too Much), OSEN News,
January. 7. 2007.

138
Figure 4.2 101st Proposal, the original Japanese version (1991, Fuji TV, left), the Korean movie version

(1993, middle), and the Korean TV drama version (2006, SBS TV, right)

Also, compilation CDs of newly released popular songs by top singers or groups were

released in instrumental versions. Those CDs often included brief introductory booklets about

the singers/groups as well as ”tie-up” dramas and movies in Korean for the newly acquiring

Korean audiences.

From 1998, Korean musicians began to purchase melodies of Japanese hit songs released

earlier in Japan. They then remade the songs with new titles and lyrics. Lyrics could be similar

or not to the original Japanese lyrics, although direct translation of the original lyrics was rare.

This type of song has been called bônan kayo (lit., “interpreted song”) in Korea. In some cases,

the same Japanese song was reproduced by more than one Korean singer or group. The best

known example of such bônan kayo was, Tetsuro Oda’s “Sekaijuno Dareyorimo Kitto,” (“Surely

more than anyone in the world”) which was sung by two different Japanese music groups,

Nakayama Miho & Wands and Zard, in 1992 in Japan. This song was re-released by two

different Korean music groups, Position and The Nuts, with different titles and lyrics in different

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years. Position’s version “Kû Hae Kyôurûn” (“That Year’s Winter”) came out in 2001. Position

has been covering a number of big Japanese hit songs from 1999, including “Blue Day,” a cover

version of Shogo Hamada’s “Mo Hitotsu no Doyobi” (“One More Saturday”) released in 1986 in

Japan. In 2003, CD 1 of their new album “On the Road” contained 11 cover versions (some with

the same titles) of Japanese songs popular in the 1980s in Korea through the pirated cassettes,

including a few ballad-style songs by Tamaki Koji (leader of the group Anzenchidai) and

Kuwata Keisuke (leader of the group Southern All Stars). 196 Because imports of the original

Japanese versions were still prohibited and ballad-style songs (palladû kayo) have always been

popular in Korea, the Korean group Position’s cover album of popular Japanese ballad-style

songs was quite popular and they became known as a bônan kayo group. The other group, The

Nuts, came out with their version, “Sarang ûi Pabo” (“Love’s Fool”), in 2004 in Korea (remake

songs have continued to be popular even after 2004). The Nuts not only released the cover

version of the Japanese song “Sekaijuno Dareyorimo Kitto” but also followed Nakayama Miho

& Wands’ style by inviting a popular actress to join in for the song. Nakayama Miho & Wands

were joined by actress Nakayama Miho for their version; the Korean group The Nuts invited

Korean actress Im Sông-Ǒn as the guest singer for their cover version, “Sarang ûi Pabo.” 197

Prior to 1998, the Korean popular music industry had already begun to prepare contracts

with the Japanese music industry. Both the Korean music industry and the Japanese music

industry expected that Japanese popular music would take 15% to 17% of the market in Korea—

more than in Hong Kong and Taiwan—due to the fact that the Korean music industry had been

copying/borrowing Japanese popular music for years. 198 The major Korean entertainment

companies rushed to make distribution copyright deals and local production copyright deals with

196
Position. On the Road (GM Entertainment, 2003).
197
“Im Sông-Ǒn, Nado Kasu” (Im Sông-Ǒn, I Am a Singer Too), Ilgan Sports News, August. 27. 2004.
198
“Superstar “Amuro” Taeûng Koreanyôn Ch’aebi (Ready for the Superstar “Amuro” Concert), Chosun Ilbo,
October. 13 1998.

140
the Japanese entertainment companies. For example, Korea’s Doremi Record dealt with

Columbia Japan and Seoul Record dealt with Japan Victor Entertainment. 199 Also, the major

record labels like Sony, BMG, and EMI organized selections of Japanese top singers and bands

who were already popular in Korea, including Amuro Namie (who was the most lucrative

Japanese superstar in the late 1990s) and Japan-rock bands like L’Arc en Ciel, Tube, and B’z.200

The Korean music industry was also expecting that Japanese musicians would make frequent

concert appearances as soon as permitted in Korea as an efficient way of stimulating the Korean

market for Japanese popular music. 201 In addition, some in the Korean music industry saw the

Open-Door Policy as creating an environment conducive to marketing of Korean popular music

to Japan. 202

Since this first stage of the Open-Door Policy did not permit the importing of much

Japanese popular music, the Korean audiences were still attracted to those illegally sold pirated

cassettes. The famous Japanese rock band from the early 1990s, X-Japan, became the most

popular Japanese rock/visual-rock band in Korea, and countless fan sites devoted to the band

were formed in the internet, nurturing and expanding the base of devoted X-Japan fans among

Korean youth. Despite the band’s break-up in 1997, and subsequent mysterious death of band-

member Hide in 1998, the popularity of X-Japan reached its peak in Korea just as the Open-Door

Policy was in its first stage. As I briefly mentioned in Chapter Three, X-Japan’s songs were also

copied by some Korean singers. The popular Korean boy-band in the mid 1990s, H.O.T, were

accused of piracy in their 1996 song “Onûldo Tchajûngnanûn Narine” (“Today too is Irritating”),

basing it on the Japanese song “Doubt” (1994) by X-Japan’s member Hide. From their debut in

199
Ibid.
200
“Ilbon Kayo: Japan Rock Param Yesang” (Japanese Popular Music: Expecting the Japanese Rock Wind), Chosun
Ilbo, October. 14 1998.
201
Ibid.
202
“Superstar “Amuro” Taeûng Koreanyôn Ch’aebi (Ready for the Superstar “Amuro” Concert), Chosun Ilbo,
October. 13 1998.

141
1996 to their break-up in 2001, H.O.T.—the (in)famous early “product” of SM Entertainment--

was accused a number of times because of their piracy of many Japanese songs from not only

popular singers but also anime and computer-game music. 203 Furthermore, their fashion and hair

styles, dancing styles, and even album cover designs have been rigorously compared and

criticized by the Korean audiences because of their imitations of Japanese cartoon character-like

looks (similar to Dragon Ball’s characters), Japanese idol bands’ dancing styles, and much more.

203
“Pyojôl Kayo, Ttôtdahamyôn Pyojôl Ŭihok, Ilbu Hwaldongjungdan” (Pirated Song, Piracy Suspicion as Getting
Popular, Some Taking a Break), Chosun Ilbo, May. 13. 2001.

142
Figure 4.3 H.O.T's photos in 2000 (top) and the cartoon, Dragon Ball (bottom)

The band still survived until 2001 under the strong protection of their management

company (SM Entertainment) but have become known since then as the worst case of piracy in

the Korean popular music history. Since H.O.T. as well as the producers and their management

company never apologized and chose instead to ignore the accusations of the Korean audiences,

many Koreans became very angry and protested against H.O.T until they disbanded.

143
Nevertheless, H.O.T’s fans tried to rally in support of them by arguing that H.O.T was not the

only group guilty of pirating. There were a number of websites entirely devoted to H.O.T’s

disbanding, and H.O.T Ŭntoe Ŭndong Ponbu (meaning “Protest Headquarter for H.O.T’s

Withdrawal”) was formed in 1999, namely “against hot.” 204 Unlike the case of Roo’Ra, H.O.T’s

reckless piracy in the face of the Korean fans’ complaints eventually led to the band’s ending,

and the five members, still active as entertainers, were nonetheless left with countless “anti”-fans

in Korea.

Besides H.O.T, as more and more Korean audiences became familiar with all different

kinds of Japanese popular cultural products, more and more Korean popular songs (both new and

old) were found to be copies from Japanese popular culture. The Korean audiences’ discoveries

were instantly spread through the internet, and the popular media also quickly responded making

big news out of them. Although some of obvious songs were excluded from some TV programs

or awards after the audiences complained, most of them were not prohibited from sales, though

the singers and producers often took a short break in order to avoid further criticism, and then

coming back. 205

Since the copyright law in Korea requires the original composer or copyright holder to

lodge a formal complaint to the Hanguk Ŭmak Chôjagwon Hyopoe (“Korea Music Copyright

Association”), Korean singers’ piracy of Japanese songs would not likely be banned unless the

Japanese original composer or copyright holder sued them directly. 206 Thus, the problem of

pirating Japanese popular music did not quickly disappear from the Korean popular music scene

204
Examples of those websites include “ANTI-HOT” (http://come.to/anti-hot), “HOTDOG”
(http://members.tripod.co.kr/geggang/index.html), and “Samryu Kasu Pandae Saitû (Against Third-Rate Singer”
(http://krmusic.tripod.com). The headquarter website is http://againsthot.tripod.com.
205
“Pyojôl Kayo, Ttôdahamyôn Pyojôl Ŭihok, Ilbu Hwaldongjungdan” (Pirated Song, Piracy Suspicion as Getting
Popular, Some Taking a Break), Chosun Ilbo, May. 13. 2001.
206
See Hanguk Ŭmak Chôjagwon Hyopoe’s http://www.komca.or.kr/eng2/tariffs.htm (accessed May. 5. 2006) and
“The Copyright Act” at http://www.copyright.or.kr/copye/main.asp?ht=./law/law_b_koe.htm&ca=6&se=1(accessed
September. 24. 2004 and March. 5. 2007).

144
with the beginning of the Open-Door Policy. However, it became more difficult for Korean

singers and producers freely copying Japanese songs as the Korean audience became more and

more knowledgeable about Japanese popular music and the general public’s concern over the

copyright issues became more and more serious.

In addition, another of SM Entertainment’s “products,” S.E.S (Sea. Eugene. Shoo, a

female trio), introduced something new to Korean audiences. By forming the trio with Eugene

(Korean-American, fluent in both Korean and English) and Shoo (Korean-Japanese, fluent in

both Korean and Japanese) along with Sea (Korean, good singing technique), SM Entertainment

sought out a bigger market for them, Japan in particular. 207 During the group’s period of activity

in Korea, from 1997 to 2003, and in Japan, from 1998 to 2001, S.E.S was very popular indeed in

Korea, and the Korean fans actively monitored the group’s activities not only in Korea but also

in Japan through the popular media and the internet. The boom of young girls’ bands (Fin.K.L,

S.E.S, Baby V.O.X, etc.) in Korea from 1998 was closely related to the Japanese female idol

group SPEED’s huge success in Japan from 1996 to 2000. SPEED (four teenage girls, Imai

Eriko, Shimabukuro Hiroko, Uehara Takako, Arakaki Hitoe) was the most popular female idol

group in Japan in the late 1990s and produced a number of million/double million-seller singles

and albums. 208

207
“SM Cheguk: Kkamtchik, Sunsu, SES, “Sonyô Kûrup” Wonjoro” (SM Empire: Cute, Pure, SES, as the Pioneer
of “Girls’ Band”), Herald Media News, June. 21. 2005.
208
JAVE Entertainment, Ilbon Ingigasu Kôlleksyôn (Japanese Popular Singers Collections). (Seoul: Munjisa, 1998)
pp. 103-105.

145
Figure 4.4 The Japanese group, SPEED (top-left) and the Korean group, S.E.S (top-right), FIN.K.L

(bottom-left), and BABY V.O.X (bottom-right)

Like SPEED, the Korean girls’ bands were formed with three to five young girls and

usually focused on the visual images rather than musical sounds. After SPEED announced their

disbanding in 1999 in Japan, the Korean group S.E.S gained short-lived popularity in Japan.

Their modest success was relatively easy to achieve because of their familiar idol style and

because the Korean-Japanese girl Shoo could communicate in Japanese. However, S.E.S could

not achieve truly spectacular success in Japan because of the absence of support from any major

Japanese label company, as their management company SM Entertainment had not negotiated

such at that time. Nevertheless, the Korean media enthusiastically exaggerated S.E.S’s

146
performance success in Japan, and this in turn helped the band to gain further popularity in

Korea.

4.2.2 The Second Round/Stage (from September 1999)

On September 10, 1999, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the second round of the

Open-Door-Policy, which allowed more films, the staging of small, indoor popular music

concerts (maximum of 2000), and some publications. 209 The second round was scheduled to

begin in spring 1999, but it was delayed until September because of the controversy over a

bilateral fisheries pact with Japan. With the exception of animation, all international award-

winning films (70 titles) and all G-rated films from Japan were permitted because of the modest

response by Koreans to Japanese films during the first stage. 210 Among these the most popular

included Iwaii Sunji’s Love Letter (1995, a contemporary love story with a macabre twist, the

first showing in Korea: November 20, 1999), Nakata Hideo’s Ring (1998, the terrifying film

subsequently remade in the USA, the first showing in Korea: December 11, 1999), Nakano

Hiroyuki’s Samurai Fiction (1999, an Edo period samurai story, the first showing in Korea:

February 19, 2000), and Suo Masayuki’s Shall We Dance? (1996, the story of a middle-aged

man discovering the joys of ballroom dancing, also subsequently remade in the USA in 2004, the

first showing in Korea: May 14, 2000). 211

209
“Ilbon Munhwa Ich’a Kaebang ui Yônghyang” (“The Impact of the Second-Stage of the Open Door Policy”),
KBS News, September. 19. 1999. See http://news.kbs.co.kr/news.php?id=524244&kind=c (accessed May. 12. 2006).
210
“Chuga Kaebang…Yônghwaman hwakdae Kanungsung” (Additional Opening…Limited
Possibility on Movie)” DongA Ilbo, February. 19. 1999.
211
“Asia Yônghwanûn Chiûm Sunsuhan Sarangjung” (Asian Movies in the Trend of Pure Love), Hangyoreh News,
April. 14. 2006; “Ilbon Yônghwayo? Kûlsseyo…” (Japanese Movie? Well…), Chosun Ilbo, September. 20. 1999;
www.kr.movies.yahoo.com (accessed May. 12. 2006).

147
Figure 4.5 Iwaii Sunji's Love Letter (1995), Nakata Hideo's Ring (1998), Nakano Hiroyuki's Samurai

Fiction (1999), and Suo Masayuki's Shall We Dance? (1996)

Also, more manga and manga magazines (weekly, biweekly, monthly) in Japanese

languages were introduced legally, but most of the cartoon magazines in Korea were becoming

less popular as internet service (webzines) of manga/manhwa began taking over in 1998. For

example, the popular Korean website “Manhwa Kyujang’ak” (“Korea Manhwa Information

Archives”) offers Kyujang’ak Magazine, including a global report section, which is entirely

devoted to the world of Japanese manga. 212

In popular music, the staging of small, indoor, live music concerts by Japanese pop

musicians was permitted for the first time. These were limited to halls with a maximum of 2000

seats and resulted in 308 performances in concert halls, 130 in arenas, and around 400 in hotel
213
ballrooms—certainly a substantial number of appearances. Live concerts at private

restaurants, bars, or clubs were not allowed. The Korean government monitored Japanese

212
http://www.kcomics.net/Magazine/List.asp?intBnum=415, “Manhwa Kyujang’ak” (“Korea Manhwa Information
Archives”), (accessed December. 2. 2006).
213
“Ich’a Kaebang, Taejung Kayo Kungnae Kongyôn Hôyong” (Second Stage, Permitting Popular Music Concert),
DongA Ilbo, September. 10. 1999.

148
performances and could do so much more easily at public venues than small private ones. Also,

the production and sale of live concert albums or music videos were prohibited. 214

Korean singer, Kim Yon-Ja, who has built her career as a Japanese enka singer in Japan

since 1988, had the first Japanese popular music concert in Korea in October 26, 1999. 215 Her

concert, titled “Korea-Japan Culture Exchange Night—Kim Yon-Ja Big Concert,” was held at

the Gwangju Munhwa Yesul Hoegwan Konsôtû Hol (Gwangju Culture and Art Center Concert

Hall, 1732 seats) in Gwangju city (her hometown) in Korea. 216 The singer sang a few Korean

t’ûrot’û songs, including “Mokpoûi Nunmul” (“Tears of Mokpo”) and “Nagûne Sôrum”

(“Wanderer’s Sorrow”), in Korean and a few Japanese enka songs, including “Jinseikaikyo”

(“Straits of Life”) and “Kawano Nagareno Youni” (“Like a Flowing River”), in Japanese. 217

In December 1999, a famous Japanese countertenor Yoshikazu Mera had a concert, titled

as “Yoshikazu Mera Christmas Concert,” at the Yesurûi Chôndang Konsôtû Hol (the Seoul Arts

Center Concert Hall, 2523 seats, the most prestigious music hall in Korea). 218 Yoshikazu Mera,

who sang the theme song for Miyazaki Hayao’s 1997 anime Mononoke Hime (“Princess

Mononoke,” called “Wôllyông Kongju” in Korea), was already well-known in Korea with his

album “Romance,” released November 1998 under Western classical music category through

Synnara Record in Korea. 219 As his voice from the classical music album “Romance” (which

includes Handel’s “Ombra Mai Fu,” Satie’s “Je Te Veux,” Grieg’s “Solveig’s Song,” and more)

was used for a few TV commercials in Korea, he was beginning to be recognized by classical

214
Ibid.
215
http://cafe.daum.net/kimyonja; Yano (2004: 159-160).
216
See Gwangju Culture and Art Center’s official website, http://art.gjcity.net/index.html.
217
“Kasu Kim Yon-Ja, Hanguksô Chut Ilbongayo Kongyôn” (Singer Kim Yon-Ja, The First
Japanese Popular Music Concert in Korea), JoongAng Daily, October. 15. 1999.
218
“Kasûm Chôksinûn Sinbisûrôun Moksori” (Touching, Magical Voice), DongA Ilbo, December. 9. 1999.
219
“Yoshikazu Mera, Namjaga Purûnûn Yôsôngui Umyôk” (Yoshikazu Mesa, Man Singing Woman’s Vocal-range),
Woman Donga, December. 1999; http://www.synnara.co.kr/jump/fp/music/page.do (accessed November. 3. 2006).

149
music fans in Korea. 220 However, he became very popular through the anime, Mononoke Hime,

which spread widely throughout Korea through the pirated video tapes and video CDs, especially

among the young Korean fans of the most famous Japanese anime director in Korea, Miyazaki

Hayao. Thus, at his first concert in Korea in December 1999, where he only performed Western

classical pieces, many Korean fans, who had come to hear the anime’s theme song, were

disappointed and complained to the concert director (planner). 221 However, Yoshikazu Mera

actually wound up singing the song for the Korean fans who waited for him outside of the hall

after the concert. 222 Yoshikazu Mera could not sing the Japanese anime song in Japanese at the

concert hall because of its over-2000 capacity, but sang the song for the several hundred people

waiting outside of the hall, without violating the law. In this way, Yoshikazu Mera became even

more popular among Korean audiences despite the Korean government’s continued limits on

Japanese popular music activity in the early stages of the Open-Door Policy. Based on his

successful concert and growing popularity in Korea, Yoshikazu Mera returned to Korea in

December 2003 for a joint concert with Korean pianist Iruma, sponsored by the Japanese

Embassy in Korea. And on February 14, 2004 at Yoshikazu Mera’s Valentine’s Day Concert &

Event, held at the Yesurui Chôndang Konsôt’û Hol, he could finally sing the original theme song

of the anime, Mononoke Hime, which the Korean fans had long been waiting to hear and see him

perform on stage. The EBS (Educational Broadcasting System) even broadcast his concert on

TV through the program called Yesurui Kwangjang (“Arts’ Square”) on March, 17, 2004. 223

220
Ibid.
221
“Kasûm Chôksinûn Sinbisûrôun Moksori” (Touching, Magical Voice), DongA Ilbo, December. 9. 1999.
222
Ibid.
223
“Yoshikazu Mera ui Palentaindei Konsôtû” (Yoshikazu Mera’s Valentine’s Day Concert), DongA Ilbo, February.
15. 2004.

150
Figure 4.6 Yoshikazu Mera's album cover, Romance (1998, left) and Miyazaki Hayao’s animation,

Mononoke Hime's original sound tracks (1999, right)

From 1998 Japanese popular music (albeit without Japanese language) made gradual but

steady penetration into Korea. Various genres of Japanese music, including pop, pop-classic,

new age, crossover, jazz, and original sound tracks, became more and more popular in Korea.

For example, new age pianist Kuramoto Yuki sold more than 500,000 copies of his five CD

albums, including “Reminiscence” (March 1998), “Romance” (July 1998), “Refinement”

(December 1998), “Lake Misty Blue” (May 1999), and “Sailing in Silence” (May 2000). 224

224
Some of his albums were categorized as new age (semi-classical) piano music rather than Japanese music
composed and performed by Japanese. Thus, his albums were available in Korea before the Open-Door Policy
began to relax the censorship.

151
Figure 4.7 Kuramoto Yuki's album covers, Romance (1998), Refinement (1998), Lake Misty Blue (1999),

and Sailing in Silence (2000)

His album, “Sailing in Silence” reached seventh place in the first half of 1999 in the

Hanguk Ŭmban Sanôp Hyôpoe (Recording Industry Association of Korea) category called “pop-

music-album” sales, which includes all types of musical recordings except Korean popular music

(kayo). By the end of 1999, the album sold 132,605 copies and reached fifteenth place on the

same chart. 225 From 1999, Kuramoto Yuki became the most renowned Japanese new-age artist

in Korea and appeared on the front covers of various magazines.226 After his first concert in

Korea in 1999 at the Yesurûi Chôndang Konsôt’û Hol (the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall), he

has often visited Korea for his concerts, which have always been sold out and flocked to by

young Korean fans. In addition, his three newly released albums from 1999 to 2003 sold around

50,000 copies each, namely Sceneries in Love (April 2001), Time for Journey (May 2002), and

Concertino (April 2003). 227 However, from 2004, as sales of original Japanese version of

Japanese popular music albums became allowed in Korea, sales of Kuramoto Yuki’s albums,

225
"Recording Industry Association of Korea (MIAK)’s Pop-Music chart of the first half of 1999”
http://www.miak.or.kr (accessed December. 12. 2006).
226
“Hanguge Tûrôdûnûn Sôjông, Pianisûtû Yuki Kuramoto ssi” (Delineation of Feeling Flowing into Korea, Pianist
Kuramoto Yuki), Mindan News, December. 08. 2004.
227
http://www.miak.or.kr (accessed December. 12. 2006).

152
Pure Piano (March 2004) and Heartstring (May 2005), dramatically decreased to around 5,000

copies each. 228

Also popular in Korea were albums by internationally-known composer, pianist, and

actor Sakamoto Ryuichi: the piano album, BTTB: Back To The Basics (January 2000), and the

compilation album of his film music, Cinemage (January 2000), the latter including music from

The Last Emperor (1987) and Little Buddha (1993). 229 Although he was internationally popular

as a member of the techno-pop group YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra, 1975-1983), he became

popular in Korea through his Academy Award-winning film music for The Last Emperor and

also through his performance as an actor in the movie, which was shown in Korea in 1988. 230 In

April 2000, he had his first concert in Korea at the Yesurûi Chôndang Konsôt’û Hol, where he

performed his works from those two albums released a few months earlier. 231

Figure 4.8 Sakamoto Ryuichi's album covers, BTTB (2000, left), Cinemage (2000, middle), and The Last

Emperor (1987, right)

228
Ibid.
229
“Ilbon Taejung Ŭmak Salgûmsalgûm Sangryuk” (Japanese Popular Music Gradual Touchdown). JoongAng
Daily, May. 17. 2000.
230
“Pyujôn Ŭmakpaendûl Sinnageta” (Fusion Music Fans Must be Excited), Hangeyreh News, April. 18. 2000.
231
“Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yônghwa Ŭmak Ch’ôtsôn” (Reuichi Sakamoto, Introduction of Film Music), Chosun Ilbo,
April. 27. 2000.

153
 Also, the Japanese movie Love Letter’s original sound track (new-age style instrumental

pieces by Remedios) became the top selling film music album in Korea during the first half of

2000, selling an impressive 187,492 copies. 232

In 2000, under the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Hanguk Munhwa

Kwangwang Yôn’guwon (Korea Culture and Tourism Institute) conducted a public opinion

survey of Koreans over 15 years of age on the outcome of the first and second stages of the

Open-Door Policy. According to the survey result, 63.6% Koreans closely followed the process

of the Open-Door Policy and 36.4% Koreans were not so interested in the process. 233 Nearly

half (48.2%) of the respondents assumed the impact of the two stages of the Open-Door Policy

was harmful to Korea both because of its offensive and decadent contents and because of the

resultant economic losses Korean industry was suffering. However, a slight majority (51.8%) of

the respondents evaluated the outcome as positive to Korea because it offered more variety of

cultural experiences to Koreans and the domestic cultural industry seemed to be becoming more

active by competing with Japan. 234 Also, both Japan and Korea’s cultural industries indicated

that anime and popular music would be the most successful categories as Korea opened the door

wider in the next stages. 235 Although limitations on Japanese popular music were still rigid, as

we can from the sales of the Japanese artists’ works and their sold-out concerts at the most

prestigious music hall in Korea, many Koreans--not only devoted fans of Japanese popular

culture but also the general Korean public--responded to the growing, and now legal, “presence”

of different genres of Japanese popular music. One of the reasons for those artists’ success in

232
Ibid.; http://www.miak.or.kr (accessed Febuary. 1. 2007).
233
“Ilbon Taejung Munhwa Kaebang Chôngchaekui Punsôk 2000” (Analysis of the Open-Door Policy toward Japan
2000), Hanguk Munhwa Kwangwang Yônguwon (Korea Culture and Tourism Institute) website at
http://www.kcti.re.kr/statistics_db.htm (accessed March. 2. 2007).
234
http://www.kcti.re.kr/statistics_db.htm (accessed March. 2. 2007).
235
Ibid.

154
Korea, besides their internally acknowledged musicianship, was that many Koreans favored the

kinds of music genres they represented, including new age, semi-classic, pop-classic, and film

musics, which were all easy-listening kinds of music, as we can see the everlasting popularity of

ballad-style popular music (palladû kayo) in Korea.

4.2.3 The Third Round/Stage (from June 2000)

On June 27, 2000, the third round of the Open-Door Policy allowed the importing of additional

films, animation, video, computer games, and TV programs. In popular music, a wider range of

activities became legal. Both indoor and outdoor music concerts were permitted. Of

considerable importance from the perspective of establishing a Japanese “presence” in the music

world of Korea, Japanese popular music CDs could now be imported, albeit with the somewhat

remarkable proviso that the Japanese language not be used in the vocals. As a result, the original

“karaoke” versions (with no vocal part) produced in Japan, were legally imported, and the video

track for Korean noraebang (karaoke halls) gave the Japanese song texts, but only in Korean

transliteration. 236

This round of widening the range of imports Korea would allow from Japan was cast as a

friendly gesture from the Korean government, with an eye toward co-hosting the World Cup

with Japan two years hence (in Summer 2002). All Japanese films were permitted except NC-18

rated movies, and international award-winning animation films were now also included. 237 In

addition, videos of those permitted movies and animations were allowed to be imported and sold.

236
However, Japanese popular music has been available to Korean audiences through the Internet since the late 90s.
(As of 2003, over 70 percent of Korean households are using the Internet via broadband connections.)
237
“Ilbon Taejung Munhwa Kaebang Chôngchaekui Punsôk 2001” (Analysis of the Open-Door Policy toward Japan
2001), Hanguk Munhwa Kwangwang Yônguwon (Korea Culture and Tourism Institute) website at
http://www.kcti.re.kr/munhwa_sangse.htm?num=1247 (accessed March. 7. 2006).

155
Computer, online, and commercial (arcade) games also became legally available. In

broadcasting, sports, documentary, and news programs began to be imported and broadcast.238

According a public opinion survey on imports of Japanese movies and anime conducted

by a member of the national assembly, Park Chong-Ung, in summer 2000, 79% respondents still

supported further opening, and only 21% respondents opposed whether it would damage the

local market further or not. 239 Among the supporters, many of them have changed their

prejudices about Japanese movies and anime from negative to positive after they watched some

of the released movies and anime. Despite the bad reputation that Japanese movies and anime

had among Koreans for frequent reliance on offensive and violent content, once Korean viewers

had a chance to view a broad range of them, they found many to be highly artistic. Some

supporters also indicated that not all Japanese movies and anime could be popular in Korea as

the box-office record of Kurosawa Akira’s Kagemusha was disappointing, so the local industry

would not need to fear unmanageable competition from further importation. 240

In July 12 and 13, 2000, the Japanese visual rock band Penicillin had their first Korean

concert at the Seoul Hilton Hotel Convention Center (1998 seats). Although it was a small

concert, the band’s appearance presaged the coming of others groups from Japan, playing in

larger venues during this third stage. Penicillin, known for some years in Korea through the

black market, sang their hit songs including “The Flame” and “Mr. Freez” to an enthusiastic

crowd. 241

After having a small concert for charity in April 2000 in Seoul, the famous Japanese

rock-ballad duo Chage & Aska had the Han-Il Ch’insôn Konsôtû (“Korea-Japan Friendship

238
Ibid.
239
See “Chôngch’I Toron, 3 ch’a Kaebang” (Political Discussion on the Third Stage), http://www.park21.org/discuss
(accessed March. 7. 2006).
240
“Ilbon Yônghwa Hûnghaeng Silpae” (Japanese Movies’ Failing Box-office Records), Chosun Ilbo, April. 9.
2001.
241
Ibid.

156
Concert”) in August 26 and 27, 2000 at the Seoul Olympic Park Dome, which, with a capacity of
242
15,000, is one of the biggest indoor halls in all of Korea. Their concert was the first big

mainstream Japanese popular music concert in Korea, another major step in the establishment of

Japanese pop music presence in Korea. 243

Figure 4.9 Japanese duo Chage & Aska's concert poster (left) and photo (right) of "Korea-Japan

Friendship Concert" in August, 2000 244

This concert was organized by the Korea Foundation for Women and sponsored by the

Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Korea Tourism Organization. 245 All the profits

were donated to the Korea Foundation for Women, thereby representing direct benefit to

Koreans (not just the Korean music industry) and serving to counter any ill feelings from those

242
Iwabuchi described the duo as musicians “who have been self-conscious of their mission as cultural diplomats in
the Asian region,” and mentioned the massive Japanese media coverage about the flow of Japanese pop into Korea
that began with this duo’s big concert. See Iwabuchi (2002:208).
243
A Korean website on Asian popular music, “asiamusic.net,” selected the duo’s Korean concert as the biggest
news of Japanese popular music in Korea in 2000.
See http://nine4u.asiamusic.net/dj/program.asp, (accessed July. 21. 2006).
244
“Chage & Asûka ui Sei Yesû” (Chage & Aska’s Say Yes), Ohmynews, September. 20. 2000.
245
“Chage & Asûka, Ilbon Taejung Ŭmagi Onda” (Chage & Aska, Japanese Popular Music is Coming), DongA
Ilbo, August. 31. 2000.

157
Koreans resistant to the Open-Door Policy who might complain of Japanese pop artists draining

their country of Korean financial resources. 246 The band sang a total of 19 songs, including their

most famous song “Say Yes,” at the Korean concert. Also, the Japanese anime maestro

Miyazaki Hayao’s special 7-minute anime music video produced for band’s song “On Your

Mark” (1995) was also viewed during the concert. 247 Since it was the first big concert of

Japanese popular musicians in Korea, both countries’ media coverage was substantial.

Moreover, Japan’s Fuji TV even produced a historic documentary of Japan-Korea relations in

conjunction with the Chage & Aska concert in Korea as a new beginning of the two countries’

relationship. 248 However, the Korean media coverage was less friendly, pointing the failure of

this concert to fill the whole Dome as a kind of disappointment for Japan—5,000 of the total

15,000 seats were empty. 249

Leading up to co-hosting the 2002 Soccer World Cup, collaborations between Korean

and Japanese musicians were taking place. In the realm of traditional (or neo-traditional) music,

the famous Korean percussion quartet SamulNori joined forces with Japanese percussionists and

Western classical musicians from both countries to play concerts together. The first popular

music group collaboration that appeared was Y2K (Year Two Kilo), formed in 1999 and

featuring one Korean musician (Go Jae-Geun, lead vocal) and two Japanese musicians (Matsuo

Koji, bass guitar and vocal, and his brother Matsuo Yuichi, guitar and vocal). Y2K’s

performances in Korea took place mainly from 1999 to 2002. They released five albums in

Korea, including their second album Try Again in October 2000. 250

246
“Ilbon Rokgurup Sangryuk” (Japanese Rock Bands’ Landing), Hankook Ilbo, July. 12. 2000.
247
“Chage & Asûka, Ilbon Taejung Ŭmagi Onda” (Chage & Aska, Japanese Popular Music is Coming), DongA
Ilbo, August. 31. 2000 ; “Chage & Asûka ui Sei Yesû” (Chage & Aska’s Say Yes), Ohmynews, September. 20.
2000.
248
Ibid.
249
“Chage & Asûka ui Kongyôni Nagingôt” (Chage & Aska Concert’s Meaning), Chosun Ilbo, September. 1. 2000.
250
The Japanese members have joined to form the duo “Doggy Bag” in Japan. The Korean member Go Jae-Geun
recently re-debuted as a musical actor. See “Y2K Go Jae-Geun, Myujikeul Pae’Uro Keumbaek” (Y2K Go Jae-

158
Figure 4.10 Y2K's Korean member, Go Jae-Geun, and Japanese members, Matsuo Yuichi and Matsuo

Koji (left) and Y2K's second album cover, TRY AGAIN (2000, right)

As various kinds of Japanese popular cultural imports increased in Korea, local culture

industries understandably began to express their fear and concern about losing ground to their

neighbor to the east. Nevertheless, the Korean government kept the opening process going until

July 2001 when the issue of Japanese history textbooks was suddenly raised again. On July 12,

2001, the Korean government temporarily disapproved of the Open-Door plan because of the

Japanese government’s refusal to revise the coverage of Japan’s colonization of Korea in its

middle school history textbooks, despite pressure from Korea. 251 Although the Korean

government had formerly scheduled further relaxing of the restrictions on Japanese cultural

products to permit importation of original Japanese-language versions of music CDs, TV drama

and show programs, and animation, the opening process was stopped and these products

continued to be prohibited. 252

Geun, Comeback as a Musical Actor), Herald Media News, June. 12. 2006. Also, for more account on the group’s
albums, see http://kr.music.yahoo.com/m_music/artist.asp?aid=5784 (accessed July. 12. 2006).
251
Yu Kyun, “Tûrama Hanpyôni Yônûn Hanil Munhwagyoryu Saesidae” (The New Age of Korea-Japan Cultural
Exchange Started by a Drama), Munhwa Yesul (April): 30-37, 2002, P. 36.
252
“Kaebang Iljông Chungdan” (Suspension of the Open-Door Policy), Chosun Ilbo, July. 12. 2001.

159
 However, in 2002, some of these regulations were temporary lifted because of the 2002

FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, which was held in Korea and Japan from May 31 to June 30,

2002. In February 2002, for the first time in history, Korean television (MBC) and Japanese

television (TBS) co-produced a drama, Friends, performed by Korean top actor Won Bin and

Japanese top actress Fukada Kyoko, drawing a 19% audience rating in Korea (anything above

15% audience rating in TV drama viewership is considered as high in Korea).253 The drama was

a love story between a Korean man (Chi-Hun, a college student who struggles with his

conservative family and his dream of being a movie director instead of an architect) and a

Japanese woman (Tomoko, a department store employee who tries to find her own dream after

getting tired of being nobody within the society). They met in Hong Kong and began to like

each other. After they went back to their countries, the two found many differences and

conflicting issues between them and their countries but tried to understand the differences and to

solve the problems at the same time, an obvious metaphor for the conflicting relationships

between Korea and Japan.

Figure 4.11 TV drama Friends (2000), co-produced by Korean television (MBC) and Japanese television

(TBS) featuring Korean top actor Won Bin (left) and Japanese top actress Fukada Kyoko

(right)

253
“World Cup Hunpung tago Yôngija Kyoryu Hwalbal” (Active Exchange of Actor/Actress for World Cup),
DongA Ilbo, February. 16. 2002; Yu Kyun, “Tûrama Hanpyôni Yônûn Hanil Munhwagyoryu Saesidae” (The New
Age of Korea-Japan Cultural Exchange Started by a Drama), Munhwa Yesul (April): 30-37, 2002, P. 35.

160
 During the World Cup, the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism gave permission for

the production and release of the World Cup official music album 2002 FIFA World Cup Official

Album Songs Korea/Japan (April 2002), which contained songs in Japanese and Korean. The

title song, ““Let’s Get Together Now,” was sung by both Korean and Japanese official musicians

for the World Cup (“Voices of Korea/Japan,” for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan”),

including Korea’s Park Jông-Hyun (a Korean-American female singer, also known as Rena

Park) and Brown Eyes (a Korean male duo) and Japan’s Chemistry (a male duo) and Sowelu (a

female singer). 254 Besides these musicians, top popular singers from Korea and Japan

participated in the album, including Kuraki Mai (singing “Always”) and Park Jin-Young (singing

“Ready”).

Figure 4.12 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan official album cover, Songs of Korea/Japan (2002, left)

and single cover, "Let's Get Together Now" (2002, right)

254
“Music Story: 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Official Album.” Sport Chosun, March. 12. 2002.

161
 Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, a singer/actor, member of the Japanese mega-star group SMAP, has

been the most active Japanese entertainer in Korea since his debut in July 2002 as a solo singer

in Korea. Inspired by his interest in Korean culture (the 1999 movie Swiri in particular) and

language, he produced a single album Chôngmal Sarang Haeyo (“I really love you,” which was

a humorous, friendly concept) singing in Korean. Kusanagi Tsuyoshi has been hosting a

program, Ch’o Nan Gang (Korean style pronunciation of his name in Chinese characters, Fuji

TV) in Japan since 2001, on which he speaks only in Korean and introduces various aspects of

Korea and invites popular Korean entertainers. 255 He also performed in a few Korean dramas

and movies, notably Ch’ônhajangsa Madonna (“Like a Virgin”) in 2006; and he has become

very popular in Korea as the most chihanp’a or ch’inhanp’a (new Korean words for a foreigner,

usually Japanese, who knows, understands, and likes Korea well) of the Japanese pop stars. 256

Figure 4.13 Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (or Cho Nan Gang)'s Korean single cover, "Chôngmal Sarang Haeyo"

("I Really Love You" 2002, left) and the Korean movie, Chônhajangsa Madonna ("Like a

Virgin" 2006, right) featuring him as a Japanese language teacher

255
“Sanyôntchae Hanguk Sogae Pûro Chinhaeng, Ilbon Kasu Cho Nan-Gang” (4th Year of Hosting the TV Program
introducing Korea, Japanese Popular Singer, Cho Nan-Gang), Jungang Ilbo, January. 11. 2005.
256
“Ch’o Nan Gang Ilbonpaen, Hanguk Wonjong Ungwonhyunjang” (Ch’o Nan Gang’s Japanese Fan, Coming to
Korea for Cheering), Sport Seoul News, November. 1. 2003.

162
 Prior to the fourth stage of the Open-Door Policy, the Korean music industry prepared for

licensing and contributing deals with the Japanese music industry. For example, from

September, 2003, SONY Korea began to select Japanese musicians from the R&B genre (which

has been popular in Korea), including Chemistry and Hirai Ken, and planned to released around

ten albums in January 2004. 257 EMI Korea planned to release the best albums of those Japanese

musicians who were already popular in Korea, including Utada Hikaru and GLAY (a

rock/visual-rock band), in January 2004. 258 Also, SM Entertainment completed the licensing

deal with AVEX, with which top stars like Amuro Namie, Hamasaki Ayumi, Misia, and Globe

were associated. 259

4.2.4 The Fourth Round/Stage (from January 2004)

On January 1, 2004, except for some limitations on TV programs and animation films, the fourth

round allowed the import of almost all kinds of Japanese popular cultural products. 260 As a

result, most Japanese movies, games, and music CDs have been permitted since that date.

Finally, then, the sale of Japanese popular music CDs, complete with original Japanese-language

vocals, became legal in Korea, putting Korea on equal footing with other Asian countries, such

as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, where Japanese popular music CDs and related

257
“2004 Ilbon Taejungmunhwa Wanjôn Kaebang, Ilbon Munhwaya Nolja~~~” (2004 Japanese Popular Culture
Complete Opening, Let’s Play Japanese Popular Culture~~~), Gaseum (Bugs website magazine, December. 2003),
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\SCHOOL\AM 9\AM9 Article\ETC (accessed July. 14. 2006).
258
“2004 Ilbon Taejungmunhwa Wanjôn Kaebang, Ilbon Munhwaya Nolja~~~” (2004 Japanese Popular Culture
Complete Opening, Let’s Play Japanese Popular Culture~~~), Gaseum (Bugs website magazine, December. 2003),
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\SCHOOL\AM 9\AM9 Article\ETC (accessed July. 14. 2006).
259
Ibid.
260
“Sa’cha Chuga Kaebang” (Fourth Round Additional Opening), Hankook Ilbo, September. 16. 2003. After a two-
year grace period, most of anime imports have been legal since January 2006. However, most of the Japanese TV
programs are still banned even in cable stations except some TV dramas, variety shows, and sports broadcasting (as
of March 2007).

163
products had been selling for some time. Within days, Japanese pop music sections appeared in

CD stores in Korea.

The Japanese presence in Korea’s music scene, building gradually, took a leap forward

with this change. Under the various kinds of unusual rules imposed by the Korean government

until 2003, Japanese popular music was either banned or required to modify its “Japaneseness”

by some degree of “de-Japanizing,” “Koreanizing,” and/or “de-nationalizing” processes in order

to be legally present in Korea, and these requirements did not motivate much interest of the

Japanese music industry. Instead, the Japanese music industry had mainly been waiting until

Korea gave up on their last shield (even though, as we have seen, that shield has always had

some big holes). As a result, as soon as Korea’s final resistance was removed by the fourth

round of the Open-Door Policy, Japanese popular music began to flourish “as-is” in Korea

without changing anything unless the Japanese musicians wanted to or saw that as a better way

to promote their music.

Within weeks, Korean music cable channels began to air programs that featured Japanese

popular music exclusively. Those programs include M-net’s J-Pop Wave and Pop-Japan,

KMTV’s J-Pop Non-Stop and World Pops, MTV Korea’s J-Beat, and Channel [V] Korea’s J-

Pop Zone and J-Pop Street. 261 Except for J-Pop Zone (which airs Monday through Friday twice

per day), these programs were usually aired twice per week: the original broadcast and one

rebroadcast. The shows feature not only Japanese popular music videos themselves, but also

commentary by veejays (= VJs, i.e., “video jockeys”), often including young Korean and

Japanese hosts conversing in Korean language. For example, MTV Korea’s J-Beat was hosted

by a Korean female singer, Kim Yoon-A, a member of the music band Jaurim, and a Japanese

261
World-Pops has lately been devoted exclusively to Japanese pop music more or less every other week. J-Pop
Street was aired until September 2004. KMTV later joined with M-net.

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radio DJ, Huruya Masayuki, in 2004. 262 Most of those shows simply play music videos (called

promotion video in Japan) “as-is” and introduce Japanese musicians and their recent albums or

concert schedules along with short clips of Korean popular music info between breaks (Hot

Clips, Fresh Break, Melonade, Melon Clips). Some of them, including M-net’s J-Pop Wave,

also introduce latest fashion trends and popular places in Japan. Through the internet broadcast,

without having a cable TV service, most of those programs--from the very first show to the latest

show--can be easily viewed anytime by joining the membership either for free or with a small

fee. 263

Sales of Japanese pop took off. In the first half of 2004, in the category called “pop-

music-album” sales announced by Hanguk Ŭmban Sanôp Hyôpoe (Recording Industry

Association Korea), which includes all types of musical recordings except Korean pop

recordings in Korea, 21 recordings out of the top 50 were Japanese pop recordings. 264 Most of

them were top stars from those major label companies, including the best seller of 2004

Nakashima Mika’s LOVE (SONY and SONY Korea) and Hyde (SONY and SONY Korea), BoA

(AVEX Inc. and SM Entertainment), L’arc-En-Ciel (SONY and SONY Korea), Utada Hikaru

(EMI and EMI Korea), Anzenchitai (SONY and SONY Korea), and Amuro Namie (AVEX Inc.

and SM Entertainment). For the full year of 2004, in the same category, 10 recordings out of the

top 50 were Japanese pop recordings, including X-Japan (SONY and SONY Korea) along with

those from the first half sale record. 265 On a different chart, which includes all musical

recordings, the Japanese idol band V6’s album Very Best (AVEX Inc. and SM Entertainment)

262
Huruya Masayuki became a host of Inter-FM’s program “K-Generaion” in Japan from April, 2004 to March,
2005. See Korea Tourism Organization’s news at http://www.knto.or.kr/am/bo/ambo, (accessed March. 8. 2006).
263
http://www.mnet.com; http://www.mtv.co.kr/
264
“Recording Industry Association Korea (MIAK)’s Pop-Music chart of the first half of 2004”
http://www.miak.or.kr (accessed October 13, 2004).
265
“Recording Industry Association Korea (MIAK)’s Pop-Music chart of 2004” http://www.miak.or.kr, (accessed
February 10, 2005).

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reached the number one position on the chart for a two-day period in October 2004.266 Like the

music TV programs, Japanese popular music albums were introduced “as-is” except they were

all made in Korea by the Korean manufacturers associated with the Korean market licensing

holders in order to adjust the price for the Korean market. Thus, while the original Japanese CDs

are around US$ 35 - US$ 40 (regular album) and US$ 15 – US$ 20 (single album) in Japan, the

Korean made Japanese CDs (with the same contents) are usually around US$ 15- US$ 17

(regular) and US$ 6 – US$ 9 (single).

Figure 4.14 The most sold Japanese pop album in Korea in 2004, Nakashima Mika's album cover, LOVE

(2004, left) and popular Japanese male idol group, V6's album cover, Very Best (2004, right)

On May 13-14, 2004, the mega star Amuro Namie (called J-Pop ui Yôsin (“Goddess of J-

Pop”) in Korea) had her first Korean concerts “Amuro Namie - So Crazy Tour in Seoul 2004” at

the Seoul Olympic Park Dome, one of the biggest entertainment news items of the year in Korea.

266
“V6 Pesûtû Aelbôm” (V6 Best Album), Herald Premium News, October 8, 2004.

166
Figure 4.15 Amuro Namie's first Korean concert poster and photo of "Amuro Namie – So Crazy Tour in

Seoul 2004"

Amuro Namie’s Korea concert was an extension of her Japan tour in the spring of 2004.

The entire tour consisted of 36 engagements, for which all tickets sold out within 30 minutes in

Japan. As in Japan, she headlined her Korean performances with her current hit songs, including

“Never End” and “Can you Celebrate?” 267 Again, this Japanese mega pop star’s approach to her

concert appearances in Korea indicated the confident attitude of the Japanese music industry, as

she simply presented her music “as is” with no special repackaging or accommodation to Korean

tastes. Her uncompromising, “as is” Japanese style was enthusiastically accepted by many

Korean fans. The media coverage of her concert was extensive, and the fans’ anticipation and

attention before and after her visit filled the Korean internet in 2004.

267
“Amuro Namie Ch’ôt Naehangonyôn Sônghwangrie Yôllyô” (Amuro Namie’s First Korean Concert was
Successfully Held), Joins News, May. 14. 2004.

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 Korean fans eagerly enjoy and consume this newly available Japanese popular music, “as

is.” A fashion icon in Japan, Amuro Namie has always been creating new fashions, hair styles,

and makeup styles, which are quickly imitated not only by her fans but also by other female

singers and actresses in Asia. In Korea, Amuro’s latest fashion, hair and makeup styles have

been quickly disseminated to young women in Korea through the internet and hundreds of

Japanese magazines (Non-No, Can-Cam, ViVi, AnAn, CD Data, Girl Pop, Arena37C, and many

more) at the local bookstores.

Figure 4.16 Korean pop star Hyori (left) copied the Japanese superstar Amuro Namie’s dress, hairstyle,

and posture (right)

As you can see above, Hyori and Amuro were wearing the same dress in different colors

with identical hair styles and poses. This infamous photo has been all over the Korean internet

along with Hyori’s many other photos revealing her extensive imitation of Amuro Namie’s

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visual images from as early as Amuro’s debut in 1995. 268 Hyori (or Lee Hyori), a former

member of the girls’ band FIN.K.L (1998-2002), has often been criticized by many young

Korean music fans because of her frequent imitation of Amuro’s sexy images by copying

Amuro’s fashion, hair, and makeup styles.269 However, despite such criticism and her further

imitation of other Japanese pop stars’ songs and styles, Hyori, as a sex symbol, has been the most

popular female singer in Korea, and many young Korean girls have followed Hyori’s version of

Amuro’s latest fashion, hair, and makeup styles. This indicates that both the Korean music

industry and the Korean audiences have been continuously chasing the “Japaneseness”

represented by these pop music stars with no problem, and as a result the presence of Japan

within the world of Korean popular music has become even stronger than before.

Countless online music service sites were active in promoting the newly flourishing

Japanese pop and considered it as one of their main categories. For example, websites such as

Tube Music (www.tubemusic.co.kr), Bugs Music (www.bugs.co.kr), I Music Land

(www.imusic.co.kr), Asian Music (www.asianmusic.net.kr), Music Plaza

(www.musicplaza.com), and Melon (www.melon.com) categorize Japanese popular music as a

genre parallel to Korean popular music. Furthermore, those websites usually offer

subcategorized Japanese popular musical genres including the mainstream J-pop, Idol, rock,

R&B, hip-hop and rap, club, jazz, easy listening, reggae, new age, Shibuya-kei, visual-rock), and

enka, which clearly indicates the broad range of Korean fans with various tastes on Japanese

popular music. 270

268
http://www.avexnet.or.jp/amuro (accessed March. 07. 2006).
269
“Ilbon Kasurûl Hyungnaenaenûn Hanguk Kasudûl” (Korean Popular Singers Copying the Japanese Popular
Singers), at http://enjoyjapan.naver.com (accessed March. 07. 2006).
270
Shibuya-kei (Shibuya-style) is a kind of musical/artistic trend which was especially popular during the 1990s in
Shibuya, Japan. As the musical trend became popular in Japan as well as outside Japan, the term Shibuya-kei
became a kind of genre, which is more widely used outside Japan. The musical style is a combination of popular
western music genres, including jazz, disco, dance, bossa nova, hip hop, electronic pop, and French pop. Among the
popular bands, Pizzicato Five and Cornellius were very popular in America during the mid 1990s.

169
 Continuing the trend started in 1999-2000, more and more Korean and Japanese

musicians have participated in joint projects and concerts. For example, in February 2004,

Sakamoto Ryuichi appeared in one of the most popular music TV programs in Japan, Utaban (on

TBS), and introduced his new piece “Undercooled,” which featured the Korean rapper, MC

Sniper, rapping in Korean, along with a sampling of kayagûm sanjo. 271 This leads us to the other

direction of the transnational flows from Korea to Japan, one hoped for but not fully anticipated

by supporters of the Open-Door Policy in Korea. As Korea opened up legally to Japan, Japan

appears to have begun opening up to Korea as some Japanese musicians collaborate with Korean

musicians and Japanese fans begin to seek out and consume Korean popular music. 272

4.3 JAPANESE POPULAR MUSIC AND KOREAN FANDOM

4.3.1 Popular Singers/Groups

As we have already seen in Chapter Three, Japanese popular music in Korea during the 1980s

and the early 1990s has enjoyed a relatively hidden (or supposed to be hidden) popularity with

distribution limited to piracy. Particularly in the 1980s, although many hit songs from the top

Japanese pop stars were very popular among young Korean audiences (such as Anzenchidai,

Kuwata Keisuke’s Kuwata Band and Southern All Stars, Kondo Masahiko), there were not much

direct connection to make between the Japanese singers and groups and the Korean fans. Thus,

it was mainly their musical sound itself that the Korean fans liked about Japanese popular music.

271
Sakamoto Ryuichi’s latest recording, Chasm (Kinetic Art & Business America, Distributed by Warner Music)
was released in Japan on February 25, 2004 and then released in Korea on April 22, 2004.
272
Further discussion on this issue is in Chapter Five.

170
However, by the early 1990s, as Korea’s contact with Japanese popular culture increased, not

only the songs but also the visual images of the Japanese pop stars became available in Korea.

One prominent example was X-Japan, which was a sensational visual-rock band in Japan

at that time, and began to be popular in Korea with their artistic musical sound as well as their

shojo manga, i.e. visual images resembling beautifully drawn male characters of Japanese

comics.

Figure 4.17 Photos of X-Japan

While many teenage boys were hooked on X-Japan’s powerful musical sound, many

teenage girls were fascinated by the band’s visual images. X-Japan’s combination of such

unique and wild visual images with powerful rock/hard-rock sounds has been something that the

Korean music fans could not find in the Korean popular music. As a result, the pioneer of the

visual-rock genre, X-Japan’s undying popularity became a legend and has created many devoted

fans, who became what in Korean are called “X-mania.” (The loan word “mania” in Korean

translates not as a kind of craziness or English “mania” but the people overcome with such

171
craziness, in this case a fan with a crazy infatuation with X-Japan.) Although most of X-Japan’s

albums were available through the black market in Korea, the smuggled original copies were 3-4

times more expensive in Korea than in Japan. It is not surprising, then, that the band’s albums

released legally in Korea from 2004 have been all-time best sellers of Japanese popular music in

Korea, even almost a decade after the band’s breakup (in 1997) and the guitarist Hide’s

mysterious death (in 1998). Furthermore, a number of books on X-Japan have been published in

Korea from 1998, which clearly indicates their supreme popularity. It is rare in Korea for a

whole book to be devoted to any one popular music star, foreign or domestic, with the exception

(noted earlier) of Seo Taiji. The publication of a whole book on one Japanese group, then, is a

significant indicator of that group’s major importance to Koreans. Indeed, since Japanese visual-

rock was introduced by X-Japan to Korea, many other visual-rock bands have become popular in

Korea, including GLAY, L’arc-En-Ciel, and Gackt, with similar but a little less wild music styles

and visual images.

Since 1998, through the internet and the other popular cultural products, popular Japanese

singers and groups and their songs have begun to gain their popularity in Korea and Japan more

simultaneously, narrowing the lag of earlier years. Among the many popular stars, the mega star

band SMAP and the pop cultural icon Amuro Namie have been particularly popular. SMAP,

which debuted in 1991, has been the most successful male idol band produced by the Johnny’s

Jimusho (“Jonny’s Entertainment/Office”), and by the mid-1990s the band was all over the

Japanese media as well as in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Like other typical Japanese pop idols,

SMAP’s five members are not so good at singing, but as multi-entertainers (actors, cooks, TV

program hosts, comedians, writers) they have been extremely popular in Japan. In particular,

Kimura Takuya, the most popular, best-looking, best singing member of the band, has been

selected as the most popular, cool, sexiest man in Japan for more than ten years, even after his

172
marriage in 2000. His extreme fame in Japan and outside Japan has been achieved through his

drama appearances, especially Long Vacation (1996); and his exceptional charisma as an

entertainer has been built through one of the most popular TV programs in Japan,

SMAPXSMAP since 1996. In Korea, many young female Koreans became fans of the band and

of Japanese popular music and drama because of Kimura Takuya’s supreme “coolness.” His

international popularity even led a Korean entertainment company (Star J Entertainment) to find

and to produce a Korean actor, Won Bin, who debuted in 1996 and was groomed to project an

image very similar to Kimura Takuya. Crossing the Korea/Japan boundary has been a key to

Won Bin’s success, as he has become very popular in Korea as well as in Japan as an actor since

2004. 273 Following SMAP’s popularity and “coolness,” most of the male pop idols produced by

the Johnny’s Jimusho have been very popular among young girls in Korea. These groups have

included Kinki Kids, V6, Tackey & Tsubasa, Arashi, News, and Kat-Tun.

Figure 4.18 Similar photos of Korean actor Won Bin (the two photos on the left) and Japanese

actor/singer Kimura Takuya (the two photos on the right)

273
“Wonbinûn Kimuratakuya ui Bench’imaking” (Won Bin was Kimura Takuya’s Benchmarking), Star News,
October, 14. 2006.

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 Among the female singers, besides Amuro Namie, Hamasaki Ayumi (AVEX, recently

called “Queen of J-Pop” in Korea), Nakashima Mika (SONY), and Utada Hikaru (EMI), who are

generally considered as “J-pop” singers, within the narrow stylistic meaning of the term, have

been particularly popular in Korea. They are all good looking, musically talented singers, and

their main focus has been musical performance. After Amuro Namie’s popularity passed its

peak, Hamasaki Ayumi (often called Ayu) became the most popular female singer in Japan

during the early 2000s and her albums were widely available in Korea from the very beginning

of the final stage of the Open-Door Policy, in January 2004. Besides her singing technique, her

sassy character and exceptionally big eyes with trendy fashion styles created the “Ayu Boom” in

Japan and many Japanese girls also imitated her. In Korea, her fans favored her particularly

“Japanese” vocal technique on a big scale--the enka-like vibration with nasal sound--and

expressive lyrics, all written by her. Like Amuro Namie, Hamasaki Ayumi has been very good

at both dance and ballad style genres and offered both musical and visual pleasure to the fans.

After the four young girls’ band SPEED broke up in the late 1990s, the place was quickly

filled in by the teen-pop idol band, Morning Musume (lit., “Morning Daughter”), produced by

former singer Tsunku in 1997. The membership has changed a little over the years, but the ages

of the members have been very young, usually been between twelve and early twenties. The

band’s central element was based on the typical Japanese pop idols main image: “cuteness.”

Their childish acts and sexy lyrics were all embraced within the realm of “cuteness,” which was

very rare in the Korean popular music scene. As in Japan, Morning Musume became very

popular among young boys in Korea, who were quite fascinated by the exaggerated “cuteness”

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of the young Japanese girls, similar to the cute characters in Japanese computer games, anime,

and manga.

4.3.2 Popular Genres

What popular musical genres within the broad spectrum of Japanese popular music have been

most prominent in Korea? Most Korean fans would not identify their own tastes in Japanese

popular music along the lines of genres, but rather by naming specific groups or individual

singers. We must remember that musical style alone is not the only, and sometimes not even the

primary, element that makes a particular group or individual attractive to audiences, whether in

Korea or in Japan. Nevertheless, we can identify the several genres of Japanese popular music

that have gained the greatest popularity in Korea simply by referencing the categories of music

that the most popular singers and group have been presenting, which include the mainstream J-

pop, visual-rock, and idol music. Rock (also called J-rock) and folk-rock genres are somewhat

popular as well. While the main stream J-pop music is similar to the main stream Korean

popular music in Korea, these other genres are either rare or absent among Korean performers.

Although there were some underground rock musicians active in Korea, rock and rock

style genres could not reached the mainstream because they were mostly available at the small

clubs in Seoul. Thus, various Japanese rock music genres, including rock (or J-rock), visual-

rock, folk-rock, hard-rock, and ballad-rock, which have been very important genres in Japan,

became very appealing to the Korean fans, who were eager to enjoy more variety in music.

Among those rock genres, visual-rock caught the Korean fans’ attention the most from the early

period and has been continuously popular.

The other unique and very “Japanese” popular music genre, idol music, has also been a

popular genre in Korea. Although young female idol singers’ exaggerated verbal, facial, and

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body expressions in order to create “(super)cuteness” might not be appreciated by musically

concerned fans, many young Koreans, who have literally been growing up with various kinds of

Japanese popular cultural products (computer games, anime, manga, fashion, food, TV dramas,

movies), could easily be connected to this genre.

4.3.3 Internet Communities: Age, Class, Gender, Activities

Since the late 1990s, the internet has become an essential place—arguably the single most

important one--for young Korean audiences to form fan communities and to consume popular

music. In the 1980s and the early 1990s, being a fan of Japanese popular music (or just listening

Japanese popular music) in Korea was something that one could not openly talk about or be

proud of because of Korea’s strong (or at least publicly necessary) sense of nationalism against

Japan. Thus, being a fan of Japanese popular music was a kind of risky act that could be

severely criticized by the older generation as well as friends and family members. However, by

the mid 1990s, the environment became very different from the past in that being a

knowledgeable fan of Japanese popular music and culture was considered to be hip and

fashionable. After Seo Taiji’s initial retirement in 1996 there was simply no big Korean pop star

that could attract the Korean fans the way Seo Taiji had. Many young Korean pop singers and

bands appearing after Seo Taiji cleverly imitated Seo Taiji’s styles, but most of them could make

only one or two hit songs before quickly disappearing, as the Korean fans became tired of their

similar styles, lacking in originality and freshness. Furthermore, many Korean music

makers/singers’ constant piracy of Japanese songs and styles even after the Open-Door Policy

began to be implemented, drove many Korean music fans away from Korean popular music. As

a result, more and more young Korean audiences became fans of Japanese popular music and

began to form small fan communities through the internet. During the mid 1990s, those small

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fan communities often met at cafes with TV sets in the popular spots like Myongdong or

Apgujôngdong in Seoul and enjoyed popular songs, music videos, and TV clips that they were

able to obtain through various means.

By the late 1990s, as the ban on Japanese popular culture was gradually lifted and the

internet resources became extensively available to Korea (which has enjoyed a reputation as the

most wired/broad-banded country in the world), not only the number of Japanese music fan

communities increased but also their size grew exponentially. Countless internet communities

and clubs devoted to Japanese popular music have been formed within the popular portal sites in

Korea, including yahoo, empas, daum, naver, netian, nate, paran, and dreamwiz. All kinds of

subcategories of those Japanese popular music fan communities and clubs became more and

more specific. From the different musical genres, particular singers and groups, TV programs,

and music labels, to the members’ ages, genders, jobs, educational backgrounds, hometowns, and

other interests and hobbies--all of these serve as criteria for distinguishing one website or club

from another. The main activities of these fan communities and clubs are similar, including the

sharing of music files, of stars’ photos and visual clips, of the latest Japanese entertainment news

and fashion information, and of personal opinions. Through these communities and clubs, the

fans support their stars or favorite music genres, buying/selling albums and other related goods,

going to concerts together, even learning Japanese language, and other aspects of Japanese

culture. Although the majority of the members of these fan communities and clubs for Japanese

popular music have been young Korean students, those older fans from the 1980s (who are in

their 30s and early 40s now) also seem to be active, just as the older musicians like Anzenchidai

and Chage & Aska are still popular.

In the early 1990s, when X-Japan was popular in Korea, most of the fans were boys, who

liked the heavy metal and hard rock sound more than most girls. But the mega star group

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SMAP, with its lighter sound and unthreatening, handsome looks, began to dominate the

Japanese popular media coverage from the mid 1990s; and as more and more similar male

groups became popular in Japan, more and more young Korean girls and women became their

big fans. Additionally, the female Japanese pop stars like Amuro Namie and Hamasaki Ayumi

became popular not only among Korean boys but also among many young girls and women, who

adored these stars’ fashion styles and cuteness (which was, it should be noted, more mature than

the female teenage idol stars’ childish cuteness).

Among the various activities of the fan communities and clubs, buying the CDs and

DVDs and downloading music and video files can be relatively easy for most Korean youth in

Korea, even though some of devoted fans prefer to buy the original albums made in Japan, which

are usually three times more expensive than the Korea-made licensed albums. Japanese pop

stars’ Korean concerts require serious commitments since the concert tickets can be quite

expensive (around US$ 50 to US$ 150) and yet, despite the exorbitant cost, are often sold out

quickly.

4.4 SUMMARY REMARKS

In this chapter, I have discussed the transitional presence of Japan in Korea by tracing the

increasingly direct influence of Japanese popular culture with a particular focus on popular

music, during the Open-Door Policy period between 1998 and 2004. During the Open-Door

Policy period, cultural interactions between Japan and Korea began to flourish as never before.

But in this process of cultural importation, we find contradictory responses in the context of

nationalistic attitudes in Korea. Korea’s longstanding antagonism toward Japan and fear of

being dominated by the powerful Japanese cultural industries became important forces for

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negotiating the policy. Since October 1998, under the Kim Dae-Jung government, which

emphasized cultural exchanges with foreign countries as a way of developing and globalizing the

nation, Korea’s economic, foreign, and cultural policies have been extensively modified. The

schedule of the Open-Door Policy toward Japan was twice delayed and renegotiated by Korea in

response to lingering anti-Japanese sentiment there in relation to political and economic

dynamics in Japan, as we saw in the discussion above of the second and third round. First the

bilateral fisheries controversy delayed the initiation of the second round, and the re-emergence of

the textbook controversy put the process on hold in July 2001, only to resume months later as

Korea and Japan successfully collaborated in hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan.

And by January 2004 most Japanese popular cultural products, including popular music--which

many young Koreans had been anticipating the most--became legal and available in Korea.

During the Open-Door Policy period--the period during which Japan’s presence in Korea

underwent an especially rapid and marked transition--Japan’s image and its meaning to Koreans

has indeed gradually changed to a more positive one through the flourishing cultural exchanges,

including those in popular music. Furthermore, the main consumers among those young

Koreans have taken these newly available cultural products as their hip and cool trends and

become devoted fans of Japanese “cuteness,” “wildness,” and/or “coolness.” In the following

chapter, “Japan’s Newly Sanctioned Presence and Two-Way Traffic,” I will discuss Korea’s

further consumption of Japanese popular music, which has become customary for most Korean

youth. Also, I will examine the phenomenon of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) in Japan since 2004,

which has not only opened the door for Korean popular cultural flow into Japan, but also

contributed toward a reciprocal widening of the doorway for the Japanese popular cultural flow

into Korea.

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 5.0 JAPAN’S NEWLY SANCTIONED PRESENCE AND TWO-WAY TRAFFIC

The primary focus of this chapter is on the new presence of Japan and its popular music in Korea

since January 2004, when the implementation of the four stages of the Open-Door Policy was

completed. Several important developments that were beginning in the years prior to 2004 bear

directly on the situation since and are, therefore, incorporated into this chapter. I begin with a

discussion of the Korean music industry overall, from the early 2000s, when it began to fall

dramatically, down to the present (2007) as it has developed the digital music market. Korea’s

rapid growth in this market has attracted Japanese attention, after an initial few years of Japanese

neglect. Indeed, over the last few years, the Japanese music industry has become serious about

investing in the Korean market and collaborating with the Korean music industry, forming an

important and unprecedented context for the presence of Japan in Korea’s popular music world.

In the second section, I describe the arrival of the Korean Wave 274 in Japan in 2004 and the

musical activities and marketing strategies evident among some of the popular Korean singers in

Japan. Scrutiny of these activities and strategies could, of course, become the focus for a parallel

study of the Korean Wave, but here serves the dual purposes of revealing the new importance of

popular culture in Korea’s nationalist sentiments and setting forth some obvious contrasts with

Japanese popular cultural traffic to Korea. The traffic has, in fact, become two-way, but the flow

is asymmetrical both with respect to content and consumption. Moreover, the Korean Wave in

274
The Korean Wave (Hallyu), as noted previously, refers to the spread of Korean popular culture, especially TV
dramas and music, to other Asian countries since the late 1990s.

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Japan is an important factor that has influenced the inflow/marketing strategy of Japanese

popular cultural industry, including music, on the Korean market. In the third section, I probe

into a more complicated strand in the fabric of transnational cultural traffic in popular music--the

special qualities of Korean singers popular in Japan (and elsewhere in Asia), who either gained

or increased their popularity in Korea only after they successfully launched their music career in

Japan, a phenomenon I call “re-importing” Korean Wave from Japan.

5.1 POPULARIZING JAPANESE POP MUSIC

In Korea, Japanese popular music was once an exclusive cultural possession of a limited number

of young music lovers during the 1980s and the early 1990s. In the mid 1990s, as other kinds of

Japanese popular cultural products, including anime, manga, computer games, and fashion,

became popular among a wider segment of Korean youth than before, Japanese popular music

also became more widely consumed. With the monumental change in Korean popular cultural

history through the Open-Door Policy toward Japan between 1998 and 2004, Koreans began to

explore Japanese popular culture much more freely. Popular music is the last category of

Japanese popular cultural product to be permitted by this policy and some of the limitations

(including the most critical one, broadcasting) still remain in Korea as of March 2007. However,

both the Korean music industry and the Korean audiences seem skilled at finding ways to

overcome such limitations, and Japanese popular music is available as never before in Korea.

Cable music television shows and CD sales have certainly played an important role, but the CD

market in Korea, as in other parts of the contemporary world, as declined, perhaps never to

recover. As will be evident below, Korea’s rapid digitalization not only redefined its own music

industry, but also is contributing to a strong presence of Japanese popular music there.

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5.1.1 Music Industry in the Age of Digitalization: Marketing Strategy, Collaboration, and

Competition

The Japanese recording industry had been ten times bigger than the Korean recording industry

until 2001 and the gap became even larger as the Korean recording industry began to fall

dramatically since then. By 2004, the Korean recording industry was reduced to almost one

fourth of what it had once achieved, and continued to fall such that the top selling albums barely

reached 200,000 copies in 2006. 275 However, the Japanese recording industry has managed to

keep its second place in the world behind U.S. with only a slight decrease. Despite the opening

process, which finally allowed the Japanese recording industry to legally export CDs to Korea,

the Japanese recording industry showed only a moderate interest in expanding their market in

Korea. As a relatively small country (some 44 million vs., for example, China’s 1.3 billion), sales

in Korea would bring relatively little profits to Japan. Besides Korea’s small market size for

music, the issue of the high percentage of illegal piracy, especially on the internet and p2p (peer

to peer file sharing) in Korea caused the Japanese recording industry to limit its investment there.

Thus, for the Korean market, the major Japanese recording companies only released CDs of the

top singers who had already become popular in Korea, with no specific promotion or marketing

strategy being necessary. Without expending much effort, then, these Japanese popular music

CDs could still achieve high rankings on the sales charts, but the number of Japanese titles doing

so was quite limited. The Korean media’s nationalistic and anti-Japan attitude made a quick

judgment on the sales results, interpreting them as a Japanese failure, without considering the

different music market situations. Also, at the same time, the sudden boom of the Korean Wave

275
http://www.miak.or.kr/navigator.php?contents=html&usemode=list&DB=117 (accessed January. 12. 2007).

182
in Japan was more than enough to lead the Korean media and the general public to celebrate it as

an unexpected cultural and economic victory.

However, the Japanese music industry’s attitude toward Korean music market began to

change in 2005 due to the rapid spread of digital usage among consumers in both Korea and

Japan. Since the late 1990s Koreans have been at the forefront of internet usage, especially

through PC Bang (“Computer Rooms”), which have been ubiquitous in Korea. Korean PC Bang

is similar to a Western internet café but other than soft drinks and light snacks, the atmosphere is

more like a computer lab than a café. They are usually open for 24 hours and charge a very

small fee (ca. W1,000/hour, equivalent to about US$1/hour). Recently many PC Bang offer

memberships and reservation services and frequently update their interiors with high-end

decoration and the best quality chairs available. In addition to PC Bang, from 2002, Korean

household broadband penetration has been the highest per capita in the world and by 2003, 78%

of Korean households had broadband internet service. 276 Since then, Koreans’ consuming

behavior has become rapidly digitalized, and it is essential for most kinds of business in Korea to

offer both off- and on-line sale service. The music business is certainly no exception, and it has

been one of the fastest growing markets as it has joined with many other multi media

digitalization, including TV, films, computer/on-line games, mp3 files and players, commercials,

and especially mobile services. Since 2003, the mobile music market in Korea has been the most

developed of any in the world--a market that includes ringtones, ringtunes, ringbacktunes, and

full-track downloads, and that was worth US$158 million in 2004. This market was more than

50% higher than Japan’s ringtone market, which was worth US$100 million in the same year. 277

As the law on internet piracy and illegal file-sharing (which had caused the Korean recording

276
NIDA Hanguk Intônet Ch’inhûngwon (National Internet Development Agency of Korea), see
http://www.nic.or.kr and http://isis.nic.or.kr (accessed January. 10. 2007).
277
“International Federation of the Phonographic Industry” http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/digital-music-report-
2005.pdf (accessed January. 10. 2007).

183
industry’s collapse since 2002) began to tighten in 2005, the Korean digital music industry,

which had began to flourish from 2002, continued to expand. 278 At the same time, the Japanese

music industry, which was also rapidly digitalizing, began to expand its market in Korea.

Although Korea’s piracy rate was still higher than Japan’s, Korea’s piracy rate was actually

decreasing and it has recently been much less than most other Asian countries (with the

exception of Singapore). As a result, the Japanese music industry has very recently become

much more interested in the Korean music market over the long term than in other Asian

countries’ music markets, such as China, where the piracy rate has been extremely high and

continuously increasing. 279

Since the middle of 2006, Korean media have speculated that the increasing investment

of the Japanese music industry in Korea has not been for the purpose of making profits in Korea

itself, but rather to expand its market to the other Asian countries and to amplify their musicians’

popularity in Japan as well by using the Korean Wave boom. 280 That is, since the Korean Wave

has been extremely popular all over the Asia since the late 1990s and in Japan from 2004,

Japanese musicians’ getting recognition in Korea would help them also to be popular in the rest

of the Asia and in Japan itself. While it could be true to some degree, it cannot be the only

reason that the Japanese music industry began to make a move. Because most of those Japanese

musicians who have visited Korea for promotions and concerts were all top stars in Japan

associated with giant entertainment companies, it would seem that they do not need extra help

from the booming Korean Wave in order to gain popularity in Japan. Also, although the

popularity of Japanese popular culture in the other countries in Asia (starting as early as the late

1970s) was indeed affected by the Korean Wave (especially Korean TV dramas), Japanese

278
“Muryo P2P Pûrogûraem Sunanshidae” (Free P2P Program Suffering Age), Money Today, December. 2. 2005.
279
http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/digital-music-report-2005.pdf (accessed January. 10. 2007).
280
“Japanese Pop Star Gives Her First Live Show in Korea,” JoongAng Daily, November. 28. 2006.

184
popular music is still popular there. Thus, it is difficult to conclude that the Japanese popular

cultural industry, including popular music, has been trying to use the Korean Wave as a way to

survive.

As I mentioned above, the Japanese popular music industry did not show much interest

until 2005. However, as the digital music industry in Korea began to flourish and the market

value has been steadily growing since 2002, the Japanese music industry began to collaborate in

the digital music market in Korea. Also, more importantly, many Koreans’ undying fondness of

“Japaneseness” or “Japanese color” (even though up to recently they have been “trying” hard to

eliminate it from their land and their souls for almost a century) openly welcomed the influx of

Japanese popular culture. This accepting attitude helped the Japanese music industry to feel free

and secure to invest and to collaborate more with the Korean music market. As a result, more

and more Japanese music industries, including minor labels, began to join the digital music

service websites in Korea. The major digital music service websites are joined with or managed

by the biggest companies in Korea, including Bugs.co.kr with LG, Soribada.com with Samsung,

Melon.com with SK Telecom, and Dosirak.com with KTF. The music service websites offer

music from online downloads and online subscriptions to mobile music, and Japanese popular

music (listed as Ilûm/ Ilbonûmak (lit., “Japanese Music”) or J-pop) is usually listed next to

Korean popular music (listed as Kayo). These digital music service websites offer a single

download for around US$0.50, unlimited streaming/listening for around US$5, and unlimited

downloading for around US$5 for a month, which usually requires an automatic charge through

a mobile phone account. One of the most popular music portal service websites, Bugs.co.kr has

licensing deals with Sony-BMG, EMI, Universal, and Warner Music, in addition to various

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Korean music labels. 281 Another popular website, Melon.com’s father company SK Telecom

has had business partnerships with Japan’s KDDI corporation since 1998 (“Koksai Denshin

Denwa Idou,” which is the Japanese telecommunication operator and third biggest in the

world) 282 and with Japan’s Toshiba since 2004. 283

Among the major entertainment companies in Korea, SM Entertainment has been the

forerunner in collaboration with the Japanese music industry. As I discussed in Chapter Four,

SM Entertainment knocked on the door of the Japanese popular music market in 1998 with the

female idol trio S.E.S, who could not really achieve major success. However, after S.E.S’ failure

in Japan, SM Entertainment quickly learned that they needed to collaborate with the Japanese

entertainment companies in order to succeed in Japan. The SM Entertainment company itself

was established by adopting the Japanese idol star system. In fact, SM Entertainment’s

management style is almost the same as Johnny’s Jimusho’s style in Japan except SM

Entertainment also produces female idols. For more than a decade, SM Entertainment has been

exclusively producing teenage idol stars for teenage audiences and has been very successful in

Korea and in China (e.g., with H.O.T). As the Korean domestic market all but collapsed, SM

Entertainment began to expand its marketing elsewhere in Asia. 284 Drawing on the case of S.E.S

as a good lesson, SM Entertainment began to put full force on the Japanese music market with a

careful plan and established SM Japan in January 2001. 285 Thus, it was no accident when SM

Entertainment could successfully bring about the teenage girl BoA’s major debut in Japan in

2001 (after her Korean debut, which had been a rather insignificant one). Before her debut in

281
http://info.bugs.co.kr/company/music_copyright.asp (accessed January. 10. 2007).
282
http://www.kddi.com/ (accessed February. 12. 2007).
283
http://www.sktelecom.com/ (accessed February. 10. 2007).
284
For more account on H.O.T’s popularity in China, see Rowan Pease’s “Internet, Fandom, and K-Wave in China,”
in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) pp. 176-
189.
285
http://www.smtown.com/ir/aboutsm_04.aspx (accessed February. 9. 2007).

186
Japan, SM Entertainment made deals with not only the most powerful music label company in

Japan AVEX but also the most powerful show/comedy entertainment company Yoshimoto

Group and the most popular entertainment site Fandango Japan (a joint venture by KDDI and

Yoshimoto Group). 286 As a result, BoA was able not only to make a major debut in Japan, but

also to keep appearing on various music and variety TV shows and garner many TV commercial

deals in Japan.

The other major entertainment company in Korea, YG Entertainment (also known as

Yang Gun Family/YG Family, which means Mr. Yang’s family) has been rather more active in

Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia than Japan until recently. YG Entertainment was

established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-Sôk, who was a member of the group Seo Taiji and Boys.

(He was one of the Boys mainly dancing.) Based on his own musical interest, YG Entertainment

has been focused on the musical genres hip-hop and R&B. It created a good image as a music-

focused entertainment company through a family-like management of the musicians. The most

successful singer produced by YG Entertainment has been a young male singer Se7en, who

debuted in 2003 in Korea. After having a showcase concert in Japan in 2003, Se7en was scouted

by one of the major music label companies in Japan, Unlimited, which has mainly managed rock

genre musicians, including X-Japan, GLAY, and Sophia. 287 For Se7en, who is an R&B dance

genre singer, Unlimited has created a sub-label, Nexter Corporation, and supported his career in

Japan since February 2005. 288 In May 2005, Se7en’s Korean management company YG

286
Ibid.
287
See Unlimited’s official website at http://www.m-up.com/index.html (accessed February. 11. 2007).
288
“Sebûn Il Sosoksa, Chônpokjôgin Sebûn Milgi” (Se7en’s Japanese Management Company, Supporting Se7ven
with Full Force), Chosun Ilbo, May. 23. 2005.

187
Entertainment opened an official Japanese website, YG Family-Japan, and planned to establish a

branch, YG-Japan, in Tokyo in order to collaborate further with Unlimited. 289

It is important to emphasize that, in the midst of these many Korea-Japanese music

industry collaborations, performances by Japanese singers and groups on Korean TV and the

broadcasting of Japanese music TV programs are still banned from the regular terrestrial TV

stations; only cable channels can broadcast Japanese popular music. Despite the limited

resources, the cable music channels’ Japanese popular music programs (on Mnet, MTV Korea,

Channel [V] Korea), which play the Japanese singers’ and groups’ promotion videos, have

continued to be popular. Moreover, a special cable channel, DCN media’s Channel J, was

established in 2004 in Korea and has been exclusively broadcasting Japanese dramas, sports,

variety shows, and music programs (mainly playing music videos) for Korean viewers.

According to Channel J’s viewer’s opinion survey conducted on February 2006, 62.71% viewers

wanted to see more dramas and 25.54% viewers wanted more music programs. 290 DCN media

has been affiliated with Japanese TV stations, including NHK, Fuji TV, TV Asahi, and TBS.

Moreover, it joined with Dreambuild Entertainment and Prossmedia in Japan for technical

cooperation. 291

Thus, it is clear that as the Korean digital music market began to thrive because of the

rapid changes in Koreans’ consuming behavior--from watching conventional TV programs and

buying CDs to watching, listening, buying, and using popular music more freely and extensively-

-Korean and Japanese music industries’ collaborations and competition began to increase as

well.

289
“YG Entertainment Yang Hyun-Sôk Taepyu, YG pyo Hipap Segyemudaesô Sungbu” (YG Entertainment’s CEO
Yang Hyun-Sôk, YG Brand’s Hip Hop Kicking Off at the World Stage), Herald Economy, December. 21. 2006.
290
http://www.channelj.co.kr/poll/view.asp?idx=4&gotopage=&block= (accessed January. 10. 2007).
291
“Channel J, Ilbon Chônmun HD Pangsong 12ilbutô Sijak” (Channel J, Special Japanese Channel Starts HD
Broadcasting from 12th), Joynews, February. 05. 2007.

188
5.1.2 Normalizing the Consumption of Japanese Popular Music

How is Japanese popular culture becoming part of Korean life? A list of activities could include

the following: watching Japanese TV dramas, listening to Japanese popular music, eating

Japanese yakiniku (Japanese style Korean BBQ) and kamameshi (Japanese style Korean hot-

stone-pot rice), reading Japanese manga and novels, wearing Japanese brand cloths and

cosmetics, imitating Japanese stars’ fashion, hair styles, and makeup styles, singing Japanese

popular songs at Japanese popular music-only karaoke halls, watching old and new Japanese TV

clips through the internet, collecting Japanese character goods, becoming adoring fans of anime,

playing Japanese computer games and catching some Japanese words, subscribing to Japanese

magazines, going to Japanese popular music concerts and fan meetings (also welcoming them at

the airport), chatting and gossiping about Japanese stars with friends, using Japanese words in

casual conversation, visiting Japan over the weekend, and much more. This is not a

comprehensive list, but merely a sampling; the list could go on and on. All of these activities

have become especially common among young Koreans, and many of them feel that consuming

Japanese popular culture is nothing to be afraid of or ashamed of. More and more Koreans seem

to think that they should not discriminate against Japanese culture only because it is Japanese.

Furthermore, the unconditionally antagonistic attitude toward things Japanese so prominent in

Korean discourse about Japan has recently begun to be criticized by many Koreans, who believe

that the political and historical conflicts between the two countries should be separated from their

cultural consumption and/or individual contacts. As Korea has become culturally more

developed and confident, fair competition with Japan has become more welcomed than before,

and this has naturally led to a gradual increase in the number and frequency of Japanese artists’

visits to Korea.

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 After Amuro Namie’s first Korean concert in May 2004, Japanese top singers’ and

groups’ showcase performances, fan meetings, and concerts in Korea have followed one after

another. In August 2004, the popular Japanese rock-band Bump of Chicken had their first

Korean concert at the live club Soundholic and also participated in the Busan International Rock

Festival, held at the Pusan Dadaepo Beach. 292 In December of the same year, the band returned

to Seoul for their second concert at the popular standing concert hall in Seoul, Rolling Hall, and

for their third Korean concert at the Fashion Center Event Hall in Seoul in March 2006. 293 In

November 2004, the female ballad duo Kiroro had their first Korean concert and returned in

January 2005 to participate in “Super Live in Seoul” sponsored by the Embassy of Japan in

Korea, where the male R&B duo Chemistry (one of the official Japanese singers for 2002 FIFA

World Cup Korea/Japan) and the male dance group Da Pump also performed. 294

Figure 5.1 Japanese rock band Bump of Chicken (left) and female ballad duo Kiroro (right)

292
“Yôrûm Ch’ukje Chôngbo” (Summer Festival Information), Ohmynews, August. 2. 2004.
293
“Il Lokbaendû Bômpû Obû Ch’ikin Sebôntche Naehan Kongyôn” (Japanese Rock Band, Bump of Chicken’s
Third Korean Concert), Chosun Ilbo, January. 19. 2006.
294
http://www.kr.emb-japan.go.jp/rel/r_friendship/r_friend_050204_1.htm; www. Superliveinseoul.com (accessed
January. 10. 2007).

190
 In December 2004, the popular hip hop duo m-flo had their first Korean concert.

Because of their increasing popularity in Korea, the band returned in December 2005 for their

second concert (programmed by SM Entertainment) at the Seoul Sheraton Walkerhill Vista Hall,

where their former member Lisa and other Japanese musicians also joined in.295 Their second

concert, titled “m-flo Tour 2005: m-flo loves KOREA,” was divided into a two-hour concert

from 10 pm to midnight and the dance party from midnight to 5 am. 296

Figure 5.2 Japanese hip-hop duo m-flo's press conference in Korea (December. 17. 2005)

In January 2005, the Japanese a cappella group The Gospellers had their first Korean

concert, “The Gospellers Asia Tour G10 in Seoul,” to promote their tenth anniversary album

G10. 297 In April, the college-rock/folk-rock/rock band Spitz, which has been a regular visitor

since 2001 for small concerts, had bigger concerts in both Seoul and Busan. 298 The band has

295
“Empûllo, Kungnae Ingi Pokbal, Naehangongyôn Tiket Dongna” (m-flo, Korean Concert Blowing up Popularity,
the Tickets Were Sold Out), Mydaily News, December. 13. 2005.
296
“Il Ingi Hipapgûrup Empûllo” (Popular Japanese Hip Hop Group m-flo), Chosun Ilbo, December. 16. 2005.
297
“Hwaje ui Kongyông, Ilbon Bokôl Kûrup Kosûperajû Naehangongyôn” (Topic on the Special Concert, Japanese
Vocal Group, The Gospellers’ Korean Concert), DongA, January. 1. 2005; “Il Bokôl Kûrup Kosûperajû,
10junyônginyôm Kongyon Sôulsô (“Japanese Vocal Group, The Gospellers’ 10th Anniversary Concert in Seoul),
Herald Economy, January. 19. 2005.
298
“J-Pop Atistû, Lokbaendû Sûpich’û” (J-Pop Artist, Rock Band Spitz), Herald Economy, May. 11. 2006.

191
been known as one of the most important rock bands in Japan since the late 1980s, and all of

their albums were released in January 2004 in Korea. 299

Figure 5.3 Japanese a cappella group, The Gospellers's 2004 album cover, G10 (left) and the college-

rock/rock band Spitz's photo (right)

In September 2005, one of the most popular rock bands since the late 1990s, L’Arc-en-

Ciel had their first Korean concert at the Seoul Olympic Park Dome, as a part of their Asian tour

“Awake Tour 2005.” 300 The band has been one of the three most popular rock bands (with X-

Japan and GLAY) in Korea, and their concert has been one of the most anticipated concerts for

many Korean music fans. In their interview with one Korean newspaper, the band said that they

299
http://www.changgo.com/past/jj_plus/20010531/plus02.htm (accessed January. 10. 2007).
300
“L’Arc-en-Ciel Kongyôn Tamûn DVD Ch’ulsi” (L’Arc-en-Ciel’s Concert DVD on Sale), Sport Chosun, April.
13. 2006.

192
were so surprised to see so many fans at the airport because they thought it would be less

crowded than Japan. 301

Figure 5.4 Japanese rock/visual rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel's photo (left) and their concert photo,

"Awake Tour 2005" in Korea (right)

In January 2006, the top Japanese visual rock singer Gackt had his first Korean concert at

the Seoul Olympic Park Dome (the tickets cost around US$100), which he had planned for a

year as he learned the Korean language. 302 Unlike most Japanese singers and groups, he has

provided a more “localized” service for the Korean fans. Besides learning Korean for use in his

the concert, Gackt produced a special Korean version of his album, “Love Letter for Korean

301
“Il Lokbaendû Larûkû-ang-Siel” (Japanese Rock Band L’Arc-el-Ciel), Chosun Ilbo, September. 2. 2005.
302
Music Station, aired in January 2006.

193
Dears,” in June 2005. 303 Although his effort on the Korean-version album was well received by

the Korean fans and by the Korean popular media in general, the sales of the Korean version

were actually less successful in Korea than the original Japanese versions of his other albums.

Nevertheless, Gackt became known as one of the few “chihanpa” (Korea-loving) Japanese pop

stars, and his popularity has increased even more in Korea as he shows special treatment for the

Korean fans. In January 2007, more fluent in Korean language than previously, Gackt returned

to Korea for his second Korean concert at the MelOn-AX, the first popular music concert hall in

Korean, which was built in June 2006 in collaboration with the Shibuya-AX in Japan. 304 The

3600 concert tickets (around US$ 70) were sold out within 30 minutes. 305

Figure 5.5 Japanese visual rock singer, Gackt's first Korean concert photos (January, 2006)

303
“Il Lokgasu Kaktû, Naehangongyônjung Silsin” (Japanese Rock Singer Gackt, Passed Out during the Concert),
Sport Chosun, January. 14. 2006.
304
“Kaktû, Hangukgwa Ilbon Kajokch’ôrôm Chinassûmyôn” (Gackt, Hoping Korea and Japan Being Closer),
Mydaily, January. 20. 1007.
305
“Ilbon Lokgasu Kaktû Tubôntchae Naehangongyôn” (Japanese Rock Singer Gackt the Second Korean Concert),
Segye Ilbo, January. 26. 2007.

194
 On November 11-12, 2006, the top Japanese male idol band Arashi had their first Korean

concert. Without having any promotion, the 12,000 concert tickets (around US$ 90) sold out

within one hour, and the internet ticket sale server (Interpark) went down as more than 200,000

people tried to connect at the same time. 306 Their new album cover created a controversy on

their use of the world map, which indicated the sea between the two countries as the Sea of

Japan, which Koreans have been arguing against and indicate instead as the East Sea (i.e., to the

east of Korea). However, this politically problematic issue that their album had revived did not

have impact on the Korean fan support for the Japanese pop stars. Their concert was evaluated

as one of the most successful concerts of 2006 in Korea and the group has continued to release

their songs in Korea. 307

Figure 5.6 Popular Japanese male idol band, Arashi (2006, left) and female idol singer, Koto Maki's

Korean concert photo (2006, right)

306
“Arasi, Hanguk Kongyôn” (Arashi, the First Korean Concert), My Daily, October. 19. 2006.
307
“Il Kûrup Arasi, 3wôl 7il 18bôntchae Singûl Kungnaebalmae” (Japanese Group Arashi, March 7th Released the
th
18 Singles in Korea), Money Today, February. 20. 2007.

195
 Only a few days later, on November 19, the top female idol star Koto Maki had her first

Korean concert at the newly opened MelOn-AX. 308 She had released s couple of Korean-

language versions of her Japanese hit songs, including “Thank You Memories,” on her recent

album for Korean fans, and she also studied Korean for a few months for her concert in Korea. 309

She has become one of the most popular Japanese female singers in Korea since then. Koto

Maki’s outstanding presentation of Japanese “cuteness” with subtle sexiness has been well

received by many young Korean boys.

In addition to all these Japanese top singers and groups, more and more Japanese popular

musicians have begun to show serious interest in the Korean music market. While the Korean

popular music concerts have been struggling with low ticket sales, most of the Japanese popular

musicians’ concerts have been quite successful in Korea since 2004, and more concerts have

been scheduled, including the hardcore rapper Zeebra’s all night hip-hop party concert on March

17, 2007. 310

308
“Koto Maki Chôt Naehangongyôn, Kûnyômamui Kkamtchikan Insabôp” (Koto Maki The First Korean Concert,
Her Way of Greeting Super Cute), Newsen, November. 20. 2006.
309
Ibid.
310
“Il Hipap Taebu Chibûra Ch’ôt Naehangongyôn” (Japanese Hip-Hop Legend, Zeebra’s First Korean Concert),
Newsis, March. 10. 2007.

196
Figure 5.7 Japanese hardcore rapper, Zeebra's photos (2006)

As we can see from the case of Gackt, Korean fans’ preference for the original “Japanese

language” version over the “Koreanized” version clearly indicates that the Korean audiences

indeed have become familiar not only with the musical sounds but also with the Japanese

language of the song lyrics. To put this another way, many Korean consumers of Japanese

popular music have become more and more comfortable with the “Japaneseness,” “Japanese

sound,” and “Japanese color.” In addition to the long list of Japanese popular music concerts,

many Japanese popular songs, movies, and TV dramas have been remade in Korea since 2004.

Since it has recently become quite difficult to pirate, the Korean entertainment industry has

begun to buy (but quietly) the original resources from Japan and simply use them. Although

some Koreans have quickly discovered the fact that the original resources are Japanese, most

Koreans have not recognized the Korean industry’s copying or borrowing, as the industry itself

does not usually acknowledge such activities explicitly (e.g., through labeling). More

importantly, more and more Korean audiences have begun to care little about Korean copying

since so many popular cultural products have been influenced, remade, copied, adapted from

Japanese cultural products, or resulted from collaborations with Japanese artists. In other words,

the postmodern conditions of deterritorialization and lack of concern with authenticity and

197
origins is evident in Korea in this era following the lifting of the ban on Japanese popular

cultural products.

5.2 SURPRISING TURN, KOREAN WAVE IN JAPAN

5.2.1 Winter Sonata Syndrome

In the last few years, much has been written in the popular press about the so-called Korean

Wave (Hallyu), which refers to the exporting of Korean cultural forms, particularly popular TV

dramas and popular music, to other countries in Asia. CDs and VCDs by many of Korea’s

mainstream pop singers have been widely available in East Asia, including China, Hong Kong,

Taiwan, and Japan, and in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and

Indonesia. 311 Indeed, it would seem that, after more than a century of intensive cultural

influences—including the introduction of Western music in the late nineteenth century, the

imposition of Japanese music and language during the first half of the twentieth century, and the

flood of American popular cultural influences following the Korean War—the flow of cultural

traffic is finally moving in the other direction.

In April 2003, the popular Korean TV drama, Kyôul Yôn’ga (lit., “Winter Song,” usually

rendered in English as “Winter Sonata,” first broadcast in January 2002 in Korea), was first

311
In Indonesia, for example, Korean serial dramas and MTV Korea’s “Kayozine” (featuring Korean pop
exclusively) are broadcast regularly. As of 2006, Bintang, the Indonesian weekly TV and pop culture tabloid,
devotes two pages per issue to Korean celebrities (pop music singers and TV drama stars). See “Hanguk ui Biboie
Yôlgwanghan Indonesia” (Indonesia’s Wild Enthusiasm on Korean B-Boys), Chejusarang News, December. 3.
2006.

198
broadcast by NHK’s BS2 channel in early 2003 in Japan and rebroadcast by NHK four times: in

December 2003, April through August 2004, and December 2004. 312

Figure 5.8 Korean TV drama Kyôul Yôn'ga's main actor Bae Yong-Joon and main actress Choi Ji-

Woo’s photo in the Japanese version title photo, Fuyu no Sonata (“Winter Sonata”) by NHK

(2003)

The drama (Japanese title: Fuyu no Sonata) had become tremendously popular in Japan

by spring 2004. The main actor, Bae Yong-Joon, has become a superstar in Japan, where he is

known as Yon-sama (“Sir Yon”) and has created the Yon-sama Phenomenon (and the Yon-

Fluenza), especially among middle-age women. 313 A large number of them were touched by the

love story. As of August 2004, 330,000 sets of the DVDs (or videos) of the drama were sold

(over US$ 100 millions), and the drama’s original sound track sold more than 690,000 copies,

making it the second most successful drama in Japanese TV history. 314 Countless products

related to the drama and Yon-sama were also created, including photo albums, jewelry, costume

sets (wigs, eyeglasses, and scarves for man, all of which supposedly transform them to the Yon-

312
The drama recorded a spectacular 20.6% program rating. See Ham Han-Hee and Hu In-Soon. Kyôul Yôn’gawa
Nabi Hwantaji (Winter Sonata and Butterfly Fantasy). (Seoul: Sowha, 2005) p. 13.
313
He was selected as one of the top hit products of the first half of the year in Japan and became a model for SONY
electronics.
314
“Fuyu no Sonata to Hallyu Bumu” (Winter Sonata and The Korean Wave), NHK, September. 2004.

199
sama look), dreaming machines (which help them to see Yon-sama in their dreams), Joon-Bear,

and many more.

Figure 5.9 Bae Yong-Joon's first official product, Joon-Bear (2005, left) and his photo on the cover of

Japanese magazine, Stars Korea (2005, right)

The Joon-Bear, produced by Yon-sama’s Japan management company IMX as the first

official product of Bae Yong-Joon, was sold only through the internet, on February 1, 2005. 315

The 5000 Joon-Bear, handmade teddy bears wearing the Yon-sama-style eyeglasses and scarves

and autographed (in English) by Yon-sama on the left foot, were around US$300 a piece, and

they were sold out within 6 minutes. 316 The fever of Fuyu no Sonata and Yon-sama was all over

the Japanese popular media, and many special TV programs about the drama and the actor were

made. The plot, the main characters’ relationships in the drama, the main actors and actresses,

315
“Yonsama Kominyông 1gae 30 Manwôn” (Yon-sama Teddy Bear US$ 300 per One), Chosun Ilbo, January. 24.
2005.
316
“30 Manwôntchari Yonsama Kominyông” (US$ 300 Worth Yon-sama Teddy Bear), Maeil Business News,
February. 7. 2005.

200
featured places and items, and fashion styles were analyzed in detail on TV and radio programs,

in books, magazines, and newspapers. All this coverage clearly stimulated the popular media

market in Japan.

Figure 5.10 Diagram of the characters' love relationships in the TV drama "Winter Sonata" shown in

the music TV program Utaban (TBS) in Japan (2004, left) and the Japanese book cover of

Bae Yong-Joon's diet diary, 100 Days of Bae Yong Joon (August, 2005, right)

The most devoted fans not only followed him around in Japan and Korea but also booked

rooms at the same hotel and seats on the same flights. Numerous websites were created about

the drama, the actors, and the fans, where many middle-age Japanese women could share their

stories of memories and the love that they felt missing from their lives, which were realized by

the love story. Many Japanese women’s increasing interests in Korea led the boom of learning

about Korea and Korean culture. The impact of the Yon-sama Phenomenon on the Japanese fans

and their changing views on Korea were taken seriously by the Japanese media. The title of an

article from December 4, 2004 in Yomiuri newspaper was taken from the fans’ message posted

201
on an internet fanzine, “The one person, Yon-sama, has achieved what more than 100 Korean

ambassadors in Japan could not.” 317

5.2.2 Korean Wave in Japan

The Korean Wave in Japan (or also known as Hallyu Boom or Kankoku Boom in Japan) was seen

as a sudden explosion spearheaded by the drama Winter Sonata’s popularity especially among

middle-aged Japanese women. The fan base in Japan is quite different from most other Asian

countries, where the Korean Wave first arrived a few years earlier and usually won popularity

primarily among the young people. However, as the Korean Wave has spread over the last ten

years, the boundaries of consumer age groups have become difficult to identify. Thus, it should

be noted that the term “Korean Wave” (or Haliu, Hallyu, and Hanryu) has become extremely

vague, and its implication can be very different case by case and depending on one’s position.

Although there had been some popular Korean movies shown in Japan from 2000

(including the sensationally popular Shwiri), and the two countries’ co-hosting of the 2002 FIFA

World Cup Korea/Japan led to some cultural exchanges between the two countries, the TV

drama Winter Sonata was the phenomenon that had the greatest impact on the Japanese public,

going beyond its economic impact on both countries’ cultural industry. Indeed, many Japanese

middle-age female fans expressed how the drama and the actor Yon-sama’s caring and gentle

manner along with his physical charm had changed their prejudices about Korea and Koreans. 318

Their feelings of superiority over the Korean race, with roots in the colonial period and persisting

317
Ham Han-Hee and Hu In-Soon. Kyôul Yôn’gawa Nabi Hwantaji (Winter Sonata and Butterfly Fantasy) (Seoul:
Sowha, 2005) p. 169.
318
Ibid. pp. 24-41.

202
down to the present, have now eased as people have begun to change their attitudes. 319 Their

deep-seated prejudices against Korea and the Korean people have given way to a widespread

appreciation of things Korean. This change has also benefited Japanese who are related to things

Korean (through jobs, relationship, education), as being “Korean” has become a kind of good

thing and even enviable. For example, the top Japanese group SMAP’s member Kusanagi

Tsuyoshi, who had been less popular than the other four members, had a big break in Japan in

2004. When Kusanagi Tsuyoshi started to learn Korean after he was inspired by the Korean

movie Shwiri (shown in 2000 in Japan) and started the TV program Cho Nan Gang in 2001 (Fuji

TV, currently titled as Cho Nan Gang 2) , not many Japanese even knew that such a program

existed. However, as the Korean Wave hit Japan in 2004, anything related to Korea, including

the language, became very popular among the Japanese fans. Thus, his popularity has rapidly

risen in Japan because he has been the forerunner in learning and introducing Korea and its

popular culture to Japanese through the show.

319
“Fuyu no Sonata to Hallyu Bumu” (Winter Sonata and The Korean Wave), NHK, aired September. 2004.

203
Figure 5.11 Kusanagi Tsuyoshi's Korean learning book, Chomaru-Buku (lit., "Real/True-Book," 2002,

left) and his photo at the First Seoul Drama Awards (August, 2006, right)

His publication of the Korean learning book, Chomaru-buku (lit., “Real/True-Book,” Chôngmal

Buk in Korean) became a best seller, and he was even invited as a guest speaker to an academic

conference on the Korean Wave held in Japan. 320 His growing popularity in Korea since his

debut there in 2002 helped him to gain more popularity in Japan as the Korean Wave started in

2004. Since then he has become the most popular Japanese star in relation to the Korean Wave

in Japan, and his continuous efforts to introduce Korea and its popular culture have been very

well received as well by Korean fans and the Korean media. In August 2006, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi

was invited to the First Seoul Drama Awards in Korea as an award recipient, and he stressed his

promise to keep working on arrangements for cultural exchanges between the two countries. 321

320
SMAPxSMAP, Fuji TV, 2004.
321
“Cho Nan-Gang, Momgwa Maûmûl Tabach’yo Han-Il Kyoryue Himssô” (Cho Nan-Gang/Kusanagi Tsuyoshi,
Will Try the Best for the Korea-Japan Exchange), Joynews, Sugust. 29. 2006.

204
 Before the Yon-sama Phenomenon/Fuyu no Sonata Syndrome, the teenage pop singer

BoA’s major success in Japan was considered to be a single victory within the realm of popular

music. And, for some time, her success was not viewed as an extension of the Korean Wave

happening in other Asian countries. In countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, where

various Korean pop stars were popular along with TV dramas and other popular cultural

products, the Korean Wave has not been limited to a single cultural genre but included diverse

cultural products (although some genres might be more popular than the others). 322 However, in

2004 as the Korean Wave or Yon-sama Phenomenon/Fuyu no Sonata Syndrome took place in

Japan, the Korean popular media began to emphasize BoA as a pioneer of the Korean Wave in

Japan since she was very successful in Japan at that time. But as the Korea Wave arrived in

Japan, the Japanese popular media began to focus on her nationality and to hold her up as a

forerunner of the Korean Wave in Japan. The change of Japan’s attitude towards Korea can also

be seen in awareness of BoA’s national identity. Until then BoA’s Korean nationality was not

the center of attention in Japan, as her management companies (AVEX and SM Entertainment)

tended to avoid the fact and tried to promote her image as a Japanese pop singer (or as an

“Asian” singer). SM Entertainment provided her with intensive training in Japan before her

debut in Japan, so that she could be fluent in Japanese by the time of her Japanese debut. Thus,

even a few years after her debut, some Japanese thought that she was Japanese not only because

of her fluent Japanese but also her songs and styles which were just like those of other Japanese

singers. On the other hand, BoA’s “de-Koreanized” or “Japanized” musical career, beginning

from her debut in Japan, has often been criticized by many Koreans in Korea, even though most

322
For more account on the Korean Wave in China and Taiwan, see Rowan Pease’s “Internet, Fandom, and K-Wave
in China” and Sung Sang-Yeon’s “The Hanliu Phenomenon in Taiwan: TV Dramas and Teenage Pop” in Korean
Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) pp. 176-189 and pp.
168-175.

205
Korean media showed strong support for her success, since she was the product of the

entertainment company in Korea, SM Entertainment.

Figure 5.12 Korean singer BoA's photos from Japanese music TV (left: 2004, right: 2006)

In Korea, BoA’s popularity has been a direct result of her success in Japan (as she has

mainly been in Japan), and many Koreans know about the SM Entertainment’s highly calculated

strategy. However, among the young teenagers BoA has been very popular and her success in

Japan has always been the center of the Korean popular media’s attention, which became more

intense as the Korean Wave in Japan started. In any case, BoA (or more correctly both AVEX

and SM Entertainment) did not seem to mind the direction of the media coverage of her as a

pioneer of the Korean Wave in Japan, since such media attention on her would only increase her

fame in Japan and in Korea as well. During 2004, BoA was often asked to speak some Korean

206
words with other Korean music guests, including Ryu and Park Yong-Ha, when they were

invited to appear on music TV shows. 323 The hosts of the TV shows often asked BoA about

differences between Korea and Japan, since she was active in both countries. 324 Also, since then

she often talked bout her friendships with other Korean top stars, including Yon-sama (she told at

the TV program Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ that she often met him at the hair salon where he

often goes As her nationality became a part of her popularity in Japan to a certain extent BoA has

been widely publicized as the most successful Korean Wave singer in Japan by the both

countries’ popular media, even though she has always been a Japanese pop singer, singing

Japanese songs in Japanese, being managed by a Japanese management company in every detail,

and spending most of her time in Japan.

The impact of the Yon-sama Phenomenon on the Japanese popular music scene is not

limited to the case of BoA’s. As of October 12, 2004, the original soundtrack album of the

“Winter Sonata” had sold over 1 million copies in Japan, breaking records.325 The drama’s

unparalleled success indeed brought new opportunities for Korean singers and actors. For

example, the singer Ryu, who was barely known in Korea at that time, was frequently televised

in Japan singing “Ch’ôûmbut’ô Chigûmkkaji” (“From the First Time until Now”), the main

theme song of the drama. 326 The other main male actor in the drama, Park Yong-Ha, a

singer/actor who was not so popular in Korea at that time, became very popular in Japan. He

became known in Japan as Yongha-chan (adding the term of endearment “chan” to his given

name), based on his cute and soft image and manner. Although both Ryu and Park Yong-Ha

obtained career opportunities in Japan because of the drama’s success, their careers in Japan

became quite different. While Park Yong-Ha was able to launch a successful musical career in

323
Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ, Fuji TV, August. 2004.
324
Utaban, TBS, February. 2006.
325
http://www.oricon.co.jp/index.html (accessed February. 21. 2006)
326
Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ, Fuji TV, August. 2004.

207
Japan as he was supported by a significant number of devoted middle-age female fans in Japan,

Ryu could not reach out further after the extreme popularity of the drama itself had faded.

Beside the singing skill (which was quite good), Ryu had not much to offer for either countries’

entertainment markets.

Figure 5.13 Korean singer Ryu’s photo (2004, left) and Park Yong-Ha’s Japan concert photo (August,

2005, right)

On the other hand, Park Yong-Ha began to focus on his musical career in Japan rather

than the acting career, as he became managed by a Japanese management company (affiliated

with Pony Canon). His album, Kibyôl (lit., “Expected Farewell,” June 2004) rose to the fourth

place on the Oricon chart and the top of the HMV weekly sales chart. 327 In August 2005, he

327
“Park Yong-Ha, Oricon 4wui” (Park Yong-Ha, The Fourth Place of the Oricon Chart), Sport Today, Junn. 28.
2004.

208
became the first Korean Wave star in Japan to have a concert at the Butokan (the most famous

and respected Japanese concert hall). The 18,000 concert tickets were sold out within 30

minutes. In December 2005, he released his new song “Truth,” composed by the famous

Japanese singer Tamaki Koji (the leader of the group, Anzenchitai, one of the most popular

Japanese groups in Korea since the 1980s) after he announced on a music TV program that he

has been respecting Tamaki Koji and his music. In June 2006 his concert DVD went to number

one on the daily sales chart; and in September 2006 his single “Kimiga Saiko” (lit., “You’re the

Best)” reached number two on the Oricon daily chart. He has won the New Artist of the Year

(2005, in the international category), the Song of the Year (2006), and Japan-Korea Friendship

Year Special Award (2006) at the Japan Gold Disc Awards in Japan. 328

His success in Japan as a ballad singer has been rather different from BoA’s. While it is

questionable as to whether even to include BoA as a part of the Korean Wave in Japan only

because of her nationality, Park Yong-Ha’s success has been directly related to the Korean Wave

in Japan from the very beginning. As he successfully created his image as cute, sexy, kind, and

approachable at the same time through popular music variety TV programs like Hey!Hey!Hey!

Music Champ and Utaban, his fans seemed to extend to younger Japanese women.

5.3 KOREAN WAVE VS. JAPANESE WAVE IN KOREA

While the Korean media and even the Korean government were busy blowing their horns and

making new plans to support the Korean Wave outside Korea, the rapidly growing presence of

Japan in the domestic popular cultural life of Korea in the mean time was mostly ignored or

328
http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/gdisc/2006.html (accessed January. 15. 2007).

209
unrecognized until very recently. In 2004, as the economic results of the Korean Wave in Japan

became undeniably significant, the Korean government began to support many projects on

expanding the Korean Wave boom in Asia. However, as the Korean Wave seems to have lost

steam as of late 2006, the Korean media have begun again to pay attention to the domestic

market and to warn the Korean public and the domestic cultural industry about the threat of

renewed cultural invasion by Japan. In the following section, I briefly discuss some

characteristics and forms of the Korean Wave within the context of the popular music in Japan

and the newly raised conflicts in Korea as the waves of Japanese popular culture resurge into

Korea.

5.3.1 Repackaged Korean Wave in Japan

It is important to note that the nature of Korean popular musical presence in Japan is

categorically different from the Japanese popular musical presence in Korea. In most cases,

Korean pop music undergoes a process of what I call “repackaging” by both Japanese and

Korean music industries, rendering it, while not completely “de-Koreanized,” substantially

“Japanized.” Most of the Korean singers who have built successful musical careers in Japan,

including BoA and Park Yong-Ha, have done so by singing Japanese songs, in Japanese, for the

Japanese audiences. They are produced by Japanese writers and their careers in Japan are

managed by Japanese management companies. Besides the fact of their national identity,

nothing in their music or public image indicates their Korean identity. In contrast, Japanese pop

music is imported and consumed in Korea mostly “as is,” suggesting that Korean audiences

relish new Japanese sounds and images in ways that are not reciprocated as Japanese encounter

pop from Korea. These interactions have created (and continued to create) multi-layered popular

music cultural flows between Korea and Japan.

210
 Besides BoA (who is essentially a Japanese pop singer/dancer) and Park Yong-Ha (who

sings ballad-style Japanese pop, but whose Korean identity is very clear because of his direct

connection to the Korean drama and whose career in Japan has been a rather natural one,

supported by his Japanese fans first), Korean singer-actors attempt to build their music careers in

Japan by using the Korean Wave in Japan as an access card. At the early stage of the Korean

Wave in Japan, almost every one of the Korean singer-actors was related to the Korean TV

dramas as actors or actresses in the dramas or as singers of the title song. The most successful

example has been male singer-actor Ryu Si-Won. He was able to achieve fame in Japan through

the drama Arûmdaun Naldûl (lit., “Beautiful Days”) which aired in Japan in 2005, with him

playing one of the main characters. The drama’s success provided him with an opportunity to

extend his career in Japan as a ballad singer. Based on the drama’s popularity and the booming

Korean Wave in Japan, his song “Sakura” (“Cherry blossom”) was especially well received. In

2005, Ryu Si-Won, affiliated with the Sony Music Association in Japan, won the New Artist of

the Year (domestic category) at the Japan Gold Disc Awards. 329 Although he had already

established his career in Korea as an actor-singer, his new success in Japan as a singer helped

him to revive his popularity in Korea. As his career demonstrates, the assumption of many

Koreans, which has been based on their inferiority complex from the colonial experience and

Japan’s powerful modern economy, led them to believe that “Japanese” products must be good

or better than “Korean” products. As a result, gaining fame and success in Japan has often been

more respected by many Koreans than achieving fame and success in the domestic market or in

other foreign countries (with the exception of America, though Korean successes there have been

rare).

329
http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/gdisc/2006.html (accessed January. 16. 2007).

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5.3.2 Re-Importing the Korean Wave from Japan

There are a few new Korean singers, including Younha and K, who have made their major

debuts in Japan as Japanese pop singers, and then become known in Korea. Unlike the other

Korean singers active in Japan, such as BoA, Park Yong-Ha, and Ryu Si-Won, these Koreans are

not related to the popular Korean TV dramas in Japan. The 23-year-old male singer, K, was

unknown in Korea until March 2005 when his Japanese debut single “Over…” reached the

eighth place right away and rose further to number four on the charts. He was scouted by a

Japanese recording company representative, who accidentally happened to hear K’s singing and

piano playing at a small café in Seoul during his business trip. With Sony Music and the

Japanese management company Stardust’s support, K’s debut song “Over…” was tied up with

Japanese TV drama H2 (TBS), which was very unconventional. The song became very popular

in Japan, and the Japanese audiences began to wonder about the singer, who had not received

any media coverage yet. 330 His first album, “Beyond the Sea,” released in January 2006, reached

second place on the Oricon weekly chart, the best result among all Korean male singers. 331 In

2006, K won the New Artist of the Year and the Japan-Korea Friendship Year Special Awards

(along with Park Yong-Ha and Se7en). 332 As the total sales of his four singles and one album

rose over the one million mark in Japan, K became the most successful Korean male Japanese

pop singer. As his music career began to flourish in Japan with almost perfect Japanese

language skill after spending a year in Japan, he began to appear on music TV programs as a

main guest next to Amuro Namie, BoA, or Hamasaki Ayumi. 333 Soon the Korean popular

media began to cover his musical career in Japan and touted his success as another victory of the

330
Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ, Fuji TV, November. 2005.
331
http://www.oricon.co.jp/index.html (accessed February. 21. 2006).
332
http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/gdisc/2006.html (accessed January. 23. 2007).
333
Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ, Fuji TV, February. 2006.

212
Korean Wave in Japan, which led to his growing popularity in Korea. His CDs have been

released in Korea just like the other Japanese popular singers’ CDs, which the licensed local

company reproduces and distributes in Korea. Instead of growing popularity in Korea, K has

mainly been focused on building his career in Japan as a Japanese pop singer, instead of trying to

work both in Japan and Korea. As a result, his fans in Korea can only enjoy his music that has

been imported to Korea—an ironic Japanized Korean Japanese presence in Korea.

Figure 5.14 Korean male singer K's photo (2005, left) and teenage girl Younha's photo (2006, right)

Another example has been the Korean teenage girl, Younha, who debuted at the age of

sixteen in Japan, in 2004. She has, not surprisingly, been compared by Koreans in Korea, to

BoA in Korea, at least from the end of 2006. Like K, Younha had her major debut in Japan first

and began to build her music career in Japan. Despite her fairly good start in Japan, until July

2006 Younha did not get much attention from the Korean media, which had been more focused

on BoA. However, after a mini documentary on her debut story was produced by Korea’s

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national TV station KBS and aired in Korea, she began to be popular. Her outstanding piano

playing as she sings her songs has been well received in Korea since the end of 2006, which led

to her first Korean release in the spring 2007.334 Besides her self-taught Japanese language skills

and powerful vocal technique, her frequent experience of failing in auditions in Korea before she

could debut in Japan has became an important factor for her growing popularity, especially

among young teenagers, who found it easier to relate themselves to her than BoA, who has been

a big star for a while and recently has begun to shift her public persona to present herself as a

sexy adult singer rather than a teenage idol star. This has been a typical career image change for

Japanese idol stars. Although Younha has not yet demonstrated the Japanese idol stars’ extreme

kind of “cuteness,” her nervousness and shyness have been clearly viewed as cute. As Younha’s

launching of a successful career in Japan became widely publicized by the Korean media, her

career in Korea also took off.

Most of those Korean singers who became popular in Japan have become the center of

Korean media attention as an extension or part of the Korean Wave in Japan. However, what

these Korean singers have performed in Japan has all been Japanese pop and Japanese product.

None of them, except Ryu, ever sang Korean songs, or even Japanese songs in Korean language

in Japan. They all sang Japanese pop, produced in Japan by Japanese producers, and managed

by the Japanese music labels and management companies for Japanese audiences. This process

of “repackaging” by the Japanese music industry seems the rule for becoming successful in

Japan. Some Korean singers, like Younha and K, are being “re-imported” via the Japanese

music industry into Korea. Both “repackaged” and “re-imported” Japanese popular music by

Korean singers have been adding another layer of presence of Japan in Korea’s popular music

scene. Furthermore, many Korean consumers assumed that these Korean singers’ Japan-made

334
“Younha nûn Taesônghal Su Innûn Kasu” (Younha Would Become a Big Star), Newsen, March. 12. 2007.

214
Japanese popular music must be good or better and even more comfortable to enjoy because the

singers are Korean (at least by nationality).

5.3.3 Korean Wave vs. Japanese Wave in Korea: Hallyu vs. Illyu

Besides these popular Korean Japanese pop singers in Japan, there are some Korean singers who

have entered the Japanese popular music world with a different nature and purpose: the two

R&B and hip hop singers/dancers Se7en and Rain, who do not go through the “repackaging”

process and do not need to depend on building their careers in Japan in order to gain popularity

in Korea because they have already been popular in Korea and in other Asian countries. When

Se7en debuted in Japan in 2005, he had already been extremely popular in Korea and other

Asian countries, and he has been considered as one of the two most famous Korean Wave pop

stars. Se7en’s image could be described as soft, gentle, friendly, cheerful, and warm. After

achieving tremendous success in Asia, except Japan, he started releasing singles and albums in

Japan in February 2005. 335

335
http://www.hello7.co.kr/4th/disco.php (accessed Febuary. 11. 2007).

215
Figure 5.15 Korean pop star Se7en's Osaka concert photo (2006, left) and his stamp-booklet produced in

Japan, “Se7en Stamp” (2006, right)

However Se7en has never totally focused on building his career in Japan. Japan has not been his

main target, although still an attractive and necessary one because of its market size and

reputation. Unlike BoA or the other Korean singers in Japan, the basic direction of Se7en’s

music career in Japan has not only been managed by the Japanese music label company

Unlimited, but also by a Korean management team, YG Entertainment. This Korean

management team has been deciding the basic directions of Se7en’s general career and main

target, which, it turns out, has been America from 2006. 336 He sang both Korean hit songs in

Korean and Japanese hit songs in Japanese in his concerts in Japan. 337 Even though Se7en has

fluency in Japanese and has sung Japanese songs in Japanese in Japan, the nature of his career in

Japan has been different from that of other singers in Japan, including BoA, Park Yong-Ha, K,

336
“YG Entertainment Yang Hyun-Sôk Taepyu, YG pyo Hipap Segyemudaesô Sungbu” (YG Entertainment’s CEO
Yang Hyun-Sôk, YG Brand’s Hip Hop Kicking Off at the World Stage), Herald Economy, December. 21. 2006.
337
“Sebûn, 6ch’ônyô Paen Yôlgwang, Osaka Kongyôn Sônghwang” (Se7en, 6000 Wild Fans, Successful Osaka
Concert), Mydaily, May. 4. 2006.

216
and Younha, whose careers have been entirely managed by the Japanese management companies

and repackaging and/or “Japanizing” is an essential element for them to be successful in the

Japanese popular music market.

The other singer, Rain, has been also extremely popular in Korea and many other Asian

countries. Different from the Se7en’s image, Rain’s image could be described as sexy, energetic,

athletic, masculine, and cute. Despite the mainly body images and powerful stage performance,

his childlike smile has been melting countless female fans. Under JYP Entertainment’s

management (the CEO, Park Jin-Young, was a former singer and spent his childhood in

America), Rain, who used to be a backup dancer in 1999, became a “World Star” or “The No.1

Superstar in Asia” from 2004. 338 His official website “Rain.Jype.com” offers 12-national-

language options. 339 Rain did not put much effort toward expanding his career in Japan because

his target has been America from 2005, but his international reputation brought the Japanese

music market to him. As he became the first Korean singer to perform at New York’s Madison

Square Garden in February 2006 and also as he was (somewhat surprisingly) chosen as one of

the world’s most powerful 100 people by Time Magainze in May 2006, his popularity has been

continuously growing in Japan. 340

338
http://www.jype.com/main/artist/common/artist.jsp?p_artist_id=rain (accessed February. 12. 2007).
339
Ibid.
340
“Miguk Konyôn Machin Pi” (Rain, Finishing the New York Concert), Chosun Ilbo, February. 4. 2006; “Kasu Pi,
2006nyôn Taimji Sônjông 100 Myông” (The Singer Rain Selected by 2006 TIME within the 100 people), YTN
News, May. 1. 2006.

217
Figure 5.16 Korean pop star Rain's Japanese DVD cover, Rain Official Premium Box Road for Rain

(2006, left) and his photo at the Time Magazine party in the U. S. (2006, right)

While these two, Se7en and Rain, have grown as the two main popular singers of the

Korean Wave in Asia and began to reach out to the American popular music market, which has

been quite resistant to popular music from anywhere in Asia, the rest of the Korean singers and

groups in Korea have been struggling with the overpowering Japanese popular music that started

pouring into the Korean popular cultural market. Because many Japanese idol stars have been

multi-tasking entertainers, acting in movies and TV dramas, singing the theme songs for movies,

TV dramas, anime, and games, voice-acting for anime and games, publishing books and photo

albums, designing cloths, jewelry, shoes, and character goods, serving as TV program hosts and

regular guests, participating in magic shows, and even joining and performing on sport teams,

their growing popularity means an invasion of the entire popular cultural industry. In addition to

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the mainstream popular genres, more and more Korean fans are beginning to enjoy underground

genres or outdated genres of Japan, including Shibuya-kei.

In November 2006, there were four major concerts by the top Japanese singers and

groups in Korea, including Arashi (dance/idol pop), Koto Maki (dance/idol pop), w-inds

(dance/idol pop), and Paris Match (Shibuya-kei). All of these concerts sold out quickly, and

thousands of young Korean fans showed passionate responses, from the stars’ arrivals at the

airport to their departure at the airport, which not only surprised the Japanese stars but also

shocked the Korean media. Increasing observations on the Korean Wave’s downturn (except a

few cases, such as Rain and Se7en) began to intimidate the Korean popular cultural industry.

Since then, the term “Illyu” (lit., “Japanese Wave”) has begun to appear and be highlighted in the

news media in Korea.

Unlike the other Japanese popular cultural products that can usually be consumed

individually at home or at those thousands of PC bang, the Japanese popular music concerts at

the biggest dome (the Seoul Olympic Park Dome) and the newly built popular music concert hall

(MelOn-AX) have finally revealed how popular Japanese popular culture has become among the

younger Koreans. The fan base range in age from young teens to a cadre of fans in their 30s,

who not only used to buy those commonly available pirated cassettes but who also have been

searching every nook and cranny in the market places to find even better and even more copies

of Japanese popular music releases from as far back as the 1980s. Despite the government’s

banning policy, nationalistic education, and never-ending political issues related to the colonial

period, many Koreans do not relate those issues to their cultural consumption of Japanese

popular culture anymore. Moreover, the issue of Korean singers’ and groups’ lack of creativity

as they continue to copy the Japanese songs (if not simply buying the melody) even after 2004

has turned away the Korean audience even further.

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 5.4 SUMMARY REMARKS

In this chapter, I have discussed the newly sanctioned presence of Japan in Korea by mapping

out the Korean music/digital music industry’s changing strategy and its competition within the

domestic market and the Japanese music/digital music industry’s changed attitude as Korea has

become a profitable market. More importantly, as the two countries’ cultural collaboration was

encouraged by both countries for economic reasons, many Korean consumers also have more

freely consumed the Japanese popular culture instead of spending their time and energy fretting

over the endless and unresolved political conflicts. In 2004 when the Korean Wave hit Japan

with the TV drama Winter Sonata, Korea was in a “festival mood” (or Ch’ukje Punwigi in

Korean) and many Koreans began to believe that Korean popular culture had finally become

powerful enough to beat Japan, as if Japan had finally surrendered. Such a celebratory mood led

Koreans to include anything that could possibly be related to the Korean Wave as a part of the

Korean Wave in Japan. Because it was a positive thing from the Korean point of view, the

Korean public had no problem with the Korean news media’s exaggerations. However, soon

after Koreans began to realize what they had recently been consuming and enjoying in Korea

was mostly from Japan, many Koreans began to wonder about what was happening to their

beloved Korean Wave in Japan that they thought was the winner. During the short two years

after the fourth stage of the Open-Door Policy, many Korean consumers became so comfortable

consuming the Japanese popular culture as if the ban had never even existed. Various aspects of

the imported Japanese popular music have been attractive to Koreans, as I have pointed out, and

much of it relates to image and personality of the performers, as much as to the sound of the

music—the image of Japan, Japanese things, Japanese entertainers, as cute, sophisticated, self-

assured, a bit unpredictable, aesthetically daring. Yet while part of the appeal during the years

220
that Japanese popular culture was banned from Korea was the very fact of its illegality (a kind of

“forbidden pleasure”), that dimension has now mostly disappeared, though its continued

restriction from full broadcast rights still gives it a status as something less than (or other than)

completely domesticated.

Having looked closely here at the influx of Japanese popular music and other forms of

cultural expression into Korea, and of Korean influx into Japan, it is appropriate to look now

with a comparative lens at other streams of cultural traffic— Japanese popular cultural flows

elsewhere in Asia, and other international influences in Korea. By thus adding depth and

perspective to the detailed close-up provided in this and the previous two chapters, we proceed,

in the next chapter, to a contextualized view of transnational dynamics, allowing us to evaluate

the global commonalities and unique aspects of the Korea-Japan case.

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 6.0 TRANSNATIONAL DYNAMICS

Our close look thus far at Korea’s engagement with Japanese popular music and other popular

cultural products has uncovered a number of historical—and historically-contingent—stages and

particularities relating to popular taste, political and economic rivalry, marketing, and

technology. In this chapter, we shift to a comparative and more interpretive view, first zooming

out, as it were, to look beyond the singular instance of Korea’s importation of Japanese popular

music to consider other transnational popular cultural traffic in Asia—with emphasis on music,

but touching on TV dramas and other forms. The recent patterns of this traffic, indeed, have

been complex and polymorphous, too much so to attempt comprehensive coverage in this

dissertation. The traffic most relevant to the present study is the flow of Japanese popular

culture to countries other than Korea and this will constitute the focus of the first section of this

chapter. Indeed, Japanese popular culture has established, again through various legal and illegal

means, a strong presence in other areas in Asia, notably Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and

other Southeast Asian countries, and I will discuss these instances in reference to the Korean

case.

In the second section of this chapter, I bring the focus back to Korea, addressing first the

other major foreign presence in Korea’s popular music world—namely, the USA, whose strong

military presence in Korea, beginning during the Korean war and continuing to the present, has

had profound effects (not surprisingly), but whose particular trajectory has been unique, due in

no small measure to the controversial attitudes towards American foreign policy and its military

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foothold in Korea. Looking comparatively at the presence of America and of Japan, I explore

issues of postcolonial desire and neo-national cultural politics, addressing core questions

surrounding the uniqueness of Japan’s presence in Korea—what qualities are perceived by

Koreans as Japanese and how these qualities may both appeal and evoke resistance and debate,

leading to an embrace of Japanese culture for some and a re-invigorated nationalism for others.

My intentions in the first section are to identify aspects of the Japanese presence

elsewhere in Asia and draw on these in considering the uniqueness of Japanese presence in

Korea. Though anti-Japanese sentiment is not unique to Korea, in late-twentieth century and

early-twenty-first century Asia it has clearly been strongest there. These other Asian countries

have had either no ban or briefer and less stringent bans on the importing of Japanese cultural

products. The second section reveals the different nature of the presence of America in Korea, a

cultural “other” quite different from Japan, and a country towards which Koreans have not held

the kind of antagonism they have towards Japan. These two sections contribute towards an

understanding Koreans’ contradictory desire toward Japan. In the third section, I discuss

Koreans’ changing attitude and desire toward the new presence of Japan and its cultural products

in Korea. By examining Koreans’ perceptions of Japanese popular culture and music, important

elements of Japanese popular music and “Japaneseness” are revealed. Many young Koreans are

drawn by cuteness, overt sexiness, hybridity, instrumental performance skills, polished recording

production, approachability, and amateurish personae of Japanese popular music. Among these

Korean fans, some try to argue their consumption of Japanese popular culture to be

fundamentally the same as their cultural consumption of American or other foreign cultural

products, not necessarily related to any transformation of their cultural identity. As “things

Japanese” have become legal in Korea and anti-Japanese attitudes have begun to weaken

especially among young Koreans, Koreans’ notion of Japan is inevitably changing. Yet a high

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regard for Japanese quality and lingering nationalist resentment towards Japan still lends to

Japanese pop at least a residual aura of “difference”--as superior, trend-setting, internationally

seasoned and successful, but potentially culturally “dangerous,” pitting the safeness and

approachability of the sounds and images projected against a background of Japanese national

aggressiveness and stubbornness on certain issues with Korea.

6.1 JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE IN ASIA

Japanese popular culture, including anime, manga, computer games, TV dramas, music,

character goods, food, fashion, tamagotchi (digital pet), purikura (small sticker photo), and

karaoke, was taking off in many Asian countries in the 1990s. Iwabuchi states that “Japan could

not neglect Asia as a vital market for its products, and a new Asianism emerged in Japan in the

early 1990s.” 341 He notes that Japan’s successful modernization according to the Western

standard positioned Japan as “similar but superior,” or “in but above” Asia, placing Japan as

Asia’s leader and the rest as followers. 342 That is, as some of Japan’s neighbors, including

Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, became modernized based on the Japanese model,

they began to desire the modernity of Japanese popular culture as well. 343

341
Iwabuchi Koichi, Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism (Durham and
London: Duke University Press, 2002) p. 12.
342
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 8.
343
Although his study of Japanese transnationalism is mainly based on Japanese TV dramas becoming popular in
Taiwan since the mid 1990s, Iwabuchi also briefly discusses the Japanese popular music industry’s localizing
attempt in Taiwan and Hong Kong in the late 1990s, where Japanese popular music was particularly popular. Other
scholars have looked more closely at factors relating to the transnational flow of Japanese popular music and will
figure in the subsequent discussion.

224
 The intellectual underpinnings of this cultural and economic positioning on the part of

Japan were well in place before the 1990s, growing from Japan’s longstanding view of itself as

not only as unique, but as (quint)essentially unique:

Japan’s obsession with the uniqueness of its own culture has been widely
observed in the popularity of the Nihonjinron discourses, which explain
distinctive features of Japanese people and Japanese culture in essentialist
terms. 344

Also recognizing Japan’s essentialistic self-image, Miyoshi and Hartoonian offered the following

appraisal, couched in semiotic terms, of Japan’s sense of itself as of the late 1980s:

What this reflex produced was a conception of Japan as a signified, whose

uniqueness was fixed in an irreducible essence that was unchanging and
unaffected by history, rather than as a signifier capable of attaching itself to a
plurality of possible meanings. It is this sense of a Japan as signified, unique
and different from all other countries, that is promoted by the most strident
and, we should say, shrill spokesmen for Japan’s postmodernity. 345

What these authors suggest, and I will return to later in this chapter, is the notion that Japan sees

itself as postmodern in essence, but presents its postmodernity to the world as a kind of

Japaneseness. Evidence suggests that, while people in other Asian countries may not have

readily labeled Japanese popular culture as the postmodern object of desire they had been

longing for, they nevertheless embraced Japanese popular culture as modern, up-to-date,

sophisticated, and trend-setting, coming as it was from the most economically and

technologically advanced country in Asia.

344
Iwabuch, op. cit. p. 6.
345
Miyoshi Masao and H. D. Harootunian, eds. Postmodernism and Japan (Durham: Duke University Press, 1989)
p. xvi.

225
 In earlier chapters I have drawn on Iwabuchi’s notion of cultural odor—apparent in some

kinds of popular cultural products, especially movies and TV dramas and also popular music, but

totally absent from such products as electronics and appliances. One of the key characteristics

that scholars point to in tracing the successful transnational marketing of Japanese popular

cultural products is “erasure” of clear indicators of race, ethnicity, and nationality. 346 This

practice is identified in Japanese language, along with hybrid mixing, as mukokuseki, a term

“widely used in Japan in two different, though not mutually exclusive, ways: to suggest the

mixing of elements of multiple cultural origins, and to imply the erasure of visible ethnic and

cultural characteristics.” 347 The erasure and obscuring of such characteristics, resulting in

minimizing or eradication of cultural odor, is indeed highly evident in Japan’s popular culture,

and may be more pervasive in Japan than elsewhere. But certainly other countries engage in

similar practices, for example, featuring movie stars who look more European than local (and

may even be mixed-race) (e.g., Indian movie stars), or employing Western pop idioms, vocal

styles, and/or English lyrics to be more accessible and acceptable as “international” (e.g.,

Anggun in Indonesia, Raihan in Malaysia, Thongchai McIntyre in Thailand). 348

The practice of erasure in Japan is most evident in computer games, manga, and anime,

but we can see it also in character goods. It is important to note, however, that the issue of

erasure is not as simple or as absolute as it might first appear. While a variety of Japanese

cultural products when they first were marketed overseas were not widely known to have

originated in Japan and were not thought of as “Japanese,” some of these have more recently

gained, as it were, a Japanese identity, even despite the erasure of physical signs of Japaneseness.

346
Murai Yoshinori. “Oshin, Doraemon wa kakehashi to nareruka.” Views (March 10):26-27, 1993; Otsuka Eiji.
Komikku Sekai Seiha.” Sapio (8):10-11, 1994.
347
Iwabuch, op. cit. p. 71.
348
See Anggun, http://www.anggun.com/; Raihan, http://raihan.com.my/homepage/; Thongchai McIntyre,
http://welcome.to/thongchaimcintyre. (accessed February. 24. 2007).

226
Before narrowing the focus to Japanese popular music, which underwent its own kind of erasure

through the widespread practice of producing cover versions of Japanese originals in other Asian

languages (primarily Chinese), I would like to consider the case of Japan’s most famous

character good: Hello Kitty.

6.1.1 Japanese Character Goods in Asia: The Case of Hello Kitty

Among the numerous character goods, Hello Kitty (created by Sanrio Company Ltd. in 1974)

has been extremely popular since the late 1990s in Asia after Hello Kitty became popular in

Japan itself once again. Hello Kitty is a white cat with a big red ribbon on her left ear. This

image and name can be found on everything from pencils, candy, purses, nail clippers, soap,

lamps, slippers, cosmetics, jewelry, water bottles, coffee makers, toaster ovens TVs, rice

cookers, hair dryers, bathroom scales, telephones, cellular phones, tooth brushes & tooth paste,

bicycles, to a real car (called “Princess Kitty I” produced by Mitsubishi in 2006). 349 Hello Kitty

has been popular not only among little girls but also among women in their 20s and 30s, who

grew up with Hello Kitty lunch boxes and handkerchiefs when they were children in Japan and

its neighbors, including Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

In January 2000, McDonald’s in Singapore offered 40-day promotion for Hello Kitty

dolls, which caused “fist fights, traffic jams, broken glass and people fainting from sheer fatigue

in queues that start forming by early evening on Wednesdays for the Thursday morning release

of a new set of dolls.” 350

In 2005, EVA Air, the Taiwanese airline, introduced the first EVA AIR Hello Kitty Jet

,flying from Taipei to Fukuoka, Japan everyday, and its overwhelming success led the second

349
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.jp/ (accessed January. 15. 2007).
350
“Kitty Kitsch Turns Singaporeans into Pavlov’s Dogs” Asia Times, February. 12. 2000.

227
Hello Kitty Jet in 2006 offering service to Nagoya, Osaka, and Sendai in Japan. 351 The EVA Air

Hello Kitty Jet offers everything Hello Kitty from check-in to luggage, including Hello Kitty

boarding passes, luggage tags, in-flight food service (cookies, ice-cream, cups, plates, napkin,

chopsticks) served by flight attendants wearing Hello Kitty aprons, and EVA Hello Kitty duty-

free shopping. 352

Figure 6.1 Taiwan's EVA Airline EVA Air Hello Kitty Jet's photos including female fight attendants'

wearing Hello Kitty apron and Hello Kitty marked in-flight foods (2006, left) and the

popular Japanese pop singer Hamasaki Ayumi's doll figure holding Hello Kitty, Ayumi

Hamasaki X Hello Kitty (20087, right)

Even with this icon we find a kind of tie-up with popular music. Hello Kitty will join the

“Japanese Pop Princess” Hamasaki Ayumi’s first Asian tour “Tour of Secret” staring in March,

351
http://www.evaair.com/html/b2c/english/ (accessed January. 15. 2007).
352
Ibid.

228
2007 in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, China. 353 The “Ayumi Hamasaki X Hello

Kitty (Hamasaki Ayumi figurine holding Hello Kitty wearing matching cloths and the red

ribbons)” is her 10th Anniversary Ayupan (“Ayumi Panda” dolls) which will be sold during her

tour. 354

While Hello Kitty’s popularity in America and Europe seems to remain culturally

odorless, detached from any association with Japan, particularly among the children who are its

main consumers, Hello Kitty does constitute a Japanese presence in Asia, recognized by

consumers as—if not “essentially Japanese” then at least “coming from Japan.” As noted by

many scholars and journalist, since the 1990s, Japanese popular culture has been adored by many

young Asians who were fond of its “cuteness,” as well as its being “cutting-edge” “stylish” and

“sophisticated.” Time Asia’s journalist Terry McCarthy wrote in the 1999 article “Export

Machine: while Asia’s older generation is still haunted by Japan’s wartime brutality, Hello Kitty

culture is hot with the region’s youth, who are happy to snap up all”:

Japan may not top the popularity polls in banks and boardrooms around Asia,
but among the younger generation the homeland of Hello Kitty is hot.
Japanese pop music, videos, comic books, clothes, accessories and cosmetics
all are being snapped up across the region by a new generation of YPMs--
Young People with Money. Slickly packaged and having already run the
gauntlet of one of the world's most demanding fashion markets at home,
Japanese youth culture is proving irresistible to teens from Taipei to
Singapore, despite what local parents and grandparents remember of Japan's
brutality in the last war. Four in five comic books sold in South Korea are
Japanese. In Hong Kong, people buy pirated VCDs of their favorite Japanese
TV soaps within days of their being shown in Japan. Taiwanese and
Singaporeans cannot get enough of Japanese pop music. When diva Noriko
Sakai abruptly announced last year that she was both married and pregnant,
the news was on Hong Kong radio stations just minutes after Sakai's press
conference in Tokyo. 355

353
“Japanese Pop Princess Ties Up with Hello Kitty,” China Daily. March. 10. 2007.
354
“Ayumi Hamasaki X Hello Kitty Special Edition “Ayupan”,” Sankei Sports, March. 8. 2007.
355
Terry McCarthy, “Export Machines,” Time Asia, 1999.

229
 New York Times journalist Calvin Sims also noted in a 1999 article “Japan Beckons, and

East Asia’s Youth Fall in Love”:

“We like Japanese things because Japan is a very advanced country with a
very sophisticated lifestyle,” said Vick Chen, 18, a high school student. “I
dreaming of visiting there one day.” Her classmate Kelly Chou concurred:
“Taiwan is too conservative, but Japanese fashion and music are so daring, so
cutting edge. I love them.” The people of Taiwan are not alone…In South
Korea, for example, Japanese-culture cafes and teahouses are quickly
replacing American fast-food restaurants and European-style coffee houses
as the preferred meeting places for college students. Japanese rock and jazz
bands are more popular than their Korean counterparts, and many soap
operas, game shows and television dramas are direct copies of Japanese
programs. In Hong Kong, newsstands cannot stock enough copies of
Japanese comic books and fashion magazines. Japanese TV dramas have
huge followings. In China, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and
Thailand, bootleg copies of Japanese music recordings and movies, and
merchandise like Hello Kitty dolls are popular. 356

The word that overwhelmingly describes the appeal of Hello Kitty (not only the dolls

themselves, but the hundreds of Hello-Kitty gadgets and objects) is, of course, cuteness, a quality

that Japan has been exporting to Asia in other of its popular cultural products, including anime

and manga, but also very notably in popular music, to which I would now like to direct our

attention.

6.1.2 Japanese Popular Music in Asia

The 1990s saw an enormous flow of Japanese popular music into other countries in Asia, often

along with TV dramas, and sometimes directly tied to TV dramas (theme songs and original

sound track albums). In some areas, Japanese popular music had a presence before the 1990s,

356
Calvin Sims, “Japan Beckons, and East Asia’s Youth Fall in Love.” New York Times, 1999.

230
particularly in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In this section I offer not a comprehensive survey, but

representative glimpses of Japanese popular musical penetration in Asian countries, primarily

those areas we can describe as culturally and ethnically Chinese (i.e. Hong Kong, Taiwan,

mainland China, and Singapore), with some mention of other countries.

6.1.2.1 Japanese Popular Music and Culture in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China

As early as the 1970s, some Japanese popular music was finding its way into Hong Kong in the

sound tracks to Japanese TV dramas, which were dubbed in Cantonese. Hong Kong audiences

tended to prefer these to Westerns dramas, as they “were relatively cheap and their settings were

more familiar to viewers in Hong Kong. Some of the theme songs for these Japanese dramas

were packaged as Cantonese cover versions and became hits.”357 Though music lovers who only

heard the Cantonese cover versions might not know of the Japanese origins of the music,

listeners were likely to be drawn to the music via the dramas and thus would know that they were

hearing Cantonese covers of Japanese pop tunes. This initial popularity set the stage for what

was generally recognized as a “boom” in Japanese pop music there in the 1980s.

During the 1980s, Cantonese cover versions continued to be produced and sold in Hong

Kong, more widely than they had been during the 1970s. 358 This approach was replicated in

other Chinese areas and in Southeast Asia. Indeed, the Japanese music industry devoted very

little effort to marketing Japanese originals and promoting Japanese singers, but instead would,

in Iwabuchi’s words:

357
Ogawa Masashi, “Japanese Popular Music in Hong Kong: What Does TK Present?” in Refashioning Pop Music
in Asia: Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos and Aesthetic Industries, ed. by Allen Chun, Ned Rossiter, and
Brian Shoesmith. (New York: Routledge Curzon, 2004) p. 146.
358
In some instances, multiple cover versions of a single Japanese original were produced and sold in Hong Kong.
Four different cover versions of Masashiko Kondo’s ‘Yuyake no Uta,’ were circulating at the same time in 1989.
Ogawa, op. cit. p. 147.

231
 seek out ‘indigenous’ pop stars who could be sold to pan-Asian markets with
Japanese pop production know-how (see Ongaku sangyo wa Ajia meja o
mezasu 1992). The Japanese project of finding pan-Asian pop singers is thus
motivated by a chimera of producing trans-Asian popular music through
cross-fertilization of a Japanese initiative. 359

This was a very conscious effort at localization and was enthusiastically embraced and

encouraged by music industry companies in Hong Kong and elsewhere eager for fresh material.

It is notable that before the mid-1990s most of this transnational traffic in Japanese pop music

was initiated and promoted not so much by the Japanese music industry, as by companies

elsewhere, especially in greater China. This meant that the Japanese music industry was able to

earn profits on the rights to the cover versions, with very little outlay of cash for promotion. It

also meant that audiences outside of Japan usually had no idea that a cover version they enjoyed

was in fact originally a Japanese song. 360

Neither did the Japanese music industry make efforts before the 1990s to market original

Japanese versions internationally, but by the mid-1980s, one could hear the original versions of

Japanese pop songs on several radio stations in Hong Kong, with several shows devoted

exclusively to Japanese pop. This was partially a response to a small but growing interest among

some young Hong Kong residents in Japanese pop as a refreshing alternative to the formulaic

sounds of Canto-pop. It also led to Hong Kong music fans gaining familiarity with particular

Japanese popular singers. For example Japanese popular singers and groups such as the female

idol singer Sakai Noriko and the duo Chage & Aska enjoyed enormous popularity in the mid

1980s in Hong Kong, and also in Taiwan, despite a lingering distaste for Japanese culture there,

evidenced by the official ban in Taiwan on Japanese television shows (lifted in 1993, see below).

359
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 98.
360
Hara Tomoko. Honkon Chudoku (Hong Kong Addiction). (Tokyo: Japan Times, 1996) pp. 144-157.

232
 After a short lull in transnational traffic of Japanese popular culture in the first few years

of the 1990s, both Japanese popular music and Japanese TV dramas took off in the mid-1990s,

with greater success than ever before outside of Japan. 361 After the introduction of original

versions of Japanese songs and perhaps an overabundance of cover versions, Japanese originals

became the dominant trend during the first half of the 1990s. Part of the new boom in Japanese

pop music and popular culture in general was due to Taiwan lifting its ban on Japanese TV

programs in 1993, as noted by Hsaio.

Japanese pop culture has increasingly dominated Taiwan’s cultural scene in the
last decade. One of the main reasons for this is that in 1993 the government
finally lifted its 1972 ban on showing Japanese TV programs, which was
originally enacted when the Japanese government officially recognized the
People’s Republic of China. By the mid-1990s, however, the term ha-ri-zu
(‘tribe of Japanese infatuation’) had come to be associated with the idea of a
mindless besottedness with anything Japanese. 362

Indeed, by the mid 1990s, as Japanese TV dramas, including Tokyo Love Story and Long

Vacation, became popular in both Taiwan and Hong Kong, other popular cultural products

followed suit. Because of the Japanese TV dramas’ popularity, CD collections of original sound

tracks also sold well. Since then, Taiwan and Hong Kong have become centers of Japanese

popular cultural consumption and reproduction outside Japan. And their cheaply-produced

illegal copies have enjoyed extensive distribution throughout the greater China region, including

mainland China.

Most of the mainstream popular singers and groups in Japan have recently been able to

gain popularity in Taiwan and Hong Kong simultaneously with their popularity in Japan, thanks

361
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 98.
362
Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, “Coexistence and Synthesis: Cultural Globalization and Localization in
Contemporary Taiwan,” in Many Globalizations: Cultural Diversity in the Contemporary World, edited by Peter B.
Berger and Samuel P. Huntington (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) p. 56.

233
to MTV Asia and STAR TV’s Channel [V], as well as the Japanese satellite TV (J Sky B) and

local FM radio stations. This ability to keep up with the musical and related popular cultural

trends in Japan has been enhanced by the Japanese coverage in media magazines such as City

Magazine (Hong Kong), which promoted not only Japanese pop, but Japanese middle-class

lifestyle. Hong Kong newspapers also cover Japanese popular culture extensively, focusing, not

surprisingly, on gossip. While coverage is extensive, it is also mostly “second-hand, or a direct

translation from articles in Japanese paparazzi magazines, such as Focus and Flash, or gossip

magazines of the entertainment word, such as Myojo and Heibon.” 363 Even so, this new ability

to stay current with Japan, Asia’s “most modern” country, both through TV and print media,

feeds the Japanese music industry as well.

The strong presence of Japanese popular music in Hong Kong and Taiwan since the mid-

1990s has been due to a number of factors, but certainly the most important single force in this

transnational traffic has been the phenomenally successful Japanese producer-musician Komuro

Tetsuya. Among the various Japanese singers and groups, many top stars produced by Komuro

were particularly successful in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, just as they were in Japan at that

time. According to Ogawa Masashi, Komuro was one of the “few Japanese music-makers trying

to promote their music to the pan-Asian market” and gave his first overseas concert in Hong

Kong in 1997. 364

Komuro’s approach has been typical of recent Japanese approaches in the music industry,

managing everything, from choosing the singer, choosing or composing or arranging the song,

training the singer both with respect to singing style and to stage personality, and deciding on

types of presentation, including “tie-ups” with TV dramas or movie—in short, doing “total

363
Ogawa Masashi, “Japanese Popular Music in Hong Kong: What Does TK Present?” in Refashioning Pop Music
in Asia: Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos and Aesthetic Industries, ed. by Allen Chun, Ned Rossiter, and
Brian Shoesmith. (New York: Routledge Curzon, 2004) p. 152.
364
Ibid. p. 144.

234
management.” 365 During the mid and the late 1990s, Komuro produced a number of top stars,

including Amuro Namie, Kahara Tomomi, Suzuki Ami, TRF, Hitomi, and Globe (with Komuro

himself as a keyboard player), and these singers and groups began to be called TK Family (or

Komuro Family). The musical styles of Komuro Tetsuya were mainly euro/electric/techno

dance styles.

As he dominated the domestic market, becoming the fourth richest man in Japan in 1996,

he began to invest in the Asian market. In 1996 as he teamed up with News Corp., he created

TK News and produced a talent-search program in Greater China region, TK Magic. 366 In 1997,

Komuro produced big concerts in Beijing and Shanghai. 367 During the same year, Amuro

Namie became the first Japanese singer to be named Channel [V]’s artist of the month, as her

single climbed to number one on Channel [V]’s Asian Top-20. 368

In 1998, a thirteen-year-old Taiwanese female singer Ring, discovered by TK Magic,

debuted and reached the top of the chart in Taiwan. 369 Also, Komuro produced a nineteen-year-

old Hong Kong girl Grace into a popular singer in Hong Kong as he tried to expand his music

empire into Asia. 370 However, TK Family’s fame faded after 2000 in Japan, and his singers and

groups went separate ways. Japanese popular music in Taiwan and Hong Kong began to share

the market with Korean popular music since 1999 as the Korean Wave hit the region.

Komuro made some musical innovations that contributed to his international success,

but very likely his most significant step was the joint business venture with Rupert Murdoch:

365
Ibid. p. 154.
366
Ibid. pp. 116-117.
367
“Will Japan’s Top Hit Maker Become Asia’s Too?” Time Asia, May. 1999.
368
Iwabuch, op. cit. p. 116.
369
Ibid. pp. 116-117.
370
“Will Japan’s Top Hit Maker Become Asia’s Too?” Time Asia, May. 1999.

235
 It is said that one of the reasons for his success lies on the fact that he
introduced the musical elements of dance music and club music—Euro-beat in
particular—to pop songs. In 1996 he established the joint corporation ‘TK
News’ in Hong Kong with News Corporation’s ‘media king,’ Rupert
Murdoch. The corporation is aiming to produce musical talent in Asia. He is
supposed to be in charge of finding talent and producing singer’s entire music
activities. He is notable as one of the few musicians who have started to
market their own music in Asia. 371

Though there had been a few Japanese idol (aidoru) stars who gained some visibility in

greater China, such as Matsuda Seiko in the 1980s, it was during the 1990s that Japanese idols

and the total management style exemplified by Komuro had a significant impact throughout

Asia, and most strongly in greater China. Iwabuchi points out that, while Japan has been

successful in introducing and promoting “idol culture” in other Asian countries, the time lag has

been significant; the situation of “idol culture” elsewhere in Asia in the late 1990s was, in his

opinion, like Japan 16 or 17 years earlier. 372 The core characteristics persist: most crucially the

emphasis not on singing ability but on cuteness and intimacy between the idol stars and

audiences. The contrast between the inapproachability of American (and other Western)

superstars and the seeming approachability and amateurish personae of the idol stars has been

noted by a number of scholars. 373 The appeal has led to international popularity for many

Japanese idol stars, and also, to some extent, to the adoption of the idol package approach to

creating and launching non-Japanese stars in greater China.

Marketing for idol stars, of course, relies heavily on visual media, such as television and

this has been the case outside of Japan. However, the primary medium for profit-making and

consumption in the music—whether idol or not—remains recordings and live concerts. The

371
Ogawa, op. cit. p. 154.
372
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 99.
373
Leo Ching, “Imaginings in the Empire of the Sun: Japanese Mass Culture in Asia” in Contemporary Japan and
Popular Culture, edited by John W. Treat. (London: Curzon Press, 1996); Inamasu Tatsuo. Aidoru Kogaku (Idol
Linguistic). (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo, 1993); Ogawa, op. cit; Iwabuchi, op. cit.

236
marketing of Japanese popular music in greater China has been somewhat complicated,

involving CDs produced in Japan, CDs produced legally in Hong Kong and Taiwan, pirated CDs

produced illegally in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China, and live concerts of musicians.

With the exception of an unsuccessful 1997 concert in Hong Kong, in which Komuro himself

attempted to educate his audience about Japanese pop, rather than merely entertain them, most

Japanese singers and groups, including many produced by Komuro himself, have been quite

successful, both on stage and on recordings in greater China.

The CDs imported from Japan have been, of course, significantly more expensive than

those made in Hong Kong or Taiwan, whether legally or illegally. But by the early 2000s, many

of the CDs that show initially good sales in Japan are legally manufactured in Hong Kong within

a month or less and marketed directly to Chinese consumers. HMV stores in Hong Kong, for

example, have an enormous section for Japanese pop, mostly at prices that indicate manufacture

in Hong Kong rather than in Japan. Ogawa noted that a few Hong Kong music fans continue to

buy the CDs imported from Japan, believing them to be of higher quality and also not wanting to

wait even a few weeks for a locally manufactured copy. 374 Not all Japanese pop CDs are

released in Hong Kong, as the market is relatively small—an estimated 200,000-300,000 “active

pop music consumers.” 375 The choices tend to be conservative, i.e., mainstream stars, in hopes

of reaching the maximum number of consumers and maximizing sales, and this approach

prevents Hong Kong audiences from exposure to the full variety of Japanese popular music.

Little reliable information can be found about the pirating of Japanese pop in greater

China, but it is clear that, through various channels, pirated CDs are ubiquitously hawked by

street vendors and find their way onto the shelves of many CD/VCD stores in mainland China,

374
Ogawa, op. cit. p. 148 and p. 154
375
Ibid. p. 150.

237
from large cities to modest villages. Alongside the pirated Japanese recordings one finds, since

the late 1990s, Korean ones as well. 376 Recently in Hong Kong, Ogawa reports, “pirated VCDs

of Japanese TV dramas appear only a few days after broadcast in Japan. Many have pop song

‘tie-ups’ that helped spread familiarity with Japanese pop songs along with the TV dramas.” 377

Although Japanese popular music was introduced to mainland China later than it was to

Hong Kong and Taiwan, through broadcasting and wide-spread piracy, Japanese popular music

started to become popular in mainland China in the early 1990s. For example, the top Japanese

band, Southern All Stars, had their concert in Beijing in the early 1990s, which was the first rock

music concert by a foreign group or artist in China. 378 Also, as in Taiwan and Hong Kong, many

Japanese pop songs were covered by local mainland Chinese singers. However, from 1999, as

Korean popular music became very popular in the greater China region through the Korean

Wave boom, Korean popular music exceeded Japanese popular music in airtime on MTV Asia

(by a full 50% in 2001). 379 After the break-up of the popular Korean boy band H.O.T, which

had been particularly popular in China, Korean popular music and Japanese popular music began

to share the Chinese popular music market more or less evenly. According to Rowan Pease’s

research in China, the coexistence of Korean popular music and Japanese popular music in China

has actually resulted in many quarrels between zealous fans of one or the other. 380

6.1.2.2 Japanese Popular Music in Singapore

Though somewhat later than in East Asia, Japanese popular music has made significant inroads

into Southeast Asian countries, particularly Singapore. Singapore musicologist Benjamin Ng

376
Rowan Pease, “Internet, Fandom, and K-Wave in China,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by
Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006).
377
Ogawa, op. cit. p. 149.
378
Asuna Mizuho, Tokyo ui Pap Munhwa (Pop Culture of Tokyo) (Seoul: Wooseok, 1999). p. 41.
379
Pease, op. cit. pp. 176-177.
380
Ibid. pp. 178-179.

238
notes that sales of Japanese recordings in Singapore increased by more than ten times in the short

three-year period 1999-2002: “It is now [as of 2002] common to find several Japanese

recordings in the top ten of the Singapore music chart listed by the Recording Industry

Association of Singapore (RIAS).” 381 In the 1980s, Japanese singers already had a presence in

Singapore, though not large. Ng mentions a number of idol stars, including Matsuda Seiko,

Itsuwa Mayumi and other girls, as well as men’s groups such as Shôentai, Anzen Chitai, and

Hikaru Genji, among others, but selling no more than a few thousand albums each. 382 True to

the design of idol producers in Japan, however, some of these young stars (Yamaguchi Momoe,

Makamori Akira, Kontô Masahiko, and Saijô Hideki) succeeded in becoming fashion icons,

primarily among young Singaporean Chinese.

As in other Chinese areas discussed above, Japanese pop music encountered a lull in the

early 1990s in Singapore, apparently because Japanese TV dramas were not popular enough to

compete with local dramas and American dramas in the early 1990s and transnational flows in

popular music in Asia have usually correlated closely with the flows of TV dramas. But with the

resurgence in Japanese TV dramas in Asia, Japanese pop music also was strong again by the

mid-1990s and had a secure place in the Singapore music market by the end of the decade,

ranking highly on the Singapore music charts, with special sections devoted to Japanese pop in

CD stores, radio shows featuring or devoted exclusively to Japanese pop, and locally-available

cable MTV including Japanese pop videos. 383 The female idol group SPEED was particularly

popular in Singapore in 1999, becoming the first Japanese singer to make the top ten in the

Singapore music charts SPVA. 384 Also, between 1995 and 2001, as many recent Japanese TV

381
Benjamin Wai-ming Ng, “Japanese Popular Music in Singapore and the Hybridization of Asian Music” Asian
Music 34/1: 1-18, 2002, p.1.
382
Ibid. pp. 2-3.
383
Ibid. pp. 3-5.
384
Ibid. p. 3.

239
dramas were shown in Singapore television, newly released Japanese popular songs quickly

spread in popularity, once again illustrating the marketing wisdom of “tie-ups.” 385

6.1.2.3 Japanese Popular Music in Thailand

Japanese popular music has been relatively less popular in Thailand than in the greater China

region and it has been consumed by only a small number of urban youth, who listened to FM

radio stations and build fan communities through music magazines, including Nippon Idol, Idol

J-Rock, and Japan Rock Mania Magazine, starting in 1997. 386 According to Ubonrat

Siriyuvasak’s research, the visual rock band X-Japan was particularly popular in Thailand

between 1997 and 1998 and created devoted young Thai fans, who shared a sort of freedom

represented through the band’s heavy metal music and its extreme visual image. 387 As the

Korean Wave first arose in the late 1990s, Thailand was less influenced than Singapore or

greater China. But after the Korean female group Baby V.O.X’s success in Thailand in 2001,

Thai youth’s consumption of Korean popular cultural products began to increase. Spearheaded

by the Korean male singers Se7en and Rain, famous as much for their cuteness and masculine

good looks and public personae as their smooth voices, Korean popular music has begun to

dominate urban Thai youth’s popular cultural consumption, 388 creating a situation comparable to

that noted by Pease in mainland China, where Japanese pop and Korean pop enjoy roughly the

same level of popularity. 389

385
Ibid. p. 6.
386
Siriyuvasak, Ubonrat. “Popular Culture and Youth Consumption: Modernity, Identity and Social
Transformation.” in Feeling Asian Modernities: Transnational Consumption of Japanese TV Dramas, edited by
Iwabuchi Koichi, (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2004) p. 186.
387
Ibid. pp. 186-187.
388
Siriyuvasak, Ubonrat, unpublished paper.
389
Peace, op. cit.

240
6.1.2.4 Japanese Popular Music in Asia—Contributing Factors and Implications

As of now (2007) the presence of Japanese pop music in Asia is significant and largely

recognized. Cover versions, whose Japanese origins were unknown to almost all listeners just

over a decade ago and before, have given way to a clear market niche devoted to Japanese

popular music by Japanese musicians—their sound, their visual images, their personalities. It

seems plausible that the widespread practice of covering Japanese hit songs served as a very

effective mechanism for preparing other Asian ears for the sounds of Japanese pop, with the

cover versions serving as intermediate steps towards developing a taste for Japanese pop itself.

It is thus not surprising, even from the standpoint of musical taste, that Japanese pop would gain

popularity in greater China and Southeast Asia. However, other forces have come into play as

well, such as the “tie-up” with popular Japanese TV dramas and, to a lesser extent, movies. And

even something as remote from music and as culturally odorless as Hello Kitty has helped build

a desire among Asians for things Japanese, a desire that has led to avid consumption of Japanese

popular music, not in cover versions, but as packaged and produced in Japan.

I have alluded to several factors that other Asian (non-Japanese) audiences find appealing

in Japanese popular music and popular culture more generally. These have been qualities of the

performers and their image—cuteness, approachability, and amateurness (in singing skill and

overall public persona) -- more than the particular sound of the music. Another aspect,

mentioned by several scholars, is the greater proximity—culturally, aesthetically, geographically,

of Japan than of the West (America and Europe) with the rest of Asia. Of course, Western

cultural hegemony through the last half of the twentieth century has resulted in world-wide

familiarity with Western popular culture, but Japan’s quest to “domesticate” and “Asianize”

241
American and other Western cultural expression has made it successful internationally in Asia

recently. As Iwabuchi puts it,

What Asian pop idols embody is neither ‘American’ nor ‘traditional Asian,’
but something new and hybridized. People no longer consume ‘the West’ or a
‘Westernized Asia’ but an ‘indigenized (Asianized) West’; they are fascinated
neither with ‘originality’ nor with ‘tradition,’ but are actively constructing
their own images and meanings at the receiving end.” 390

Korean scholar Kang Hun also points out that strong Western influences on Japanese

popular culture appealed to Asian youth, who were already familiar with Western popular culture

but felt apprehensive about embracing it directly. 391 That is, many Asians can relate to Japanese

popular culture more easily than to its original source, Western (or American) popular culture,

because of their greater physical and cultural proximity to Japan than to America. Not only do

Japanese singers physically resemble Chinese and other Asian audiences, due to racial

similarities, but their vocal production, public manner, and sense of fashion are much closer to

those of other Asians than to American or European ones. They share not only physical

similarities, but a long history of cultural and political interaction, including, for greater China,

Buddhism, Confucianism, and use of Chinese writing system. In short, the Chinese and other

Asian audiences would seem to comply with the Japanese attitude identified by Iwabuchi, of

Japanese being “in but above” Asia.

Based on his interview work with audiences and music industry personnel in Hong Kong,

Ogawa concluded that

390
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 105.
391
“Will Japan’s Top Hit Maker Become Asia’s Too?” Time Asia, May. 1999.

242
 consumer taste for popular culture in particular demands the right balance of
familiarity and novelty. Yet the industry [in Hong Kong] cannot risk
investing in nurturing creative new and young talents which ensure new trends
and market development. Therefore, the industry is characterized by a
dependence on music trends developed elsewhere. Japanese pop music, either
as cover versions or originals, has proven to be particularly suitable for
adaptation into Chinese musical structures and cultural tastes.

Non-Asian observers of the music business in Asia have also noticed both the high production

quality of Japanese pop and the greater resemblance between Japanese pop and other Asian pop

than between Western pop and other Asian pop. For example, Jeff Murray, director of Channel

[V] told Iwabuchi that

Japanese music production is definitely more sophisticated than its

counterpart elsewhere in Asia, and Japanese music, though a new taste for the
Taiwanese audience, is more similar to Taiwanese pop and easier to relate to
than Western pop.” 392

Closely paralleling this view is the opinion expressed by Hong Kong listeners to Ogawa

that the original versions of Japanese pop songs were “representative of a Japanese ‘neatness’

and ‘perfectionism’ in producing pop songs.” 393 Also relating to the musical sound are the

observations of Ng about Japanese pop in Singapore, where the variety of Japanese pop genres

contributes to it success. Ng argued that Japanese pop offers diverse genres, including Euro-

beat, R&B, rap, soft rock, hip-hop, which can be alternated with American pop or Chinese pop.
394
Nevertheless, lest we come away from this section with the impression that Japanese pop

has been dominant in the rest of Asia, it is important to remember that Japanese pop competes

more or less evenly with Korean pop in parts of mainland China and has never equaled the level

392
Murray personal conversation, as cited in Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 117.
393
See Ogawa, op. cit. p. 151.
394
Ng, op. cit. p. 8.

243
of popularity of American or Mandarin pop in Singapore. This leads us, then, to turn our

attention back to Korea and inquire into the presence of other popular music there beside

Japanese.

6.2 AMERICAN INFLUENCES ON KOREAN POPULAR MUSIC

Besides the strong presence of Japanese popular culture from the colonial period to the present,

American popular culture has certainly influenced the development of Korean popular culture.

Indeed, modern Korean popular culture and music have been heavily and directly influenced by

American popular culture and music from the Korean War period (1950-1953) as the American

military established its ongoing presence in Korea down to the present. While the presence of

Japan in Korean society and culture has long been problematic for Koreans because they could

not emotionally let go of the colonial past, the influence of American popular culture on Korean

society and culture has been accepted relatively unproblematically, especially among the

younger generation, who have embraced its association with civilization, freedom, and peace.

Although aspects of American culture were introduced by the missionaries in the late nineteenth

century and also through Japan during the colonial period, the American military became the

main source for the spread of American popular culture and music into Korea since the 1950s.

In 1951, as the American military established AFKN (the American Forces Korea

Network), with radio broadcasts of American popular music, Koreans began to gain familiarity

with a variety of American genres. From 1957 the AFKN TV broadcasting started to air

244
American movies like Mambo, Rock Around the Clock, and The Americano. 395 Koreans were

already absorbing the sounds of American pop, and while they rarely performed the music for

Korean audiences, a number of Korean singers and groups found they could have steady and

relatively lucrative engagements at the American military base in Seoul-- called Mipalgun

(American Eighth Army) in Korean—performing at the Mipalgun-shyo (American Eighth Army

Show) for the American solders. During the 1950s and the 1960s, because it was expensive to

invite the pop stars from America to Korea, Mipalgun mostly hired local singers/groups who

could play the popular music genres of America at that time, including jazz, mambo, cha-cha-

cha, tango, swing, rock and roll, boogie-woogie, and twist. Because of its good pay, many

Korean musicians and dancers who were performing at the clubs around the base after the

Korean War, competed to be selected for the Mipalgun-shyo and the competitive conditions

improved their performance skills. Many of the Korean singers and groups used English words

or American sounding names in their stage names, such as the Kim Sisters, the Lee Sisters, the

Chông Sisters, the Pearl Sisters, the Kim Trio, Johnny Brothers, the Kim Brothers, the Arirang

Brothers, Patty Kim, Frankie Son, Monica Yu, and Hiky Shin. 396 Among them, the Kim Sisters

(a female trio) was especially popular in the 1950s and the early 1960s, leading to their concert

in America in 1960 and introduced in some American magazines including Life. 397 The trio

learned to play some traditional Korean instruments to add more variety to their show in

America, and they often wore Chinese-style dresses besides wearing western-style dresses and

traditional Korean dresses. 398

395
Roald Maliangkay, “Supporting Our Boys: American Military Entertainment and Korean Pop Music in the 1950s
and early 1960s,” in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental,
2006) pp. 22-23.
396
“Hanguk Pokû ui “Sagam”in Ibaekch’ôn” (Korean Folk’s Supervisor, Ibaekch’ôn), Chosun Ilbo, August. 10.
2005.
397
“Kungnae Ch’ôt Pokôlgûrubun Kim Sisters” (The First Korean Vocal Group was the Kim Sisters), TV Rreport,
July. 28. 2005.
398
“Kim Sisters rûl Asimnikka?” (Do You Know the Kim Sisters?), Herald Business, September. 8. 2006.

245
Figure 6.2 Korean female trio Kim Sisters' first album cover, The Kim Sisters: Their First Album (1958,

left) and their American concert photo in the cover of American magazine, Life (1960, right)

As the Korean broadcasting system began to develop in the 1960s, some of these singers

and groups began to appear on Korean radio and later television. Until the 1960s, besides the

remake versions of American pop songs, many Korean songs also took English words, often

related to the American popular culture of the period, for song titles, such as “Ulrûngdo

Tûwisûtû” (“Ulrûng-Island Twist”), “Hawaiian Hula Agassi” (“Hawaiian Hula Lady”),

“Noraegarak Ch’ach’ach’a” (“Singing-Melody Cha-Cha-Cha”), “Ch’eri Pingkû Mambo”

(“Cherry Pink Mambo”), “Kutpai Chon” (“Good-Bye John”), “Kuiyôun Peibi” (“Cute Baby”),

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“Appanûn Madorosû” (“Sailor Dad”), and Pûrabo Haebyûngdae” (“Bravo Marine Force”),

“Amerikan Madorosû” (“American Sailor”). 399

Among the singers and groups from the Mipalgun-shyo, the singer Shin Chung-Hyun,

who debuted as Hiky Shin in 1955 at the Mipalgun, came to be considered as the master of rock

music in Korea. 400 Since the 1950s, from the Mipalgun-shyo period, Shin Jung-Hyun has

focused on rock music as he formed various rock bands playing at the clubs, including Add 4

(1963), Donkeys (1966), Shin Jung-Hyun Big Band (1968), Question (1970), The Men (1972),

Shin Jung-Hyun kwa Yôpjôndûl (Shin Jung-Hyun and Coins, 1973), Shin Jung-Hyun kwa

Myujikpawô (Shin Jung-Hyun and Music-power, 1980), and Shin Jung-Hyun kwa Se Nagûne

(Shin Jung-Hyun and Three Wanderers, 1983). 401 Besides his long career as a rock musician, his

constant conflicts with the authoritarian Korean government of Park Chung-Hee over his

involvement with the Taemach’o Sagôn (lit., the “Marijuana Incident”) in the 1974 won him

respect among some young Koreans (mostly college students from that period) as the most

resistant rock musician. 402 Among the many musicians involved with the Taemach’o Sagôn, he

was the most severely punished by the government, serving four years in prison. Furthermore,

most of his songs were banned until 1987. 403

Another famous singer from the Mipalgun sho, Patty Kim, became very popular as a

mainstream singer in the early 1970s as she joined with the composer Kil Ok-Yun, who had

played saxophone at the Mipalgun sho). 404 Kil Ok-Yun, who produced a number of hit songs in

399
“Kayo Pangmulgwan” (Korean Popular Music Museum), Asea, 10 CDs, January. 2006.
400
His mother was a Japanese.
401
“Shin Jung-Hyun, Rogûn Ch’am Yeppûn Umak” (Shin Jung-Hyun, Rock is Very Beautiful Music), My Daily,
July. 6. 2006.
402
The Taemach’o Sagôn (lit., the “Marijuana Incident”) in the 1974 was not only related to the folk song or rock
music musicians but also many popular singers who might have been just friends with those involved musicians. It
was also a strong gesture by the government to control the Korean public in general.
403
Lee Hye-Sook and Son Woo-Suk (ed), Korean Popular Music History (Seoul: Ries & Book, 2003) pp. 68-69.
404
Lee Young-Mee. Hanguk Taejung Kayosa (The History of Korean Popular Music) (Seoul: Sigongsa, 1998) p.
152.

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the 1960s and the 1970s, took elements from swing jazz and used them in the folk-song and

t’ûrot’û style songs. 405

After the infamous “Marijuana Incident” in the mid 1970s, many older Koreans began to

consider the contemporary American popular music being introduced through the Mipalgun as

culturally harmful, and Koreans were worried about its bad influence on the youth. Also, the

neighborhoods around American army bases filled with night clubs (where those musicians

performed), bars, and prostitutes (serving the American solders), and earned a bad reputation as

dangerous areas to be around, especially after dark.

In 1978, America’s disco fever was brought by the movie Saturday Night Fever to Korea,

and dance clubs, called Tisûko T’ek/Tit’ek (“Disco Club”), became popular among young

Koreas. Also, in 1978 and 1979, the top band from the Mipalgun sho, Sarang kwa P’yônghwa

(Love and Peace), became very popular in the mainstream as they introduced funky disco style

music by using synthesizer and talk box, which were new to most of the Korean audiences at that

time. 406 Since 1976 the band was the most highly paid band at the Mipalgun sho and the only

Korean band earned “Special AA” from the Mipalgun at the audition. 407 However, the band

Sarang kwa Pyônghwa was banned in 1980 as the band members were caught by smoking

marijuana. 408

In the 1970s and the 1980s, American and European popular music, distinguished from

Korean and other Asian pop as “pap song” in Korean (pronounced almost like the English “pop

song”), was very popular in Korea. In the 1970s, hit songs by the famous duo the Carpenters,

including “For All We Know,” “Superstar,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” and “Yesterday Once

405
Ibid. pp. 60-70.
406
Ibid. pp. 71-72.
407
Ibid. p. 71.
408
“Sarang kwa Pyônghwa” (Love and Peace), Weekly Hankook, November. 1. 2002.

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More,” were very popular in Korea through FM radio. 409 The other popular singers/groups and

songs were Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Deep

Purple’s “Soldier of Fortune,” the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge

over Troubled Water,” the Bee Gees’ “Without You,” Olivia Newton-John’s “Let Me Be There,”

Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.” 410

In the 1980s, American and European pop musicians, including Michael Jackson

(America), Madonna (America), Duran Duran (England), Culture Club (England), and A-Ha

(Sweden) were enormously successful in Korea. After Michael Jackson’s music video “Thriller”

was broadcast on TV in 1983, many young Korean boys practiced his dance steps, and break-

dance--Michael Jackson’s robotic dance and moonwalk movements--became a regular item for

school picnics and festivals throughout the 1980s. The Korean singer Park Nam-Jung gained

national popularity as a dancer-singer due to his skill at imitating Michael Jackson’s dance steps,

and often sang Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” in tuxedo on TV. Madonna’s dancing and

fashion styles were imitated by Kim Wan-Sun, as mentioned discussed in Chapter Two. Besides

the music and style of these American super stars, there were countless English-language popular

songs, mostly by Americans, that Koreans enjoyed and imitated. The following list provides a

sense of the range of international hits in Korea:

Lionel Richie & Diana Ross’s “Endless Love”

Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical”
Richard Sanderson’s “Reality”
Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes’
“Up Where We Belong”

409
The Carpenters’ best album “The Ultimate Collection” was newly released in March, 2007 in Korea. “Pop
Atisûtû, Capentôjû” (Pop Artist, the Carpenters), Herald Business, March. 2. 2007.
410
“ABBA Noraenûn Chigûm Tûrôdo Sinsônhada” (ABBA’s Music Is Fresh Even Today), Newsweek Korea,
January. 16. 2007; Lee Hye-Sook and Son Woo-Suk (ed), Korean Popular Music History (Seoul: Ries & Book,
2003) pp. 192-194; http://pops.pe.kr/ (accessed February. 16. 2007); http://www.oldpop.net/ (accessed February. 16.
2007); http://www.yetpop.com/ (accessed February. 16. 2007).

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 Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry”
Alan Parsons Project’s “Eye in the Sky”
ToTo’s “Africa,”
The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”
The Scorpions’ “Still Loving Young”
Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus”
Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”
Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You”
Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer”
Boston’s “Amanda”
Suzanne Vega’s “Luka”
Debbie Gibson’s “Lost in Your Eyes”
New Kids On The Block’s “Step by Step” 411

From the mid 1980s, as American and European pop stars’ music videos became popular,

some Korean TV programs broadcast those music videos with commentary by Korean VJs. 412

More importantly, FM radio offered many programs exclusively devoted to the popular songs

from America and Europe, and many young Koreans listened to the programs on a regular basis.

For example, KBS Radio’s “Hwang In-Yong ui Yôngpapsû (Hwang In-Yong’s Young Pops)”

and “Kim Kwang-Han ûi Papsû Taial (Kim Kwang-Han’s Pops Dial)” and MBC Radio’s “Park

Won-Ung kwa Hamkke (With Park Won-Ung)” and “Kim Ki-Dôk ûi 2 si ûi Teit’û (Kim Ki-

Dôk’s Date at 2 o’clock)” were very popular, broadcasting songs by listener request and also the

latest hit songs from the American Billboard charts.413 Pirated cassettes of these popular stars’

albums, as well as compilation cassettes, were sold everywhere; and illegally imported or copied

LPs were sold on the black market. Their photos were sold everywhere, and magazines often

offered big bromides of those pop stars’ latest pictures. There were some music magazines that

only covered popular songs from America and Europe, including Wolgan Papsong (Monthly Pop

411
“80nyôndae Papsong kwa Atiutûdûl” (80s’ Popular Songs and Artists) at
http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/dol5153/943394; http://www.mufree.com/bbs/board.php; “Ultimate 80s Songs” at
http://www.afn.org/~afn30091/80songs.html. (all accessed February. 16. 2007).
412
Lee Hye-Sook and Son Woo-Suk (ed), op. cit. pp. 195-197.
413
“80 nyôndae Radio Pap Pûrogûraemdûl Kûrigo 80nyôndae Chôngsô” (80s’ Radio Pop Programs and 80s’
Sentiment) at http://www.emh.co.kr/xhtml/eighties.html (accessed February. 16. 2007).

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Songs) and Ûmak Segye (Music World), which disappeared in the late 1980s as American and

European popular songs receded in popularity in Korea. 414 It was around this time that the

quality of Korean popular music production, especially palladû kayo, became quite sophisticated

both in terms of studio recording quality and in the level of sophistication in the packaging of

albums, and Korea’s booming economy stimulated young Koreans’ consumerism in Korea.

Young Koreans began to spend their allowances on local pop stars’ albums, and the broadcasting

and sales of Korean popular music increased significantly.

From the late 190s, with the downturn in the popularity of Western pop in Korea, Hong

Kong pop took its place. Although since the late 1970s, Hong Kong action movies (most of

them starring Jackie Chan) and ghost/fantasy movies were popular in Korea in the late 1970s, as

in the rest of Asia, Hong Kong’s popular musicians did not begin to gain popularity in Korea

until a decade later. Super-star actor-singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan, including Leslie

Cheung, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, and Jin Cheng Woo (Kaneshiro Takeshi in Japanese) were

the rage in Korea from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Among them, Leslie Cheung and Andy

Lau, were particularly popular in Korea among many Korean girls. Their songs as well as

original sound tracks were available cheaply through pirated cassettes and LPs on the black

market, and fashion and movie magazines constantly introduced news about these stars. Leslie

Cheung even appeared in Korean TV commercials, including a chocolate commercial, in which

he also sang the commercial’s song. In 1989 Leslie Cheung gave a big concert in Seoul joined

by Korean star singer Lee Sun-Hee, with thousands of young Koran girls lining up from the early

morning and waiting long hours for tickets on a rainy day. Besides his good looks, his soft voice

and sexy dance were beloved by many Korean fans through the early 1990s.

414
Ibid.

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 Since the early 1990s, as American hip-hop and rap music was being introduced by Seo

Taiji, mainstream Korean popular music became two-fold: taensû (dance) and palladû (ballad)

styles, both often containing sections of rap interposed between the main melodic parts. At first,

Seo Taiji’s adaptation of hip-hop and rap music was criticized by older singers and popular

music critics because it was obviously an imitation of American black music culture. Soon

thereafter the media and the older generation began to complain about his lyrics, which became

critical and cynical about Korean society and educational system. Nevertheless, hip-hop culture

and rap music began to dominate not only mainstream popular music in Korea, but also the

underground music scene there throughout the 1990s. Besides rap music, Seo Taiji’s adaptation

of rock, heavy metal, gangster rap, house, and rave genres into his music from 1992 to 1995

were highly influential, and were imitated by many Korean singers and groups after his initial

retirement in 1996.

In the mid 1990s American popular music still had a strong presence in Korea. As music

television made its first inroads into Korea in the late 1990s, foreign pop was dominant, but

receding, and by the early 2000s, popular music performed by Koreans, with Korean lyrics took

over—albeit heavily and obviously influenced by a range of foreign popular musical styles,

whether coming directly from America or from Japan. Even the international music television

stations in Korea, MTV Korea and Channel [V] Korea, devoted most of their airtime to Korean

pop, though with continued coverage of Western pop 415 and, after 2004, adding new shows

devoted to Japanese pop. Though some Koreans all too easily judged this turn of events to be

both an economic and a cultural triumph for Korea, augmented by the Korean Wave boom in

China and then in Japan, the issue of foreign presence in the popular cultural world of

415
On Korean music television, see R. Anderson Sutton’s “Bounded Variation? Music Television in South Korea”
in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) pp. 208-
220.

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contemporary Korea remains a contested issue, as it bears on Korean’s individual cultural

identity, national pride, and economic well-being. In the final section of this chapter, we take an

interpretive look at the meanings of Japan’s presence in Korea, seen primarily through Japanese

popular music.

6.3 THE NEW “PRESENCE” OF JAPAN IN KOREA AND KOREAN

PERCEPTIONS: POSTCOLONIAL DESIRE

In this section I discuss Koreans’ current perceptions about Japan, about its popular music and

culture, and about Korean fans themselves and their consumption of Japanese popular culture in

order to trace which factors appeal to Koreans. Based on fans’ remarks, we can readily identify

cuteness, overt sexiness, hybridity, instrumental playing ability, polished recording production,

approachability, and amateurish personae as main reasons. The new presence of Japan in Korea

is accepted by many young Koreans who desire access to Japanese cultural products but not to

Japanese cultural identity. That is, anticolonialist or anti-Japanese discourse is considered as an

obsolescent idea for many Koreans as they have begun to change their cultural attitudes toward

Japanese popular culture and music, although this change is not shared unanimously.

Popular music consumption has always depended on desire. Most directly, we can point

to the desire of the listener to hear the music (live on stage, broadcast on radio, TV, or internet),

and the desire of the listener to “own” the music on recording and thereby to “control” his or her

access to it. As popular musicians and music industry producers and marketers have come to

know very well over the last century, the stimuli that induce listeners to become paying

consumers, the very basis of the music industry, incorporate numerous factors beyond the

musical sound. Most obvious is the physical appeal of the musicians, as they appear in action on

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stage and as they appear in various media: promotional photographs, album covers, television

appearances, and internet websites. And with elaborate video projection equipment now routine

at many live concerts in Korea and Japan, as well as many other countries around the globe, the

distinction between “live” and “mediated” is growing ever more fuzzy.

Considering Japanese popular music over the last several decades, it is certainly clear that

Japanese music producers paid very close attention to a popular musician’s total image, with

singing and musical abilities often less important than physical appearance and public

personality. Japanese idol culture is a quintessential culmination of this approach. Successfully

established, an idol star can project a friendly amateurish personality, that is—perhaps

ironically—enormously effective in its power to lure the zealous adoration of fans, who think

little of spending recklessly on everything from concert tickets to CDs and related products.

In Japan itself, the music industry has effectively marketed idol stars for decades, but at

the same time remained open to a wide variety of musical genres (from bubblegum music to

noise music) and popular musician images (from cute to threatening). 416 It is our task in this

final section to inquire into current attitudes held by Koreans about Japan and its popular culture

(as such and in Korea?) and to scrutinize and question critically the factors accounting for

Japanese popular music’s appeal in Korea, weighing it against the appeal of other popular music,

foreign and domestic.

416
Bubblegum music is a genre of popular music that is characterized by its simple harmony, danceable beat,
childish lyrics, and catchy melody. Noise music uses unconventional, “non-musical” sounds in combinations that
sound cacophonous and grating, representing a kind of “anti-music” that is enjoyed for its oppositionality, among a
small but devoted fan base.

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6.3.1 Pro-Japanese Popular Culture vs. Anti-Japan/Japanese in Korea

The popular Korean portal website Daum (serving 37 million members) offers “debate rooms”

(called T’oronbang in Korean) where various topics are discussed and argued. Debate rooms are

correlated to different nationality rooms, including “Japan room” (Ilbonbang in Korean). Almost

any topic can be debated, but those related to any aspect of relations between Korea and Japan

often lead to heated and extreme exchanges. In many of those cases, the “debate room” becomes

a kind of “war zone” between those who are pro-Japanese popular culture and those who are

anti-Japanese popular culture and anti-Japanese in general. Most of those who are pro-Japanese

popular culture claim that they are not necessary pro-Japanese and what they like is not the

Japanese nation or the Japanese people, but simply Japanese popular culture, which they

consider to be more advanced, diverse, and of higher quality than Korean popular culture.

Furthermore, many of them express a belief that anti-Japan/anti-Japanese Koreans would like

Japanese popular culture if they knew more about it. In contrast, those who are anti-

Japan/Japanese criticize the pro-Japanese popular culture Koreans as people without national

self-respect.

Japanese words and Japanized English words have been widely used in Korea. As more

Japanese popular cultural products have become available in Korea since the late 1990s, many

Japanese words related to popular culture have become common on the internet and in daily

conversation among many young Koreans. Among these, the word “otaku,” which refers to

people who are overly obsessive with anything (from anime and manga to idol stars) to an

extreme level, has become a common term in Korea. While in Japan the word otaku has a

negative connotation, both fans and anti-fans of Japanese popular culture in Korea seem to use

the word otaku to refer to those fans of Japanese popular culture who believe that they are

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experts, in a rather positive sense. There are a few other words used to refer to them, including

Chepaen Maenia (“Japan Mania,” i.e., fans who are zealous “maniacs,” in a positive sense) and

Ilppa (from Ilbone Ppajin, lit., “being addicted to Japan/fallen for Japan,” which is usually used

by the anti-Japanese Korean fans in a negative sense).

On January 22, 2006, web ID “Arasô Saenggakagil” (lit., “Think Whatever You Want

to”) posted a long message entitled “Otaku ûi Siljewa Ilbon ûi Hyônsil” (“Facts on Otaku and the

Reality of Japan”). 417 It was viewed 109,219 times, and 593 postings (kkoritmal or taetgûl in

Korean) had appeared as of March 18, 2007. In the message, “Arasô Saenggakagil” criticized

Korea’s Ilppa people categorically as hopeless. Based on his/her experience living in Japan,

“Arasô Saenggakagil” explained how even Japanese look down on otaku people in Japan and

stressed how the otaku Korean do not really understand Japan and Japanese society, which can

be as conservative as Korea. Also, he/she pointed out that Korean people’s indirect contact with

Japan through Japanese popular culture should not be considered as if they were looking at the

real Japan or Japanese people. He/she stressed that the real Japan is not a fantasy world as

represented by anime and manga. People who agreed with the message posted:

“I also think they are really hopeless. They should be able to distinguish good
and bad instead of being obsessed with Japanese pop stars and manga and
even proud of themselves.”

“I saw a kosûpûre (Cosplay/Costume Play) event here in Korea. I couldn’t

believe those elementary kids were wearing all kinds of weird costume and
kept saying Japanese words kawaii (cute) to each other.” 418

“What you said is true and it’s sad and embarrassing.”

“Ilppa don’t know how cheesy they look.”

417
“Otaku ui Silchewa Ilbon ui Hyônsil” (“Facts on Otaku and Reality of Japan”) at C:\Documents and
Settings\Owner\Desktop\ch6 source 2\otaku 593.htm (accessed February. 17. 2007).
418
Kosupure is showing off characters by dressing like the characters from manga, anime, games, movies, pop stars,
and so on.

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 “I live in Japan too and I feel really embarrassed when those Koreans come to
Japan and talk about how much they love Japanese anime and manga all the
time. I think in fact most Japanese must look down on them.”

“I like Japanese anime and manga too, but when I look at those Ilppa or otaku
I can’t say anything.”

As noted by Berger and Huntington, “language is a crucial factor in this cultural diffusion,” 419

and Koreans’ easy access to Japanese sources in the internet has been very important force of

disseminating Japanese popular culture and related words in Korea. Besides the fact that

Japanese has been the second most popular foreign language to learn in Korea and the two

languages share many linguistic similarities, an automatic translating internet program has been

available for free in Korea since the late 1990s, by which any Japanese website can be instantly

converted to Korean and also the other way around. For example, any Japanese song lyrics can

be translated into Korean with one click, which has led users to be able to access the textual

meaning and messages in the song.

“Arasô Saenggakagil”’s message was criticized by many Koreans--not only by the

devoted fans but also by people who do not consider themselves to be Ilppa or otaku and who

also understand the bad implication of the Japanese word otaku but just simply enjoy Japanese

manga and anime. These people were disturbed by its specific point on anime and manga, which

have been the most popular and oldest products of Japanese popular culture in Korea. Some

examples from the interchanges are given below:

“I like anime and manga but I’m not crazy. They are popular all over the
world.”

419
Peter L. Berger and Samuel P. Hunington, eds. Many Globalizations: Cultural Diversity in the Contemporary
World. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) p. 3.

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 “Didn’t you watch any anime and manga? Everybody likes them so what’s
the problem?”

“If Japan is really not good, then why do so many Koreans try to learn
Japanese? Speaking English is a good thing so why not Japanese?”

“Japanese anime is internationally famous. It’s a high art.”

“I like Japanese anime and manga and dramas and music also. Most Korean
stuff has copied its Japanese counterparts, which we should be more ashamed
of.”

“Arasô Saenggakagil”’s message and its responses prove how serious and emotional

Koreans can be in relation to Japanese popular culture. Iwabuchi argued that “a sense of

yearning for Japan is still not aroused in Asia, because what is appreciated, unlike American

popular culture, is still not an image or idea of Japan but simply a materialistic consumer

commodity.” 420 However, as we can see from those replies, some Koreans clearly reveal a sense

of respect and yearning toward Japanese popular culture, whereas at the same time it is

troublesome and disturbing for many anti-Japan/Japanese Koreans. It seems that there is a

growing sense of desire and respect for Japan and Japan’s image is gradually improving in Korea

despite strong opposition, and that is why it matters to many Koreans who do not want to

acknowledge this change. Korea’s newly raised nationalistic attitude can be interpreted as a

resistant response to this newest manifestation of yearning for “things Japanese.” At the same

time, Korean’s cultural contacts with Japanese have increased, and many Koreans have begun to

discover the strong sense of superiority over Korea that a significant number of Japanese still

harbor as former colonizers and as citizens of the richest country in Asia, an attitude which

invigorates Koreans’ antagonism. It is still early to say whether the sense of yearning or respect

for Japan is a different from that for America or not, since Japanese popular culture has only

420
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 34.

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recently been legally imported to Korea, giving Koreans comparable access and potential for

familiarity as that enjoyed for decades by American popular culture.

Until the early 1990s, being pro-Japan/pro-Japanese anything in public was to risk

confrontation and trouble in Korea, regardless of whether the particular person, issue, or thing

might be ethically or politically positive or not. Korea’s strong nationalistic antagonism against

Japan did not allow anything but anti-Japan/Japanese opinion in public. However, as the official

opening process was declared and Koreans increasingly accessed Japanese popular music and

cultural products they fully knew to be Japanese, through the internet and through television and

radio broadcast and CD sales, people have freely experienced Japanese popular culture as never

before. Korean youth especially, growing up in an economically developed Korea, with parents

who themselves were born after the colonial era, have become separated from the nation’s

political and emotional conflicts with Japan and attached instead to Japan as cultural consumers.

These Korean consumers of Japanese popular culture often rationalize their consuming behavior

as the same as consumption of American or any other foreign popular cultural products.

However, anti-Japan/Japanese Koreans do not agree with the rationalization, instead feeling

disturbed by what they see, vehemently, as a loss of national pride and identity by Koreans with

positive attitudes towards Japanese popular culture.

The photos below were posted on March, 16, 2007 by a Daum user “hirata” (a Korean

student living in Japan).421 Within two days, the photos were viewed by 414,807 people and 349

replies were posted, and the numbers kept increasing. The title of the post is “Ilbon

‘Akihabara’esô Mannan T’ûgihan!! “Ajôssi”…” (Unique Man I Met in Akihabara, Japan…).

Hirata described how surprised he was to see the middle-age Japanese man in the Sailor Moon-

421
“Ilbon “Akihabara”esô Mannan T’ûgihan!! “Ajôssi”…” (Unique Man I Met in Akihabara, Japan…).
http://bbs5.worldn.media.daum.net/griffin/do/photo/read?bbsId=201&articleId=80893&pageIndex=1&searchKey=
&searchValue (accessed March. 16. 2007).

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like school uniform-costume on a weekday morning playing Play Station 3 at Akihabara, a

famous shopping district in Tokyo that sells electronic, computer, anime, and character goods. 422

Figure 6.3 Japanese man playing Play Station 3 at Akihabara (left) and his another photo showing him

wearing the famous anime character Sailor Moon-like girl's school uniform (2007, right)

The hundreds of responses showed two contrasting opinions: “crazy” and “unique.” While most

of the negative responses used the words like crazy, scary, sick, abnormal, incomprehensible,

disgusting, and perverted, most of the positive responses used the words like unique, cool, cute,

courageous, freedom-loving, creative, funny, progressive, and enviable. I would suggest that

those words not only represent what they think about the man in the photos but also explain what

Koreans think about Japan, Japanese, and Japanese popular culture in general. Some of the

positive responses were:

422
Sailor Moon is a popular manga character, which is a magical girl.

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 “It’s so unique and cool. This is why Japan is an advanced country.”

“He looks so cute.”

“It’s up to his taste. People should not discriminate against different culture.”

“I think Japan is really open-minded. Sometimes, I really envy their freedom.”

“He must be so brave!”

“I envy his courage. I hope to visit there sometime.”

“I wish I could do that kind of thing in Korea, but I don’t have that kind of
courage.”

“Their creative and unique elements became the driving force for achieving
such an advanced country. People should overcome their fixed ideas.”

Based on these replies, we can see that the images of Japan as unique, cool, advanced, and

confident in attitude were delivered through the Japanese popular cultural products to many

young Koreans, who could not find enough uniqueness or coolness from within their own

country and its popular culture. Thus, for those Koreans, the anti-Japan/Japanese Koreans’

nationalistic view is considered as old-fashioned and nonproductive.

6.3.2 Korea’s Japanese Popular Music Fans Converse on the Internet

Since most of the consumption by young Koreans of popular cultural products, and of Japanese

popular music in particular, has become online-based, it is difficult to evaluate the patterns of

their consumer behavior based on rankings or downloading numbers, as the statistics can be very

different site by site. However, by tracing what the devoted Korean fans of Japanese popular

music have to say to other fellow Japanese pop lovers or to the people who criticize their pro-

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Japanese popular cultural behavior, we can find very current evidence of some aspects of the

“new presence” of Japan in Korea and Korean perception thereof.

One of the popular portal websites, Naver’s subdivision Naver Japan has been offering

Enjoy Japan service, which both Korean and Japanese have been interactively using since 2000,

even though it is a Korean website. With the automatic language conversion tool mentioned

previously, both Korean and Japanese can post and read their messages and replies in both

languages. In some cases, both Korean and Japanese users verbal attacks and defenses get quite

ugly and the message board becomes vitriolic war zone between the two countries. The

“Japanese Music” community of Enjoy Japan has been a place for Korean fans and some

Japanese users to share their messages and replies about certain Japanese artists and songs.

Although this community’s board also often foments “verbal war” between the two nationals, as

the restriction on usage of words has become relatively tightened now, Korean users try to keep

the community clean and to focus on musical issues only.

Among the innumerable kinds of questions and answers by both Korean and Japanese

users, I will describe some of the most interesting and relevant ones, which show Korean’s

perceptions about certain genres of Japanese popular music and musicians. On March 3, 2007,

for example, Japanese user “ub777” posted a question “Wae Hagugindûri Choahajyô?” (“Why

Do Koreans Like [Japanese pop]?”) with a video file of Japanese rock band Ellegarden’s “Fire

Cracker,” which was in English. 423 The Japanese rock band Ellegarden has been popular in

Korea and had a concert in Korea September 29, 2006. The musical sound was almost identical

to American rock music. Korean fans answered:

423
http://enjoyjapan.naver.com/tbbs/read.php. “Wae Hagugindûri Choahajyô?” (“Why Do Koreans Like [Japanese
pop]?” (accessed March. 18. 2007).

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 “I think Japanese rock bands’ vocal techniques are really horrible. I can’t
stand the vocal part but the instrumentalists’ performance is really excellent.
That’s why I like the band.”

“I think the band is not musically better than Korean rock bands. I think
Korean singers sing better than Japanese. But, Japanese know how to make
their concert so fun, and the singer’s face’s so cute too.”

“I like the band’s performance techniques and looks but not the vocal part.
Japanese can’t sing.”

In this case, the Korean fans seem to like Japanese versions of localized American rock music

more than Korean versions of localized American rock music. Japanese band’s skillful

performance and sophisticated stage manner seem appealing to those fans.

On February 18, 2007, Korean user “sellys09” post a message “Ilbonûn Aidoriranûn

Changrûga Ttaro itta?” (“Idol Music Is a Separate Genre?”). “sellys09” said:

“I often see that people compare Korean and Japanese idols, which I don’t
think necessary. Since Japan’s aesthetic values are different from Korea’s,
Japanese idol’s lack of singing techniques should not be criticized. Also, in
Korea, as we do not even use the word to refer a certain genre, we really do
not compare the Japanese idol singers to young Korean singers in Korea.”

Korean users replied:

“I don’t care about idols’ singing at all. Only ‘looks’ are important.”

“I think Korean idols seem commercially less elaborated. I feel they just work
hard but lack of variety. Japanese idols are well-packaged normal people.
They are short and not pretty, just act cute.”

“They just need to be cute and sexy. If you want vocal technique, you need to
listen to classical music.”

“In my opinion, Korean idols are music-centered although they began to

expand their careers to other entertainment genres. But, they are still
considered as singers. Japanese idols also sing and dance, but they participate

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 in many different entertainment genres. In any case, for them, I think their
expression of cuteness and happiness is more important. If they can sing well
like Kinki Kids, then even better though…”

In this case, the Japanese female idols’ cuteness and youthful looks and behavior, which have

been pointed by many scholars, seem also to constitute the main, or at least the most obvious,

reasons for their popularity in Korea. 424 However, the idea of “life-sized” persona, so often

attributed to Japanese idol stars, might not be a factor in Korea, since most Korean fans do not

have direct contact with the idols. It seems to me that what they like about Japanese pop female

idols is really no different from what they like about anime and manga characters. Traditionally,

Koreans have appreciated “beauty” and “prettiness” more than “cuteness” in general. However,

as Japan’s well-packaged “cute” culture began to penetrate into Korea via anime, manga, and

character goods like Hello Kitty in the 1970s, the positive value placed on “cuteness” in general

seemed to increase as well. Buying cute products used to be only for children, but not anymore.

People in their 20s and 30s, especially young mothers, also buy cute products for themselves,

and they do not consider such consuming behavior as a kind of “Peter Pan syndrome” since it is

so common.

Among the popular female singers, discussions on Amuro Namie are focused on

somewhat more on musical matters than her image and personality. Besides her pretty and sexy

looks, her singing ability while she dances, especially at live concerts, has been frequently

discussed among the fans. As many Koreans point out, most Korean singers (if they also dance)

have been doing lip-sync on TV and even at concerts, until recently. Thus Amuro Namie’s live

singing ability, which is almost the same live as on her CDs, has been highly praised by Korean

audiences. Her fans state:

424
Aoyagi, Craig 2000, Iwabuchi 2002, Ng 2002.

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 “I love her. She’s so pretty and she’s a good singer too. When I listened to her
live concert CDs, I got goose-bumps.”

“I’ve been listening to her 1996 album for more than 10 years. I’m still not
sick of it.”

“I like her songs a lot. She’s pretty and can sing so well.”

“She’s really outstanding among the Japanese female singers. She really can
sing!”

“Her voice is so in control even when she dances hard.”

“I think she is a really artist. She always works so hard. I can’t believe that
she is a mother…” 425

Among the many posts investigated for this study, relatively few addressed the

“Japaneseness” of the singers or their sound, tending instead to focus directly on a particular

singer or song. Yet we have seen above that some have addressed issues of cuteness and

packaging, attributing these qualities to Japanese stars, or as originally Japanese before being

imitated by Koreans. One even mentioned different “aesthetic values” between Korea and

Japan.

These responses, in fact, are in accord with the factors identified by scholars investigating

Japanese pop and its appeal elsewhere in Asia, as well as in Japan itself. I would like to review

and comment on these factors now in order to probe a bit further into the cultural significance of

Japanese popular music’s presence in Korea.

425
http://enjoyjapan.naver.com/tbbs/list.php?board_id=tj (accessed March. 17. 2007).

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6.3.3 Korean Desire for Japanese Popular Music and “Things Japanese”

As I have suggested earlier, even an infatuation with Japanese popular music does not

necessarily carry with it an embrace of all things Japanese. Yet as more and more Korean

listeners not only become exposed to the sounds of Japanese music with full awareness of its

Japanese origins—both through its cultural “odor” and through explicit labeling in the post

Open-Door Policy era—they inevitably form opinions about its qualities and characteristics as

constituting aspects of “Japaneseness.” Earlier in this chapter I outlined the important stages in

the American popular musical presence in Korea, and this presence certainly remains strong.

Most Koreans are savvy enough to realize that much of the music now performed by Korean

stars—taensû and palladû—has its stylistic roots in American popular music, even if palladû

bears intermediary influences from China and Japan. Despite America’s accelerating loss of

stature and respect worldwide based on its militaristic foreign policy and its particular political

differences with the South Korean government, Koreans mostly retain a sense of admiration for

American popular culture, including most of its musical styles. The evidence is overwhelming,

not only in the airtime on radio and television devoted to American and other Western singers

and groups, and large sections for their music albums in CD stores, but also in the ongoing and

pervasive stylistic imitation of American popular music genres by Korean musicians. The basic

instrumentation, harmonic vocabulary, song structures, and ethos are all quite clearly American-

derived. Nevertheless, the image projected by many American stars is not particularly attractive

to all, or even most, Koreans. The rough, rude, in-your-face attitude of many groups,

particularly in the metal-rock, gangster-rap, and punk music categories, would seem the ultimate

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anathema to Korea’s Confucian values, but these genres of music have small but devoted, even

zealous, followings among some Koreans.426

6.3.3.1 Physical and Racial Resemblance

If we ask about Korean desire in relation to American popular culture, we inevitably must

confront the issue of identity. Just as white teenagers in Great Britain and America found it

much more appealing to hear and see blues songs performed by young white British and

American pop stars, from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to Joe Cocker and Janis Joplin, in large

measure because of physical (i.e., racial) similarity, Koreans have found appeal in popular music

performed by Koreans and by other Asians who resemble them most closely (Chinese and

Japanese). In fact, in part due to physical and cultural contrasts, and in part due to strong

stereotypes projected in the American media, Koreans tend to feel more comfortable with and

“similar to” white Americans than black Americans. In other words, Korean desire in the realm

of American popular music and its star personalities, leans much more strongly towards white

than towards black Americans, even if the white Americans are taking much of their musical

style and dance movement vocabulary from black Americans.

In fact, in a more general sense, authenticity is not the issue for most Koreans, any more

than it is in most other Asian countries or in the West. Remarking on the case of Japan’s place in

Asian transnationalism, Iwabuchi draws attention to the

apparent ambivalence in such nationalistic claims concerning Japanese

cultural export, as they occur within the context of accelerated transnational
cultural flows, which have gradually made it difficult, and possibly

426
On the punk scene in Seoul, see Stephen Epstein’s “Anarchy in the UK, Solidarity in the ROK: Punk Rock
Comes to Korea.” Acta Koreana, 3: 1-34, 2000 and “We Are The Punx in Korea” in in Korean Pop Music: Riding
the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (Kent, England: Global Oriental, 2006) pp. 190-207, as well as the documentary
video by Epstein and Timothy R. Tangherlini, Our Nation: A Korean Punk Rock Community (New York: Filmakers
Library, 2001).

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 insignificant, to specify the original source of transnationally circulated
cultural products in the first place. 427

Not only are the American stylistic origins of much Japanese popular music not readily

acknowledged, but even its performance by Japanese stars may not necessarily be known by the

consumers, particularly in the case of “cover” versions and pirated music. Yet when Korean

consumers can see pop musicians, performing on stage, on television, or on the internet, posing

on album covers and in magazines, the physical appearance of these musicians inevitably plays

an important, often critical, role in their popularity. For, like the white teenagers in the USA and

Great Britain, Koreans also fantasize about the pop music stars they encounter—as potential role

models, to be emulated, as imaginary girl friend or boy friend. Where a popular song performed

by an American singer or group might be appealing “musically,” a Korean or Japanese

performing the same or similar song is likely to be more appealing overall to most Korean

audiences.

6.3.3.2 Polished Production, Instrumental Performance Skills, and Hybridity

If physical resemblance is an important factor, as I believe it is, and as a number of cultural

theorists have argued, then the appeal of Japanese popular music stars in Korea requires

additional interpretation. If Koreans can cover American pop songs and imitate American pop

styles quite well, what need is there for Japanese popular musicians? As we have seen in the

case of Hong Kong, so some Korean consumers would, in fact, question the ability their local

popular musicians to rank as “world-class” or “top-notch.” While opinions inevitably vary from

individual to individual and will be different depending on the particular singer or group in

427
Iwabuchi, op. cit. p. 15.

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question, one does find a pervasive sense among Koreans that American pop is the global

benchmark and that Japan has developed an excellence in popular music and culture that

represents a regional benchmark in Asia. While Japanese singers may at times be rather

mediocre, the quality of their instrumental performance and the quality of their recordings is

second to none.

If Japan were merely copying and, as Iwabuchi has put it, “domesticating” the West for

itself and for the rest of Asia, we might wonder at the degree of its success transnationally.

However, we have seen how Japan has developed its own approach to pop star production—

primarily idols, but carrying over to other stars as well—and how it has developed its own self

image as quintessentially postmodern, nurturing and disseminating its hybrid musical mixes, its

carefree, unpretentious sounds and frivolous fashions, amateurish and approachable rather than

pompous and professional public personae, not merely as commercial product but as

“Japaneseness” itself. 428 And it appears that other Asians, including Koreans, are perceiving the

sounds, the images, and the ethos behind them as “Japanese.”

6.3.3.3 Cuteness and Amateurish Personae

To review the qualities especially noted, we would necessarily begin with “cuteness”—evident

not only in the idol stars who are scarcely old enough to be anything else, but also in the

personalities of older Japanese popular musicians. Closely related to the notion of “cuteness” is

the amateurish, unpretentious, approachable, “life-size” personality they exude in their

appearances on television talk shows and even in conversing with audiences during their stage

428
Miyoshi Masao and H. D. Harootunian, eds. Postmodernism and Japan (Durham: Duke University Press, 1989).

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acts. Innocence, wholesomeness, and docility combine with this amateurish cuteness to make

these stars the absolute opposite of scary or threatening.

In the introduction to his book on Japanese popular culture, Craig notes that, while “not

all Japan pop is high quality—far from it” Japanese popular cultural products enjoy a reputation

for high quality, based on a long tradition of meticulous attention to detail, in craftsmanship and

manufacture. 429 He goes on to suggest a number of characteristics accounting for the Japanese

popular culture’s success, domestically and internationally:

One is that Japan pop wholeheartedly embraces life in all its dimensions, with
relatively little in the way of efforts to shield its audience from unpleasant
aspects of life or to ‘raise’ people to more noble or politically correct
standards…. As the Italian scholar Fosco Maraini writes: ‘The Japanese, both
in work and relaxation, enjoy the mere fact of living to the hilt…’ 430

A second notable characteristic of Japan pop content is a strong strain of

idealism, innocence, and what the Japanese call roman (from the word
‘romance’): dreams, daring adventure, striving to achieve great things. On
this point there is a rather sharp contrast with current American pop culture,
with its heavy doses of cynicism, “attitude,” and putting people down. 431

A third feature of Japan’s popular culture is its closeness to the ordinary,

everyday lives of its audience. 432

Another mark of Japan’s pop culture is the frequency with which certain
themes appear in its stories. Human relations are a pervasive topic, as one
would expect from a society that places great importance on the group,
harmony, and the smooth management of conflict. 433

For other Asians, Japan’s pop culture has a resonance that is derived from
ethnic similarity and from shared values, tastes, and traditions. The faces of
Japan’s pop stars and actors resemble their own. 434

429
Timothy J. Craig, eds. Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. (Armonk, NY and London:
M. E. Sharpe, 2000) p. 6.
430
Citing Fosco Maraini. Japan, Patterns of Continuity. (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1972); Craig (2000: 13).
431
Timothy J. Craig, eds. Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. (Armonk, NY and London:
M. E. Sharpe, 2000) p. 13.
432
Ibid.
433
Ibid. p. 14.
434
Ibid. p. 15.

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And addressing Japanese popular music specifically, Craig states that

The hook lines (distinctive musical phrases) and chord structures of Japanese pop music
are particularly agreeable to Oriental tastes. References to other Asian cultures and
traditions also give Japan pop a familiar feel. 435

6.3.3.4 Sex Appeal

Yet there are other dimensions to the appeal of Japanese popular music, and popular culture, in

Korea. X-Japan took hold not because they were cute or their music was wholesome, but

because it was daringly different and refreshingly, even shockingly, outside the mold. As a

homogeneous and largely conformist culture, Korea has not nurtured the kinds of bold

experimentation (whether truly “original” or boldly hybrid) that has taken place in Japan. Along

with this, I should note that Japanese female pop singers, including former idols, such as Amuro

Namie, project an increasingly daring sexuality, wearing skimpy and provocative clothing,

gyrating sexually on stage, and singing in a breathy, sexy tone of voice. This quality is certainly

not unique to Japan, as it has been evident for several decades at least in American popular

music, at least from the early days of Madonna and hip-hop, and is now glaringly apparent in the

styles of some Korean singers, such as Um Jeong-Hwa and Hyori (Lee Hyori).

435
Ibid. p. 16.

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 6.4 SUMMARY REMARKS

It is tempting to suggest that one of the appeals of Japanese pop music and culture to Koreans

lies in the repressed subliminal responses by Koreans to its former colonizer’s culture,

consciously despised but alluring and even irresistible by nature of Japan’s hegemonic

dominance. Yet the evidence does not support this view. Younger Koreans are growing up in a

Korea that clearly has not forgotten Japan’s colonial subjugation of them in the past, and its

denial of that subjugation in the present. But they are not hegemonically under Japan’s spell any

longer. Rather, as pointed out in a scathing appraisal of Korea’s colonized mentality by Choi

Chungmoo, Japan was ousted summarily from Korea in 1945, but almost immediately replaced

by the United States, which remains a colonial presence in Korea. 436 For Choi, it is not a case of

“post-colonial” Korea, but of a continually colonized Korea, a “’postcolonial’ colonialism” 437 --

which is primarily a “colonization of consciousness.” 438 Western modernity is, he argues, so

thoroughly embraced by Koreans that they appropriate an enormous range of devices in an

attempt to claim it and make it their own, but “For those who adopt such a worldview, the lack of

material resources to produce it is tantamount to an admission of one’s own cultural inferiority”--

hence, a clammering by the Korean elite for “meticulously acquiring Western, that is, U.S.

culture.” 439 This has included American popular music, as well as facility in English, American

college or graduate school education, and a tacit (and insidious) acceptance of Western

superiority.

436
Choi Chung Moo, “The Discourse of Decolonization and Popular Memory: South Korea” in The Politics of
Culture in the Shadow of Capital, ed. by Lisa Lowe and David Lloyd. (Durham: Duke University Press, 1997) pp.
461-484.
437
Ibid. p. 465.
438
Ibid. p. 463.
439
Ibid.

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 The yearning for things American continues to be evident among Korea’s younger

generation, but not as strongly as the previous generation, and this difference is partly due to the

rise of Asia—most recently China, but before that Japan, in the post-World War II era (i.e., post-

Japanese colonialism). It is not my intent here to delve deeply into the lingering and

transforming presence of the United States and Western culture more generally in contemporary

Korea. It is, rather, the positioning of Japan that concerns me.

In this context, we might more fruitfully draw on Ella Shohat’s and Robert Stam’s notion

of postcoloniality: “...postcolonial thought stresses deterritorialization, the constructed nature of

nationalism and national borders, and the obsolescence of anticolonialist discourse.” 440 And what

we find among devotees of Japanese popular culture is an embrace of these very notions.

Japanese pop, for many, is not “Japan,” not inextricably tied into a bundle requiring a love or

even acceptance of “things Japanese,” but rather an enjoyable, even deeply satisfying, alternative

or addition to other popular music choices. If cuteness, overt sexiness, hybridity, instrumental

performance skill, polished recording production, and amateurish personae are Japanese, or

portions of a still incomplete and not yet knowable Japan—as many Koreans would seem to

think—they are nevertheless able to enjoy and consume this popular culture as part of their own

hybrid, postcolonial world. They are, one might say, desiring access to Japanese cultural

products, but not to Japanese cultural identity. Even learning Japanese and eating Japanese food

is not a stepping stone to abandoning Korean identity, moving to Japan, or fantasizing oneself to

be Japanese. If anything, the ongoing emigration and growing Korea-towns in greater Los

Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, and other American cities is strong

evidence for the ongoing lure of America. If Japan were open to such migration, it seems

unlikely that many Koreans would choose to move there.

440
Ella Shohat and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media. (London: Routledge,
1994) p. 38.

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 Along with deterritorialization, Shohat and Stam’s identification of the “obsolescence of

anticolonialist discourse” also applies directly to the case of Japan’s presence in Korea. As the

strident anti-Japanese discourse begins to recede, space is made for a newly uncontested

Japanese presence in Korea—no longer illegal, banned, giving rise to shame and secrecy among

those who are drawn to it. Though perhaps trite-sounding amidst ongoing political quibbles, the

perception of popular cultural interchange as a tonic by which longstanding antagonistic feelings

can be put aside is proving to be more than idle rhetoric, even though not all Koreans and not all

Japanese are willing or able to get passed their deep-seated mutual dislike or distrust. Cultural

attitudes rarely change overnight, but the new presence of Japanese popular music and culture in

Korea is, I would contend, contributing to this end.

Korea’s lifting of the ban on Japanese popular culture is so recent, and even now not

complete (still limiting broadcast of Japanese popular music on terrestrial television, for

example), it is far too early to evaluate the most significant ramifications of Japan’s new

presence in Korea. But it is inevitably changing Korean notions of Japan, putting Japanese pop

musicians on a more equal footing with others, domestic and foreign. It is not impossible, or

even unreasonable, to imagine a time in the next decade or two when Japanese pop will finally

have shed its pariah status and enjoy full distribution and consumption privileges in Korea, along

with other popular music. In the concluding chapter that follows, it remains to review the several

historical paths we have traced through this and the previous chapters and to revisit the issues of

cultural hegemony, influence, and change.

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 7.0 CONCLUSION

SUMMARY

In this dissertation, I have traced various aspects of the “presence” of Japan in Korea’s popular

music world from the 1980s to 2006. In chapter one, I outlined four general areas of

investigation in relation to transnational cultural flow of popular music from Japan to Korea that

would provide us important gateways to understand contemporary Korean society and Korean

perceptions on Japan and its popular culture.

The first area of investigation was the kinds of “presence” Japan has had in the

contemporary popular music scene in Korea since the 1980s. I have identified three major shifts

in the presence of Japan in Korea from the 1980s to 2006, the “illegal” presence (from the 1980s

to 1997), the “transitional” presence (from 1998 to 2004), and the “newly sanctioned” presence

(since 2004). As these shifts have altered both the nature and extent of Japan’s presence, from

hidden and relatively little known to legal and widely known, they have also played a crucial role

in shaping Korean perceptions about Japan and had a significant impact on contemporary Korean

society.

The second area of investigation was the external forces that have been instrumental in

shaping Korean’s consumption of Japanese popular music. As we have seen, various forces

from the popular media, including recording, broadcasting, the internet, and print media, have

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created the patterns of Korean’s consumption of Japanese popular music. Unlike the other Asian

countries, however, where the Japanese music industry entered with an entrenched system and

marketing strategy in the 1990s, Korea has been out of Japanese music industry’s direct reach

until the ban on popular music was almost completely lifted in January 2004. Before the lifting

of the ban, which, as we have seen, was inconsistently and insufficiently enforced, the local

music industry and black market illicitly copied songs and illegally sold pirated cassettes in order

to satisfy Korean consumers’ desire for this “forbidden pleasure.” As Korea’s music industry

rapidly became digitalized and more stabilized in the past a few years, the Japanese music

industry has begun to show clear interests in the Korean market, even though its population of 48

million is quite small in comparison to other overseas markets for Japanese popular music,

greater China and Southeast Asia.

The third area of investigation was the adjustments in Korea’s cultural politics in

response to transnational cultural flow from Japan before and since 1998. Korea’s strong anti-

Japanese sentiment from the colonial period has often been reinvigorated by both the

government and the general public’s efforts to carry out the nationalist dictate to de-Japanize and

de-colonize the nation, a process that had considerable momentum during Korea’s steady

economic growth until the financial crisis of 1997. Since 1998 as the new government’s vision

on cultural politics emphasized globalization and Korea’s economic woes encouraged a

reappraisal, the door to Japan began to widen. Nevertheless, as we have seen, Korea’s lingering

antagonism toward Japan has required adjustments from time to time, such as the delays in the

implementation of the Open-Door Policy, depending on conditions of the two countries’ political

relationships.

The fourth area of investigation was the Korean reception and responses to the Japanese

“presence” in Korea – interpreting its meanings and implications. In short, because of Korea’s

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colonial experience under Japan, which has left national embarrassment and anger as well as

envy and jealousy toward Japan, the meanings or implications given to the “presence” of Japan

in Korea and young Koreans’ active consumption of Japanese popular music have always been,

and perhaps will always be, different from that given to other foreign countries and their music.

Despite growing popularity of Japanese popular music among young Koreans, who have found

“things Japanese” as appealing consumer products, the “presence” of Japan in Korea and in its

popular music culture is still something that some Koreans would like to deny and or to

underestimate.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Transnational cultural traffic has played a defining role in East Asia from ancient times down to

the present. This dissertation has taken as its focus the recent and contemporary cultural traffic

between Japan and Korea, focusing on the flow of Japanese popular music and other popular

cultural products into Korea. Alongside the large-scale adoption of Western popular musical

style (scales, harmony, rhythms, song forms, and instruments) in both countries from the late

nineteenth century and especially since the end of World War II, a process that has characterized

musical developments almost everywhere in the world, Korea and Japan have experienced a

number of musical interactions whose particular contours have been shaped by the asymmetry of

their international relationship in the political and economic spheres. As a former colony of

Japan and then as a poorer neighbor in the postcolonial period, Korea has both resented and

admired Japan’s demonstrated ability to project itself internationally. That projection has shifted

from a primarily military one in the first half of the twentieth century to an economic one in the

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second half and, over the last quarter century or so, a cultural one as well. Korea’s bitter

resentment of Japanese domination led to an official banning of Japanese cultural products in

Korea, lifted only recently under the somewhat controversial Open-Door Policy, implemented in

four stages from 1998 to 2004.

The dissertation has taken this critical period as a pivotal one in the ongoing history of

Korean-Japanese cultural relations. Following brief discussion of the Japanese colonial

subjugation of Korea (1910-1945) and subsequent conflicts and rivalries, and the development of

popular music traditions and industries in both countries, the core of the dissertation traced in

detail the evolving presence of Japan through its popular music and other forms of popular

culture in Korea. Prior to 1998, though illegal, Japanese popular music found an audience

through pirated cassette sales and through inconsistent enforcement of laws banning Japanese

popular music and other popular cultural products from sale and broadcast in Korea. During the

implementation of the four stages of Open-Door Policy, a period of transition, the Korean nation

systematically dropped almost all of its former laws banning the import of Japanese popular

culture. The process went forward despite political tensions that resulted in several delays, and

despite ongoing objection registered in public opinion polls. The final implementations were put

into effect in January 2004, after which the Japanese popular music in Korea was no longer

illegal or constrained, other than on terrestrial television. But just as Japanese CDs were at long

last made legal for sale in Korea, the market for CDs itself took a drastic downturn, as Korean

music fans turned increasingly to the internet for digital downloads. At the same time, following

initial successes in greater China and Southeast Asia, Korean popular music rode the Korean

Wave (Hallyu), spearheaded by TV dramas (“Winter Sonata” in particular), as it arrived in

Japan. Though never illegal in Japan, Korean popular music was not a significant item in the

Japanese market until the “Winter Sonata” drama took the country by storm and suddenly

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“things Korean” were in fashion there. As Japanese popular musical presence moved from

illegal to legal in the space of just a few years, Koreans became familiar with a range of genres

and artists. Older Koreans partially cling to their categorical aversion to anything Japanese, but

younger Koreans express a range of opinions about their embrace of Japanese popular culture,

generally indicating their approval of being just as open to global popular culture as other

countries have become and underscoring their belief that, despite ongoing political

disagreements on specific issues between Japan and Korea, Japanese popular culture merits

Korean appreciation.

One of the immediate ramifications of Japan’s new legal, normalized presence in Korea

is that Japanese popular music is no longer a “forbidden pleasure.” Purchasing CDs or

downloads of Japanese pop songs, watching cable TV shows with Japanese pop videos, and

attending concerts with Japanese pop stars may be new activities, but just as permissible as

exercising similar access to American or Korean pop. Another of the immediate ramifications is

that, as Koreans come to know Japanese popular music and its stars, the rampant copying and

imitation promulgated by the Korean music industry prior the Open-Door Policy are now much

less frequent. Though it is too early to put forth convincing evidence, it is likely, in the opinion

of some observers, that Japan’s popular music presence in Korea will help promote greater

creativity and originality among Korean pop musicians, as copying becomes difficult to carry out

surreptitiously and Korea must compete directly with Japan in the Korean marketplace.

What, then, is the place, or position, of Japanese popular music in the popular music

world of Korea presently? Korean pop (kayo) has been the top category, overtaking Western pop

(p’ap song) since the late 1980s. Japanese pop is less widely consumed than either kayo or p’ap

song, but its strength has been growing as it became legal. Japanese pop, therefore, has the fact

of its rising popularity as a factor in its image in Korea now as trendy. The musical genres

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represented by Japanese popular musicians whose music circulates now in Korea is substantially

more varied than the few genres that dominate the Korean music industry (still mostly ballad and

dance styles). Underlying this rise is also the issue of physical appearance, as Japanese singers

simply look much more like their Korean audiences than do African-American, Latino/Latina, or

Caucasian singers from the West.

While it would be hazardous to generalize about the aesthetic elements in Japanese pop

that appeal to Korean audiences, our inquiry has identified a range of elements, ranging from

musical sound to personality and fashion preferences. These have included the following:

physical and racial resemblance, polished recording production, instrumental performance

techniques, hybridity, youthful cuteness, approachability, amateurish personae, and sexuality.

While none of these characteristics could be demonstrated to be quintessentially or primordially

“Japanese”—the particular configuration and combination of these in Japanese popular music

has come to be recognized, in Korea as elsewhere in Asia, as “Japanese.” But it is a different

kind of Japanese-ness altogether than the aggressive militarisim that Korea and much of the rest

of Pacific Asia knew in the first half of the twentieth century, or the aesthetically austerity of

classical Japanese theater, music, and dance that have existed there for centuries, and which,

despite origins in Chinese and Korean traditional arts, had no intention whatsoever for appeal to

any audience but Japanese. This new Japaneseness is, instead, approachable, inviting, and

“international” both in its heavy reliance on Western-derived musical elements, and its ease of

imitation. Fans can sing along and fantasize themselves as Japanese pop stars or as their boy

friends or girl friends, and Korean and other Asian musicians can, as they have for several

decades at least, produce cover versions that are successful locally without audiences even

knowing they are “Japanese.” One might ask how “Japanese” a song is that, if sung in another

280
language, is perceived (and consumed) elsewhere simply as popular music, rather than as

“Japanese popular music.”

Indeed, this brings us again to the question of Japan’s “presence” in Korea through its

popular music. We have seen in the remarks by some Korean fans, and echoed in the theoretical

ruminations of cultural studies theorists such as Iwabuchi (2002, 2004) and Appadurai (1996),

that country or culture of origin figure less now than previously in the experiencing and

appreciation of expressive cultural forms. Yet this is not to say that Koreans are unaware of the

Japanese identity, or do not conceive of something “essentially Japanese” in the Japanese

popular music they consume. If anything, it appears that Koreans attribute to the new Japanese

pop the kind of postmodern qualities that Japanese intellectuals have recently been touting as

Japan’s quintessential postmodernism, which it is now actively exporting to other countries in

Asia.

As popular cultural flows between the two countries are only likely to intensify in the

future, we should not be surprised to find additional shifts and complications in the meanings and

in the cultural balance of power. As this dissertation has shown, the power imbalance that has so

long existed between Korea and Japan is still evident in the ways in which Korean and Japanese

produce and consume popular music. However, as Korea’s popular culture has begun to rise and

even to surpass the prestigious position of Japanese popular culture in some parts of Asia in the

past several years, it is important to keep our attention on the transnational cultural flows

between the two countries as well as their relation to the other parts of Asian countries, as

Japanese and Korean popular music and their industries continue to shape and fulfill cultural

desire.

281
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