The Marmot’s Hole

The Chosun Ilbo looks at the contrasting fortunes of the Korean Wave in Japan and the Japanese Wave in Korea. More specifically, it notes that unlike the Korean Wave, which receded as quickly as it struck, Japanese dramas, novels and music have been steadily gaining popularity in Korea for about a decade.

The Korean Wave — which basically lasted from 2004 to 2006 — has burst like a bubble. The problem, says the Chosun, was a lack of followup hits to Bae Yong-jun’s “Winter Sonata” and Lee Young-ae “Dae Jang Geum,” which did remarkably well in Japan. Sin Seung-il, the director of the Hanryu (Korean Wave) Strategy Institute, also noted that after the first couple of hits, Korean dramas grew expensive, damaging exports. He faulted an insufficiently strategic approach to drive the Korean Wave for the long term.

Contrast this with Japanese films and dramas in Korea. In 2004, 29 Japanese films debuted in Korea. In 2005, the number climbed to 34, and in 2006, it climbed still further to 51. This year through November, 81 Japanese films had debuted in Korea. Moreover, the upward trend has not been dependent on a handful of well-known stars — the faces in the films keep changing, but the films’ popularity continues to increase. Kimura Takuya has been popular for about 10 years, but behind him has come younger stars like Odagiri Joe, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Tsumabuki Satoshi. Japanese actresses like Ueno Juri, Sawajiri Erika, Aoi Yuu and Miyazaki Aoi have also enjoyed steadily rising popularity.

Japanese “Korean Wave” fans can see their favorite Korean actors in perhaps one or two films a year. Japanese actors, however, star in many films a year. For example, in the 17 films that debuted in Seoul’s Sponge House theater this year, Odagiri Joe was in five of them. The director of Sponge House noted that Japanese actors appear in many films regardless of commercial potential, and accordingly, their fans don’t get sick of waiting.

Another point of contrast is content — Korean content has been, sad to say, pretty weak, while the Japanese have been producing fairly good content. In fact, a number of Korean films released this year, including hit “200 Pound Beauty,” “Highway Star,” “Black House,” “Going by the Book,” “Kidnapping Granny K” and “Lovers Behind,” were cinematic version of Japanese novels, comic books or dramas. From last year to this, some 21 Korean films based on Japanese original content were produced. Between 2001 and 2005, only five were produced. This would suggest that Korean film and drama content is so lacking that producers are looking to Japan to satisfy their content needs.

The greatest strength of the Japanese Wave, in fact, is content. Novels and comic books with great story lines get remade into dramas and films, creating a synergistic effect. The Korean Wave, meanwhile, is limited to dramas only.

Finally, we have subject matter. Japanese Wave products cover a wide range of subject matter. What’s hard to find, says the Chosun, are the simple Cinderella-like stories so common to Korean films and dramas. From “normal” personal stories told in complex fashion to incredible, imaginative tales, Japanese films and dramas are diverse in their topics. Said the VP of Cine Qua Non Korea, “Japanese films spark curiosity with stories hardly dealt with in Korean film, like the story of a fire inspection team, the life of a diver, and the tale of a wine master.”

Moreover, Korean fans who have read Japanese comics tend to watch the films and dramas based on those comics. A researcher at Samsung Economic Research Institute said that if the Korean Wave is to gain steady popularity like the Japanese Wave, Korean content needs to strengthen its competitiveness, including producing dramas not just for the middle-aged crowd, but also for teens, and producing films Japanese folk like, such as thrillers.

Meanwhile, another piece in the Chosun notes that the Japanese public and private sectors have been working closely to promote Japanese culture and the Japanese Wave, and succeeding despite anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea. And as mentioned above, the Japanese Wave isn’t tied to particular stars — it’s Japanese culture itself that Koreans dig, particularly young Koreans in their teens, 20s and 30s.