Post by alanna on Dec 11, 2004 2:46:00 GMT -5
Korea's romantic hero holds Japan in thrall
By Paul Wiseman, USA TODAY
www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-12-09-korean-actor_x.htm
AP
TOKYO — Hiroshi Saito holds one of the most perilous jobs in this city of 12 million people. He's the security guard responsible for keeping hundreds of middle-age Japanese women away from a sculpture displaying the toned torso of South Korean heartthrob Bae Yong Joon.
Repeatedly, Saito has to tell disappointed women who have paid $15 to see an exhibit of Bae photographs and memorabilia that, no, they can't touch the statue. And no, the statue isn't going to be sold or auctioned off when the exhibition, on the 52nd floor of Tokyo's fashionable Mori Tower, closes. They can't take it home.
Too bad. It would fetch a fortune. The hottest items in Japan these days are the baby-faced Bae, 32; Winter Sonata, the melodramatic South Korean TV miniseries that made Bae a star; and South Korea itself. Middle-age Japanese women suddenly are embracing all things Korean. They're trading recipes for kimchi (fermented vegetables, usually cabbage), enjoying a renaissance in Korean films, studying the Korean language and taking excursions to South Korea in record numbers. The Japanese television network NHK says the audience for its Korean-language instruction programs has doubled.
The phenomenon signals a sharp reversal in the relationship between two peoples with a long and mostly bitter history. It also reflects the easing of old Asian animosities, the search for alternatives to American culture and the kind of inexplicable national mania that sent Japanese tourists trudging through Iowa a decade ago in search of The Bridges of Madison County.
Bae, known here by the respectful nickname Yon-sama, is at the center of the frenzy.
An idol and a symbol
Japanese women in their 40s, 50s and 60s line up for hours to see him the way some of them lined up as teenagers to see the Beatles here back in 1966. They pay $145 for a book of Bae photographs and up to $1,650 to take package tours to sites in South Korea where Winter Sonata was filmed.
Yoshiko Takeuchi, 50, came to the Mori Tower exhibit from Saitama Prefecture, an hour and a half away. She has Bae's picture on her cell phone screen, regularly checks his Japanese-language Web site, can talk in some detail about his diet and exercise regimen and has seen all 10 or so of the South Korean dramas in which he has appeared.
Takeuchi says Bae is an old-fashioned gentleman: cultured, well-read and kind — nothing like the shallow pretty boys who seem to dominate Japanese pop culture. (Exhibit A: SMAP, a Japanese version of the Backstreet Boys.) "He has all the old characteristics that we lack," she says. The only American who comes close, she and her friends say, is Robert Redford — and, well, that was years ago. They say it's useless for men to try to learn anything from Bae. He's beyond imitation, a work of art.
New era of relations
When Bae visited Tokyo late last month, he was met at Narita International Airport by 3,500 fans, 10 of whom were injured in the resulting melee; 350 riot police were on hand to restore order. Japanese media stalked him in helicopters during his riotous 41/2-day tour. When he returned to Seoul, some Japanese fans were waiting there, having flown 1,000 miles across the sea to beat him home.
The enthusiasm for Bae and other things Korean is an unexpected switch here. Relations between the countries have been tense, the result of Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The 1 million ethnic Koreans who live in Japan — most of them descendants of slave laborers imported during the occupation — have long faced discrimination here.
But things began to change two years ago when Japan and South Korea co-hosted soccer's World Cup tournament in what was widely viewed as a resounding success. As relations between the two countries warmed, NHK started receiving e-mail messages from viewers demanding to see Korean dramas that were appearing in Japan on small-audience satellite and cable channels. NHK, which broadcasts U.S. dramas such as ER and Ally McBeal, was looking for more foreign programming and decided on Winter Sonata, a 20-hour romance that was a solid but unspectacular success in its homeland.
Winter Sonata appeared twice on NHK's satellite service and then went nationwide in April, appearing weekly through August. Even though the show started at 11:15 p.m. Saturdays, it drew more than 20% of Japanese households some nights, compared with 5% for ER. NHK is airing Winter Sonata again this month.
The series follows two high school sweethearts — Bae and actress Choi Ji Woo — through a tortuous tale involving, among other things, amnesia, a tragic separation, the search for a missing father and the creepy possibility that the lovebirds just might be brother and sister. "We don't know exactly why it's such a big hit," NHK producer Junko Ogawa confesses.
But Ogawa has some theories, beyond the appeal of the dashing but sensitive Yon-sama.
Old-fashioned virtues
The story plays up old-fashioned virtues and traditional Japanese themes such as the conflict between love and duty (as The Bridges of Madison County did). The characters reveal their emotions openly, weeping and raging and confessing their love — a liberating change for Japanese taught to conceal their emotions.
The high school setting takes many Japanese women back to the days before marriage, which for many of them was arranged by their families. It also allows them to reminisce about what might have been with old flames from their youths. The girl-next-door actress, Choi, is a perfect stand-in for their younger selves, Ogawa says. NHK has received countless phone calls and e-mails and more than 20,000 letters from viewers, many of whom write about their own loves and losses.
What's more, the music of Winter Sonata is lush and the scenery beautiful. No wonder 1,500 Japanese tourists have taken the Japan Travel Bureau's Winter Sonata tour, which whisks fans to a series of locations such as Yong Pyong Ski Resort southeast of Seoul and Chuncheon in South Korea's northern lake district. Another 1,100 toured locations from another popular South Korean drama, Hotelier. And 800 more signed on for a Travel Bureau tour that visits sites from both Winter Sonata and a new South Korean drama, Stairway to Heaven.
Through November, the number of Japanese visiting South Korea is up 38% this year from the same period of 2003. In October alone, a record 257,000 Japanese visited South Korea.
South Korea's popularity is coming partly at the expense of the USA. Producer Ogawa says Japan has been saturated with American pop culture and is looking for something new. "We used to think only about going to the States," says Yon-sama fan Takeuchi. "I used to want to go to the Grand Canyon, but I've switched to Seoul."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter Sonata (the more popular name of Winter Love Song) did quite well at home and in many other Asian nations - but compared to how Japan received this drama, all I can saw is "Wow".
To most Americans this could look like just another tear-jerket with some credit to music and scenery. (The director is well-reputed for his skill with beautiful backgrounds and light). And it is a tear-jerker alright, except that this drama stroke a very sensitive chord in Japan.
For a single TV series or movies to become not just a hit but a phenomenal success like you see in Japan it not only needs a good plot and convincing actors but a certain "luck".
In Japan's case there's not much TV dramas for middle-aged. Most are focused toward young people who would like interesting plot rather than mushy melodrama (- something that Korean dramas are overloaded with). The fact that Japan has become "too individualistic" enough for mid-generation to seek something else worked very well, too. (as mentioned in the article; the old values)
It's still a bit heartbreaking to be constantly reminded of Zainichi people there (Korean-Japanese) who are still under discrimination in general. There was a documentary of a young Zainichi actress who boldly "came out of the closet" by revealing her Korean heritage. (No offense to gays and lesbians but "closet" is not suppose to be used at such occasion). Average Japanese are not aware of this too much. In fact, until the featuring of Winter Sonata, which is some time around late last year, many didn't know the existence or whereabout of Korea, which is located right in front of their noses. That pretty much sums up how Korea is being treated in Japan (non-entity) that's why the latest hit -be it bubble or not- is quite unexpected and eagerly covered by AP, REuters, New York Times, BBC and others.
How ironic, it had to be one of those seemingly sappy TV dramas that reminded Koreans the importance of promoting national image.
By Paul Wiseman, USA TODAY
www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-12-09-korean-actor_x.htm
AP
TOKYO — Hiroshi Saito holds one of the most perilous jobs in this city of 12 million people. He's the security guard responsible for keeping hundreds of middle-age Japanese women away from a sculpture displaying the toned torso of South Korean heartthrob Bae Yong Joon.
Repeatedly, Saito has to tell disappointed women who have paid $15 to see an exhibit of Bae photographs and memorabilia that, no, they can't touch the statue. And no, the statue isn't going to be sold or auctioned off when the exhibition, on the 52nd floor of Tokyo's fashionable Mori Tower, closes. They can't take it home.
Too bad. It would fetch a fortune. The hottest items in Japan these days are the baby-faced Bae, 32; Winter Sonata, the melodramatic South Korean TV miniseries that made Bae a star; and South Korea itself. Middle-age Japanese women suddenly are embracing all things Korean. They're trading recipes for kimchi (fermented vegetables, usually cabbage), enjoying a renaissance in Korean films, studying the Korean language and taking excursions to South Korea in record numbers. The Japanese television network NHK says the audience for its Korean-language instruction programs has doubled.
The phenomenon signals a sharp reversal in the relationship between two peoples with a long and mostly bitter history. It also reflects the easing of old Asian animosities, the search for alternatives to American culture and the kind of inexplicable national mania that sent Japanese tourists trudging through Iowa a decade ago in search of The Bridges of Madison County.
Bae, known here by the respectful nickname Yon-sama, is at the center of the frenzy.
An idol and a symbol
Japanese women in their 40s, 50s and 60s line up for hours to see him the way some of them lined up as teenagers to see the Beatles here back in 1966. They pay $145 for a book of Bae photographs and up to $1,650 to take package tours to sites in South Korea where Winter Sonata was filmed.
Yoshiko Takeuchi, 50, came to the Mori Tower exhibit from Saitama Prefecture, an hour and a half away. She has Bae's picture on her cell phone screen, regularly checks his Japanese-language Web site, can talk in some detail about his diet and exercise regimen and has seen all 10 or so of the South Korean dramas in which he has appeared.
Takeuchi says Bae is an old-fashioned gentleman: cultured, well-read and kind — nothing like the shallow pretty boys who seem to dominate Japanese pop culture. (Exhibit A: SMAP, a Japanese version of the Backstreet Boys.) "He has all the old characteristics that we lack," she says. The only American who comes close, she and her friends say, is Robert Redford — and, well, that was years ago. They say it's useless for men to try to learn anything from Bae. He's beyond imitation, a work of art.
New era of relations
When Bae visited Tokyo late last month, he was met at Narita International Airport by 3,500 fans, 10 of whom were injured in the resulting melee; 350 riot police were on hand to restore order. Japanese media stalked him in helicopters during his riotous 41/2-day tour. When he returned to Seoul, some Japanese fans were waiting there, having flown 1,000 miles across the sea to beat him home.
The enthusiasm for Bae and other things Korean is an unexpected switch here. Relations between the countries have been tense, the result of Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The 1 million ethnic Koreans who live in Japan — most of them descendants of slave laborers imported during the occupation — have long faced discrimination here.
But things began to change two years ago when Japan and South Korea co-hosted soccer's World Cup tournament in what was widely viewed as a resounding success. As relations between the two countries warmed, NHK started receiving e-mail messages from viewers demanding to see Korean dramas that were appearing in Japan on small-audience satellite and cable channels. NHK, which broadcasts U.S. dramas such as ER and Ally McBeal, was looking for more foreign programming and decided on Winter Sonata, a 20-hour romance that was a solid but unspectacular success in its homeland.
Winter Sonata appeared twice on NHK's satellite service and then went nationwide in April, appearing weekly through August. Even though the show started at 11:15 p.m. Saturdays, it drew more than 20% of Japanese households some nights, compared with 5% for ER. NHK is airing Winter Sonata again this month.
The series follows two high school sweethearts — Bae and actress Choi Ji Woo — through a tortuous tale involving, among other things, amnesia, a tragic separation, the search for a missing father and the creepy possibility that the lovebirds just might be brother and sister. "We don't know exactly why it's such a big hit," NHK producer Junko Ogawa confesses.
But Ogawa has some theories, beyond the appeal of the dashing but sensitive Yon-sama.
Old-fashioned virtues
The story plays up old-fashioned virtues and traditional Japanese themes such as the conflict between love and duty (as The Bridges of Madison County did). The characters reveal their emotions openly, weeping and raging and confessing their love — a liberating change for Japanese taught to conceal their emotions.
The high school setting takes many Japanese women back to the days before marriage, which for many of them was arranged by their families. It also allows them to reminisce about what might have been with old flames from their youths. The girl-next-door actress, Choi, is a perfect stand-in for their younger selves, Ogawa says. NHK has received countless phone calls and e-mails and more than 20,000 letters from viewers, many of whom write about their own loves and losses.
What's more, the music of Winter Sonata is lush and the scenery beautiful. No wonder 1,500 Japanese tourists have taken the Japan Travel Bureau's Winter Sonata tour, which whisks fans to a series of locations such as Yong Pyong Ski Resort southeast of Seoul and Chuncheon in South Korea's northern lake district. Another 1,100 toured locations from another popular South Korean drama, Hotelier. And 800 more signed on for a Travel Bureau tour that visits sites from both Winter Sonata and a new South Korean drama, Stairway to Heaven.
Through November, the number of Japanese visiting South Korea is up 38% this year from the same period of 2003. In October alone, a record 257,000 Japanese visited South Korea.
South Korea's popularity is coming partly at the expense of the USA. Producer Ogawa says Japan has been saturated with American pop culture and is looking for something new. "We used to think only about going to the States," says Yon-sama fan Takeuchi. "I used to want to go to the Grand Canyon, but I've switched to Seoul."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter Sonata (the more popular name of Winter Love Song) did quite well at home and in many other Asian nations - but compared to how Japan received this drama, all I can saw is "Wow".
To most Americans this could look like just another tear-jerket with some credit to music and scenery. (The director is well-reputed for his skill with beautiful backgrounds and light). And it is a tear-jerker alright, except that this drama stroke a very sensitive chord in Japan.
For a single TV series or movies to become not just a hit but a phenomenal success like you see in Japan it not only needs a good plot and convincing actors but a certain "luck".
In Japan's case there's not much TV dramas for middle-aged. Most are focused toward young people who would like interesting plot rather than mushy melodrama (- something that Korean dramas are overloaded with). The fact that Japan has become "too individualistic" enough for mid-generation to seek something else worked very well, too. (as mentioned in the article; the old values)
It's still a bit heartbreaking to be constantly reminded of Zainichi people there (Korean-Japanese) who are still under discrimination in general. There was a documentary of a young Zainichi actress who boldly "came out of the closet" by revealing her Korean heritage. (No offense to gays and lesbians but "closet" is not suppose to be used at such occasion). Average Japanese are not aware of this too much. In fact, until the featuring of Winter Sonata, which is some time around late last year, many didn't know the existence or whereabout of Korea, which is located right in front of their noses. That pretty much sums up how Korea is being treated in Japan (non-entity) that's why the latest hit -be it bubble or not- is quite unexpected and eagerly covered by AP, REuters, New York Times, BBC and others.
How ironic, it had to be one of those seemingly sappy TV dramas that reminded Koreans the importance of promoting national image.