Shukrullah 1

Shukrana Shukrullah

Dr. Seung Han

KOR 447

May 4th, 2023

Bridging Two Nations: K-Pop in Japan

The historical tensions between South Korea and Japan have divided Korean and

Japanese societies for decades. However, with the introduction of K-Pop, a new future of cultural

appreciation and reconcilement is developing as Japan has become the world’s biggest importer

of K-Pop and a top producer of Japanese K-Pop artists. Though anti-Korean and anti-Japanese

sentiment still exist between the two nations, new technologies and globalization have facilitated

the spread of the Korean Wave resulting in strong K-Pop fanbases among the Korean and

Japanese youth who are reinventing the relationship between South Korea and Japan.

Korea-Japan relations have been strained since Japan’s colonization of South Korea in

1910 to 1945 during which Japan tried to suppress and erase Korean culture. After being

liberated from Japanese rule in 1945, the South Korean government enforced a censorship on

Japanese media and culture, banning all imports of Japanese pop culture including music, anime,

and manga. It was not until 1998, when the Korean government lifted the ban on Japanese

culture import with the signing of the Joint Declaration of the New 21st Century Korea-Japan

Partnership (Chua and Iwabuchi 3). From then on, cultural exchange between Korea and Japan

prospered, especially in the mid 2000s when Korean popular culture began to attract

international audiences including Japanese society (Ahn and Yoon 181).

The rapid international rise of Korean popular culture and media gained its title of the

“Korean Wave” also known as the “Hallyu” phenomena. Though Hallyu is often mistaken as an
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overnight success, it is a culmination of strategically organized efforts by both Korean media

companies and the South Korean government (Fuhr 7). As K-Pop idol groups like Girls

Generation, Shinee, and Kara broke into the global music industry, the Korean Wave began to be

recognized as a “soft power” in global politics and media. K-Pop’s unique success is credited for

its emphasis on globalization, which involves “globalizing” local Korean content by

collaborating with international creators then redistributing the content using global social media

platforms like YouTube, enabling K-Pop to reach audiences around the world (Oh 389).

In addition to having the world’s second largest music industry after the U.S., Japan is the

world’s largest importer of K-Pop. According to the 2019 Hallyu Whitepaper, South Korea

exported music valued at $320,599,000 to Japan in 2017, occupying over 60% of Korea’s total

music exports that year (85). Furthermore, K-Pop songs are constantly ranking at the top of

Japan’s hit music charts. In 2017, K-Pop idol group BTS sold over 500,000 copies of its

Japanese single album “MIC Drop/DNA/Crystal Snow” within one month of its release in Japan,

achieving double platinum status after topping the daily Oricon hit charts for six consecutive

days and even placing No. 1 on the weekly chart. In 2020, over 26 K-Pop albums reached the top

100 of the Oricon charts. At the same time, based on average Twitter users, Japan was among the

top countries that tweeted the most about K-Pop that year, exemplifying the strong presence of

South Korean music in Japan (Park).

Japanese audiences, especially younger populations, have shifted towards social

platforms like YouTube and Twitter where they can easily consume K-Pop in comparison to

Japan’s traditional CD sales and offline music gatherings that are more geared towards the

middle-aged population of Japan that has more stable finances (Park). The advancement in these

content sharing platforms has not only made K-Pop consumption “virtually free” but it has also
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increased accessibility to non-Korean fans by incorporating more English into their content as

well as closed captions or translations of videos and song tracks. These global social platforms,

especially YouTube, have enabled international audiences like Japanese fans to have easier and

affordable access to K-Pop music and culture (Jung and Hirata).

Korean music companies have noticed the large presence of K-Pop in Japan and thus

have implemented strategies to increase appeal to their Japanese audiences by not only including

more K-Pop tour dates in Japan but also producing songs and even full K-Pop albums in the

Japanese language. In 2002, first-generation K-Pop idol BoA released her Japanese studio

album, “Listen to My Heart,” becoming the first K-Pop artist to sell out millions of copies of a

Japanese-language album in Japan (Park). Fast-forward to 2017, third-generation idol group BTS

sold over 500,000 copies of its Japanese single album “MIC Drop/DNA/Crystal Snow” within

one month of its release in Japan, achieving double platinum status after topping the daily singles

chart on Oricon for six consecutive days (Woo). More recently, Oricon Inc. announced BTS as

the top-selling artist in Japan in 2021. The seven member K-Pop boy group topped the charts at

$162 million in sales followed by the Japanese boy group Snow Man (The Asahi Shimbun).

Based on these statistics, it can be seen how impactful K-Pop is to Japan’s music industry in

comparison to both its Japanese and non-Japanese competitors.

While Japan leads as the biggest importer of K-Pop, they also lead as one of the top

exporters of K-Pop idols. Often, Japanese teenagers will train at a Korean studio in South Korea

for several years to hopefully debut with a K-Pop group that might also include other non-

Korean members from countries like China and Thailand. However, having K-Pop groups with

non-Korean members is not a new practice in the K-Pop music scene. Since the 1990s, Korean

agencies have been recruiting talent from key target markets such as Japan and China. K-Pop
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groups like Super Junior and TWICE with international members benefit from being able to

reach fans around the world by communicating in different languages, including Japanese

members who are helping further K-Pop in the Japanese music market (Kwaak).

As K-Pop has entered its 4th generation of idol groups, international recruitment in K-Pop

groups has become increasingly popular. Some of the newest Japanese idols in K-Pop groups

include Asahi and Haruto from Treasure, Kazuha and Sakura from Le Sserafim, Ni-ki from

Enhyphen, and Giselle from AESPA (Rika-go). Treasure, Le Sserafim, Enhyphen, and AESPA

are some of today’s most popular K-Pop idol groups. Not only does the recruitment of Japanese

idols bring more awareness of these K-Pop groups to Japan but they also help develop stronger

and more personal connections with Japanese fans.

As Korean popular culture continues to grow in popularity in Japan, it can also be seen as

a threat to some individuals. The rise of the Korean Wave in foreign countries like Japan and

China is sometimes viewed as a form of cultural invasion or media imperialism. However, this

fear of “cultural imperialism” may be linked to a more political and business standpoint than a

societal fear. Since Japan has been historically considered the most economically advanced

country in Asia, businesses in Japan may feel threatened when other countries like South Korea

and China are becoming increasingly influential in the global economy (Ahn and Yoon 180-81).

On the contrary, the South Korean government views the Korean Wave as a form of

cultural diplomacy. Through the rise of K-Pop, South Korea has been able to exert “soft power”

on other nations by fostering a positive impression and appealing image of South Korea. The

impact of the Korean Wave in Japan has enabled numerous opportunities for the South Korean

government to execute soft power strategies. For example, the “Korea-Japan Festival” that has

been adopted by both nations’ governments since 2005 serves as a vital initiative to promote
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cultural diplomacy through the Korean Wave. The festival celebrates Korean culture in Japan

and Japanese culture in Korea, cultivating cultural appreciation and positive relations between

the two countries despite their difficult history (Pozzi 71). Through the Korean Wave, especially

K-Pop, the two nations can peacefully and efficiently promote cross-cultural exchange and

positive relations between the people of South Korea and Japan.

Lastly, it is important to investigate the personal experiences of K-Pop fans in Japan to

better understand how K-Pop may directly impact a Japanese individual’s opinion and emotions

towards South Korea and the Korean Wave. It is crucial to note that there is a historically

constructed cultural stigma of being a Hallyu fan in Japan, which is likely connected to the two

nations’ difficult history. However, younger K-Pop fans in Japan tend to strategically distance

themselves from older fans to avoid conflict (Ahn and Yoon 193). This response by younger K-

Pop fans in Japan suggests that younger generations are moving towards a future different from

the cultural stigma that has historically existed in Japanese society.

Japanese fans like Hiroko Sasa, an assistant professor of Japanese studies at Cyber

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, describe the impact of K-Pop as being lifechanging. Sasa

shares that her first introduction to K-Pop was through watching a late-night music show on TV.

The show called “Asia N Beat,” aired in 1994 when Sasa was a teenager in high school. As a

teenager, Sasa fell in love with K-Pop and her interest in South Korea also continued to grow. In

college, Sasa decided to participate in a short-term language program in South Korea that

ultimately left her more curious about the relationship between Japan and South Korea (Park).

After returning from South Korea, Sasa was inspired by an ad for a program called “The

Korea-Japan Joint East Asia Peace Workshop.” Among other young citizens from Japan and

South Korea, Sasa participated in this lifechanging peace workshop that dealt with historical
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conflicts and reconciliation between South Korea and Japan. When Sasa visited South Korea for

the first time, she was constantly asked about her views towards the Japanese colonization.

However, after revisiting South Korea in the 2000s, Sasa was surprised by how differently she

was treated, hearing Koreans excitedly share stories about Korean culture rather than repeatedly

bringing up Korea-Japan relations; she wonders if the lift on the Japanese media ban in 1998

may have positively influenced Korean society’s impression of Japan (Park).

Sasa’s passion for Korean culture started with the discovery of K-Pop on a TV show and

later evolved into a genuine passion and interest for South Korea, leading her to better

understand her own Japanese identity and even move to South Korea as a Japanese professor; all

of which might have never happened if she never heard K-Pop on the “Asia N’ Beat” show.

Sasa’s experience as a fan exemplifies how K-Pop can not only influence an individual’s

impression of South Korea but it can also affect their actions because “when one loves a

particular country’s music, the passion and interest in the language follow (Park).”

Fans like Sasa show that K-Pop has the ability to transcend historical tensions between

Japan and South Korea through a newfound pop culture that has been purposely created to

promote cultural appreciation and improve international relations. A history of record-breaking

statistics has proven K-Pop’s prevalence in Japan, and it is evident that efforts are being made to

use the soft power of Hallyu to positively impact the two nations’ relationship with one another.

Though K-Pop cannot erase the decades of historic conflict between Japan and South Korea, it

can however forge a better future for South Korea and Japan’s relations by promoting future

generations of xenophiles, diplomats, and cross-cultural collaborators.

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Works Cited

“'Hallyu White Paper 2019.” KOFICE (Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange),

28 Feb. 2020.

Ahn, Ji-Hyun, and E Kyung Yoon. “Between Love and Hate: The New Korean Wave, Japanese

Female Fans, and Anti-Korean Sentiment in Japan.” Journal of Contemporary Eastern

Asia, vol. 19, no. 2, 2020, pp. 179–96, https://doi.org/10.17477/jcea.2020.19.2.179.

Chua B. H. and Iwabuchi, K. eds. East Asian Pop Culture: Analysing the Korean Wave. Hong

Kong University Press, 2008. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xwb6n. Accessed

1 May 2023.

Fuhr, Michael. Globalization and Popular Music in South Korea : Sounding Out K-Pop.

Routledge, 2016, pp. 7.

Jung, Sun, and Yukie Hirata. “K-Pop Idol Girl Group Flows in Japan in the Era of Web

2.0.” Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies , vol. 12, no. 2, 26 Oct. 2012,

https://doi.org/https://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ejcjs/vol12/iss2/jung.html.

Kwaak, Jeyup S. “K-POP ACADEMY’S OPEN ENROLLMENT: Groups from Japan and

Elsewhere Are Hoping to Find Global Success by Training and Marketing Themselves

through South Korea, Not Their Home Countries.” Billboard (Cincinnati, Ohio. 1963),

vol. 134, no. 15, 2022, p. 30.

Oh, Ingyu. “The Globalization of K-Pop: Korea’s Place in the Global Music Industry.” Korea

Observer, vol. 44, no. 3, 2013, pp. 389–410.

Park, Sae-jin. “How K-Pop Culture Reshapes Japan's Music Industry and Fans.” Aju Business

Daily, Korea Press Foundation, 17 Sept. 2021,

https://www.ajudaily.com/view/20210917163608505.
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Pozzi, Stefania (2022) Korean Music Promotion in Japan: The Social and Cultural Impact of K-

Pop Consumption. PhD thesis, University of Leeds.

The Asahi Shimbun. “K-Pop Group BTS Takes Honor of Top-Selling Artist in K-Pop Group

BTS Takes Honor of Top-Selling Artist in Japan for 2021.” The Asahi Shimbun, 24 Dec.

2021, https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14509783.

Woo, Jaeyeon. “BTS Achieves Double Platinum Status in Japan.” Yonhap News Agency,

우재연, 16 Jan. 2018, https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180116006400315.