KOREAN TV DRAMAS AND THE
JAPAN-STYLE KOREAN WAVE
LAURA MILLER
In 2003 the Korean TV series Winter
, Yoon Seok-ho, South KoSonata (
rea 2002) first aired in Japan, drawing at
least 20% of prime time viewers. Winter
in Japanese) was soon
Sonata (
elevated to cult status, and the DVD of the
series sold out within four hours of its release. Thereafter, newspapers published
denigrating reports about how female fans
responded to the lead male actor in the series, Bae Yong-joon. He was fondly nicknamed Yon-sama, and his image flooded
Japanese media spaces.
Yon-sama fans were portrayed as
hordes of hysterical, nymphomaniac old
biddies (Connell). Thousands of overexcited women were said to have besieged
and swarmed Narita and Haneda airports
during Bae’s visits to Tokyo, causing ministampedes, sort of like buffalo.1 The old
girls were reported on with much contempt
for buying expensive memorabilia and for
holding group birthday parties in yakiniku
(grilled meat) joints to celebrate Yon-sama’s
birthday. An example of this sneering genre
was an article entitled “Japanese Cellphone
Charm Soothes Post-Menopausal Passions”
(Levenstein). Famous film director Beat
Takeshi asserted that the “Yonfluenza” of
the Japanese “hags” was no different than
their husband’s sex tourism to Korea
(Onishi).
Volume 27, No. 3
But Yon-sama fever and the “Korean
Wave” are important for numerous reasons
besides the juicy opportunity for journalists
to poke fun at female fans.
The New York Times called Bae the $2.3
Billion Man (Onishi). There was obviously
an unavoidably huge economic impact to
acknowledge, as well as the fact that fans
did not simply watch Korean soap operas,
they participated in fan culture in many
other ways. The Korean Wave also put a
formerly denigrated and neglected market
segment, women over thirty, into the public limelight and presented them as active
cultural agents.2
The Japanese concept of “Korean
Wave” (kanryû or hanryû in Japanese) can
encompass more than the popularity of
Korean TV drama. Scholars have noted that
there was already a mounting interest in
Korean popular culture among young
people prior to the Winter Sonata explosion,
one that dates back to the 1990s and is seen
in World Cup soccer mania, travel trends,
and food culture. In my own research on the
Japanese beauty industry, I found numerous instances of Korean Wave in that realm
as well, in such things as kimchi diets and
tourism to Korea for mugwort saunas and
akasuri massages (Miller). The term Korean
Wave most likely originated in Taiwan in
1999, and later surfaced in Japan in 2001 via
17
Post Script
the Asahi Shimbun, well
before Winter Sonata came
on the scene (Oguro).
If it were only female
fandom that was a stake,
interest in the phenomenon would have passed
quickly. But the cultural
and economic impact
could not be ignored. It is
claimed that Yon-sama
changed Japanese willingness to give donations,
once it became known that
he donated 300 million
won to the victims of the
tsunami disaster in South- Fig. 2.1: Bae Yong-joon onthe covers of Japanese fan magaeast Asia and other causes. zines Shûkan Josei Jishin and Hanryû Fan. (Photo: Laura
Sales of electronics went Miller)
up as women bought or
had their families buy
DVD players. They also
bought new scanners, computers, printers
nations for why he was destined to become
and internet service in order to join fan
a mega-star. Hundreds of new Korean langroups online. Winter Sonata generated bilguage texts were also published, many uslions in revenue and Bae became the object
ing excerpts from the drama in each lesson.
of intense media output, his face appearing
The number of new Japanese language
on countless magazine covers. He adorns
magazines and “mooks” (magazine-book)
the front of my April 5, 2005 copy of Shûkan
devoted entirely to the Korean Wave inJosei Jishin, a popular women’s magazine.
creased dramatically. Only a few of the
The issue included a special pull out feabestselling titles include It’s KOREAL,
ture, a TV drama filming location guide to
Hanryû Fan (Korean Wave Fan), Aishiteru!
use while touring Korea. Following Winter
Kankoku Dorama (I Love It! Korean Drama),
Sonata, travel to Korea saw a huge increase.
and Kankoku Dorama NOW (Korean Drama
From January to October 2004, two million
Now) (Fig. 2.1).
Japanese visited Korea (up 40% from the
Fans gobbled up Winter Sonata and
prior year). Fans flocked to shooting locaYon-sama mercandise: scarves, accessories,
tions and began to wear out the topograbags, post cards, cell phone straps, puzzles,
phy, and eventually settings had to be
calendars, letter sets, photo books and
roped off. This form of tourism also became
memorabilia. Polaris, a theme in the series,
fodder for comics and gags. Travel debecame the motif for desired jewelry.
creased in 2006 but shot up again in 2007
Incheon International Airport in Seoul crewith the release of a new Bae Yong-joon TV
ated Korean Wave sections, and goods such
series.
as Yon-sama socks, Winter Sonata chocolates
Biographies and testimonials were
and treats, and a Taster’s Choice coffee set,
published as well, including an edited volfeaturing Bae’s face on an enclosed mug,
ume entitled Ways to Love Yon-sama (Kim
became big sellers. Other products that
Yongho). The essays, contributed by twenty
emerged are worth noting because there
women and men, recount past experiences
was frequently, underneath it all, a genuine
of being Bae’s male friend or gushing explasense of humor (seemingly oblivious to
most Japanese male critics) that was never
lost on the “old biddy” fans, who enjoyed
the obvious camp and parody aspects. They
also relished being the center of media attention. Yon-sama juice could be bought
from street vending machines. The Yonsama Teddy Bear, priced at about US$291,
went on sale in 2005. One is now proudly
enshrined in the Hida Takayama Teddy
Bear Eco Village, a museum housing more
than eight hundred teddy bears. Winter Sonata Moisturizing Hand Cream, produced
by an Australian company named Advance
Pharma Developments, sold well all over
Asia. How could pundits not recognize that
the Winter Sonata Pachinko machine was
intended to be deliciously silly? Players of
the machine could view key scenes when
they hit the jackpot. On a “nail art” blog
readers were given tips on how to create
“Winter Sonata nails” decorated with tiny
snowmen and snowflakes.
In 2005, Tokyo Station heralded the
Winter Sonata Boxed Lunch, described as a
Korean Wave lunch that included bulgogi,
gyoza dumplings stuffed with kimchi, and
“Korean okonomiyaki,” a type of savory pancake. Restaurants and cafes with Winter
Sonata themes in their names or offerings
opened. For example, a Korean restaurant
in Shinjuku named Madan advertised a
special on its menu called “Yon-sama cuisine,” claiming that it highlights foods that
he likes and always eats. A photo of Bae sits
next to a sign accompanying a plastic food
model in their shop window that says “You
can always eat together with Yon-sama
nearby.” One fan created the ultimate camp
homage (Tsukutchaimashita!): On top of a
sculpted nose and face made of rice, she
used dried seaweed to make Bae’s eyebrows, glasses and hair (Fig. 2.2). She added
that she really wanted to present it to Bae,
but had to just give it on to her husband
instead.
Winter Sonata and Yon-sama had an
enormous impact on fashion and hairstyles,
as young men began to dye their hair exactly the same caramel color as Bae, and
wore similar mufflers draped and tied in his
Volume 27, No. 3
style. Optometrists began marketing frames
for glasses that are just like the ones he
wears. The famous comic storytelling
(rakugo) artist Katsura Utamaro performed
a Yon-sama spoof on TV that became a
YouTube favorite. Couples held Winter
Sonata weddings, and there was talk about
the Winter Sonata Divorce (Fuyu-sona rikon),
a result of women’s disenchantment with
fuddy duddy husbands who didn’t compare well to kind and handsome Yon-sama.
Fig. 2.2: The Yon-sama box lunch. (Photo:
It's KOREAL, Nov. 2007, p. 93)
Politicians took note: During elections for
the House of Councillors of the National
Diet, Former Prime Minister Koizumi
Jun’ichirô said “I will make great efforts so
that I will be as popular as Yon-sama and
be called Jun-sama” (Onishi). In 2008 a Korean-Japanese anime version of Winter Sonata began production.
The media has offered various theories
for the popularity of Winter Sonata. Many
19
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people suggested that Yon-sama’s middlehad always ignored. Viewers in Japan recaged female fans were attracted to qualities
ognized Chinese cultural elements such as
he exhibited that were lacking in Japanese
the writing system, Confucian norms, and
men: that he was sincere, pure, giving, pasChinese medical theory. People also loved
sionate and soothing (Ito). In one of the
the malicious palace intrigue and the spitemore in-depth attempts to understand the
ful tactics of the wicked court ladies. In
boom, Môri interviewed fans, including his
Japanese popular culture the series’ evil
own mother. He did not find any easy genLady Choi became the equivalent of the vileralization that could characterize why fans
lainous Cruella de Ville in US culture.
are drawn to the series. Some liked the story
Jewel in the Palace blended several
but didn’t really like the actor; others got
genres so was able to reach different audicrushes on the actor and thought the narraences. Fans in Japan had many reasons for
tive was sappy but watched it anyway.
liking it. They loved the lush food and cookThey said they liked close ups of the hero
ing scenes, the busy plot and fast story, the
straightforwardly confessing his love. Some
politicized court schemes, and the unique
made copies of the tapes for friends and got
characters. They also discovered unknown
hooked on the series by
accident. Others looked
at the aesthetic quality of
beautiful snow scenery
and the original soundtrack.
Let me now turn to
another popular Korean
TV series, Jewel in the Pal, Lee Byeongace (
hoon 2003), which offers
additional ideas for why
Korean dramas became
popular in Japan. The
show focuses on the life Fig. 2.3: Dae Jang Geum cultural production: anime, manga,
of Jang Geum, played by TV series. (Photo: Laura Miller)
Lee Young Ae, and set
during the years 1494 to
1544. Jang Geum is a real
historical figure totally reinvented as a
aspects of Korean history that resonated
modern role model. Jang Geum’s family,
with Japan’s early civilization. There was an
friends and Lord Min (Ji Jin-hee), the object
appealing mix of historical drama, romanof her affections, encourage and assist her
tic story, and information about Chinesein reaching her ambitious. Eventually she
derived culinary preparation and herbal
becomes the first female imperial physician
medicines. In the narrative Jang Geum
in Korean history. In Japan it was titled
graduates at the top of her class in spite of
Kyûtei Jokan Changumu no Chikai (The Vow
prejudice against her non-elite background
of the Palace Court Lady Jang Geum), and
and gender. These ideas are reassuring to
first aired in 2005. It held great historical inJapanese viewers raised on the myth of a
terest for Japanese viewers of all ages, male
meritocracy free of nepotism, class privilege
and female. A former high-ranking member
and corruption. The story fit perfectly with
of the Japanese Foreign Ministry told me
Japanese self-help ideology. The inspirathat he and his wife were avid fans, fascitional tale of personal struggle and success
nated by the rich history of a society they
was presented in an ideal universe of egali-
Volume 27, No. 3
20
Post Script
nent. Finally, in the anime series Shôjo
Changumu no Yume he is a full-blown beautiful man or bishônen with huge orbs for eyes
and long brown hair.
In addition to spurring production of
anime and manga, the series generated renewed interest in herbal medicine and Chinese medical practices. Bookstores saw a
rise in sales of books on Chinese medicine
or kanpô, as well as books and DVDs on
Korean cooking. In 2005 NHK released
Study Court Cuisine with Jang Geum’s Oath
(Yan). In 2006 a rumor circulated that a
Japanese film company had hired lowbrow
Korean actors to star in an erotic parody of
Jewel in the Palace. In this version Jang Geum
supposedly doesn’t prepare palace cuisine
but rather uses food items as sex toys.
Other popular products include health
and beauty goods, such as Dae Jang Geum
themed placenta tablets and face masks. I
purchased the Dae Jang Geum dried seaweed, putatively more healthy because it is
made with extra virgin olive oil and bamboo salt. One may order the official kitchen
lady white apron online at YesAsia.com for
US$69.00. Similar to Winter Sonata, fans
made pilgrimages to the filming location for
Jewel in the Palace, which is now a theme
park in Yangju where you can walk through
the shooting location’s village and palace,
and even rent clothing to dress up in. When
I visited the former set in 2005, I saw many
Japanese tourists, but rather than middleaged women they were mainly young
women and couples under thirty.
A new TV drama series also staring Bae
Yong-Jung was released in 2007, Legend
, Kim Jong-hak and Yoon Sang(
ho, 2007). This one is a hybrid historical/
fantasy story about King Gwanggaeto the
Great, the 19th ruler of the ancient Kingdom
of Koguryo (Goguryeo in Korean). Because
some of the territories of the Koguryo polity today extend into China, it has recently
become a contested domain of nationalist
ideology. Although symbolically Koguryo
has functioned as a core piece in Korean
national ethnic identity for centuries, in
2002 the Chinese government instituted the
tarian competition in which someone like
Jang Geum can succeed by studying hard,
just as the Japanese educational system
promises.
After the success of the TV drama, spin
off versions in manga and anime forms appeared with new story lines and characters.
These also emphasized the virtues of selfdetermination and mighty effort. In the
anime Shôjo Changumu no Yume (2006), Jang
Geum is a twelve-year old girl with an enduring dream to prepare food that will
make people happy. She acquires several
new friends and companions not in the TV
series, including an adorable pet turtle, ostrich and puppy. Jang Geum is a sweet child
who displays optimism and strong determination that allows her to eventually enter
the royal kitchen as an apprentice. The endless cooking contests in the anime version
are the equivalent of school entrance exams
or nyûgaku shiken. This new Jang Geum possesses a modern girl’s traits of strength of
will and defiance in the face of unfair authority (Fig. 2.3).
The portrayal of a modern feminine
character bestowed a redeeming glance
back at a historical woman about whom we
actually know very little. Jang Geum and
the other strong female characters in the
drama have some traditional gender
traits—they work hard, are obedient, well
schooled, and attractive in appearance. But
they are also rather modern: they want to
be professionals who embody scientific
thinking and independent decision making,
thus addressing modern sensibilities.3 In
addition; the series included the impossibly
perfect man, Lord Min, who risks his own
life and career for the woman he loves. The
progression of Lord Min imagery in the
various cultural products is worth noting.
In the TV series Lord Min, played by actor
Ji Jin-Hee, represents a dignified masculinity with traits of sincerity, loyalty, and
steadfastness. The figure of Lord Min
evolves into a younger and cuter type of
male in the manga series, Manga Dae Jang
Geum (Kim Young Hyun). His eyes become
slightly larger and his nose more promi-
Volume 27, No. 3
21
Post Script
“Northeast Project” and began to represent
Koguryo as only a minor ethnic tribal state
within the ancient Chinese empire. The
Korean response has been to highlight
Koguryo as a topic or art motif in new TV
dramas, musicals, and mass commodities.
Although the Korean-produced Koguryo
dramas are banned or censored in China,
they are welcomed in Japan where consumers became interested in this new angle on
regional history. Rather than viewing
Koguryo through their own fixation on the
ancient Yamato state of Japan, they could
see Yamato in a new light as part of a wider
East Asian cultural history.
There is buoyant hope that this new
Yon-sama TV series, named Taiôshijinki in
Japanese, will also create an economic
windfall when the Japanese version of the
DVD box goes on sale in May 2008. In addition to a DVD trailer, a bestselling soundtrack for the series, a perfume related to a
scene in the drama, and guidebooks for
understanding the complex story, hundreds of new Japanese books, magazines
and websites devoted to understanding
Koguryo history have recently been published. Koguryo style “costume play”
(kosupure) also became popular, and magazines began providing patterns and suggestions for how to make the historical outfits.
Shooting for the drama took place on Jeju
Island, and between March and April 2006
the total number of Japanese tourists to the
filming location skyrocketed to more than
40,000. Most recently renowned girls’
manga artist Ikeda Riyoko has produced a
comic version of Taiôshijinki (2007). Ikeda
said in an interview that it is understandable
that fans of her incredibly popular manga
series, The Rose of Versailles, would have the
same warm feelings about this romantic and
epic Korean historical drama (Yon-sama,
‘Berubara’). Her good friends told her that
it would be awful if anyone else but her
were to draw the series in comic form.
The Korean Wave generated its share
of negative backlash, including mean-spirited parodies and a horrifically racist
bestseller, Kenkanryû (Yamano). The book is
Volume 27, No. 3
a dishonest assortment of manga and essays
on the general theme of hating Korea and
is not fully focused on the Korean Wave.
There are now three volumes of this hateful manga. Optimism had been expressed
that Japanese fascination with things Korean might ease the political tensions between the two countries with a troubled
past or cure discrimination against Koreans
in Japan (Brasor). However, most analysts
now believe that the Korean Wave has not
changed the political situation much, nor
the treatment of Japan’s resident Korean
population or zainichi.
Even so, the Korean Wave had a positive effect on people’s general image of
Korea and is reflected in their wide-ranging
interest in Korean culture and history.
There is greater demand for Korean foods
and products, and a revitalization of small
Korea-towns. For example, the Shinjuku
Korea Town near JR Shin-Ôkubo station is
now promoted in Japanese domestic tourism magazines as a fun destination. Korean
restaurants and business in the area that sell
Korean DVDs and goods include Korean
Plaza and Hanryû Store. One development
is a linguistic strategy for avoiding prior
negative connotations and to sidestep the
issue of association with South Korea or
North Korea. Rather than using the Japanese term kankoku for Korean goods and
businesses, many restaurants, bookstores
and other businesses are now using the
borrowed English word koria. For example,
a new Korean restaurant opened with the
name Koria Hausu (Korean House).
The Korean Wave is now a stable part
of cultural consciousness and one finds its
trace in many surprising places. Consider
“Korean Food Divination,” an amusing
website that shows you how to determine
your personality type and forecast based on
an assigned Korean dish.4 The way the divination works entails finding your food type
by consulting a chart based on your birth
month. The chart cross-references your
Chinese zodiac sign and blood type, providing a number that directs you to another
list of twelve Korean dishes with associated
22
Post Script
4
Korean Food Divination (Kankoku fûdo
uranai) is found at <http://www.k-plaza.
com/life/life_uranaitop.html> 22 Jan.2008.
divinations. For example, if one were born
in December they would check that month’s
chart. A December person with blood type
A born in the Year of the Snake would be
Food Type 8, which is a biminbap type. This
type is said to be fashionable and someone
people notice right away even though they
themselves have strong complexes. Best
jobs for this type are stylist, model or something related to the clothing industry; their
best color is light blue, and best flower is red
or pink rose.
Less easy to measure but nonetheless
significant has been the Korean Wave’s ability to mobilize popular opinion. The Japanese Cabinet Office survey of public opinion found that in 2004 friendly feelings towards South Korea rose to 56.7% of those
polled, a record high for the third consecutive year (Asahi Shimbun 4). In closing, although the Korean Wave did not radically
change political troubles or ease international tensions, there has been a substantial
seeping of things Korean into Japanese
mass culture and popular consciousness.
This phenomenon is much broader than
snide media reporting suggests, reaching
beyond interest in pretty boy actors to include enthrallment with Korean food, history, costumes, language and culture.
Works Cited
Asahi Shimbun. The Asahi Shimbun Japan
Almanac 2006. Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun,
2005.
Brasor, Philip. “Korean wave may help
erode discrimination.” Japan Times 27
June, 2004. Oct. 5 2007. <http://search.
japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fd2004062
7pb.html>
Connell, Ryan. “Yongsama laughing all the
way to the bank thanks to cash cows
with a yen for his won.” Mainichi Japan
2 Feb. 2007. 2 Nov. 2007. <http://mdn.
mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/face/
archive/news/2007/20070202p2 g00
m0dm030000c.html>
Dae Jang Geum (Jewel in the Palace). Dir. Lee
Byung Hoon. Munhwa Broadcasting,
2003.
Gyeoul Yeonga (Winter Sonata). Dir. Yoon
Suk-Ho. Korean Broadcasting 2, 2002.
Ikeda Riyoko. Komikku-ka Taiôshijinki 1 (The
Comic Series of The Four Guardian Gods
of the King 1). Tokyo: Kôdansha, 2007.
Ito, Kinko. “Middle-Aged Japanese Women’s
Love Affair with Winter Sonata and Its
Social Implications.” Japan Studies Review
10 (2006): 59-72.
Kim Yongho, ed. Yon-sama no aishikata (Ways
to Love Yon-sama). Tokyo: Kosaido,
2007.
Kim Young Hyun. Manga Dae Jang Geum 1
(The Manga of Dae Jang Geum 1). Tokyo: Banseisha, 2005.
Levenstein, Steve. “Japanese Cellphone
Charm Soothes Post-Menopausal Passions.” InventorSpot.com.18 Aug.
2007. 11 Nov. 2007. <http://inventor
spot.com/articles/winter_sonata_
yongsama_cell_phon_6321>.
Lin, Angel and Avin Tong. “Re-Imagining
a Cosmopolitan ‘Asian Us.’” East Asian
Pop Culture: Analysing the Korean Wave.
Ed. C. B. Huat and K. Iwabuchi. Hong
Kong: Hong Kong UP, 2008, 91-125.
Notes
1
Estimates given in news reports and in
scholarly articles vary widely between 3,000
and 6,000 fans and often confuse the two
visits and airports. On his first arrival to
Haneda Airport in April 2004, Bae drew
5,000 fans, while his second visit in November of that year brought 3,000 fans to Narita
Airport. One point that often gets lost in
descriptions of the “middle-aged” mobs of
women is that in Japan, “middle-aged” refers to anyone over thirty.
2
This point is also stressed by Môri.
3
Lin and Tong discuss Dae Jang Geum’s
modern femininities and how these are understood by viewers in Hong Kong and
Singapore.
Volume 27, No. 3
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Post Script
“Tsukutchaimashita! Yon-sama kaoben” (I made
it! A Yon-sama face boxed lunch). It’s
KOREAL Nov. 2007, 93.
Yamano Sharin. Kenkanryû (Anti-Korean
Wave). Tokyo: Shingûsha, 2005.
Yan Migyon. Changumu no chigai de manabu
Kyûtei ryori (Study Court Cuisine with
Jang Geum’s Oath). DVD. NHK, 2005.
“Yon-sama, ‘Berubara’ Ikeda Riyoko ga
kaku Taiôshijinki komikku-ka kettei!”
(Yon-sama, it is decided that The Four
Guardian Gods of the King comic series will be illustrated by ‘Berubara’s’
Riyoko Ikeda.) Hanryû Fan Dec. 2007,
112-114.
Miller, Laura. Beauty Up: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics. Berkeley: U California P, 2006.
Môri Yoshitaka. Nisshiki kanryû (Japanese
Style Korean Wave). Tokyo: Serika
shobô, 2004.
Onishi, Norimitsu. “What’s Korean for
‘Real Man?’ Ask a Japanese Woman.”
New York Times 23 Dec. 2004.
Oguro Kizo. Kanryû impakuto (The Impact of
the Korean Wave). Tokyo: Kôdansha,
2005.
Shôjo Changumu no Yume (Jang Geum’s
Dream). Prod. Rhee Eun Woo. Munhwa
Broadcasting 2006.
Taewangsasingi (The Four Guardian Gods of
the King). Dir. Kim Jong-Hak, Yun
Sang-Ho. PMP Entertainment, 2007.
LAURA MILLER is Professor of Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago. She is the author of Beauty Up: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics (University of California Press, 2006) and co-editor of Bad Girls of Japan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. She is
currently working on a new book entitled Girl Power Japan: Gendered Domains of Cultural and Linguistic Vigor.
Volume 27, No. 3
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