SEOUL: “Japanese Music & Food Gaining Popularity in South Korea”, Japanese songs sung by Japanese singers live on a South Korean television network would have been unthinkable a few years ago.
But in recent months, Japanese singers have been winning the hearts of many on a hit South Korean music entertainment programme. Named the “Korea-Japan Top 10 Show”, it pits famous singers from the two nations in friendly competition on major cable network MBN.
Viewership reached as high as 5.7 per cent in the third week of its 12-week run, and the show’s website has more than 3,000 supportive comments. It started airing in May after another programme with a similar theme ended its run earlier this year with a positive reception from the audience.
Seoul-based CReA Studio, which created both shows, said it took a big risk bringing the concept to life.
“There were concerns that this (concept) could cause some backlash. But surprisingly, people responded very positively,” the studio’s CEO Seo Hye-jin said.
She added that viewers found the two shows “sensational”, as Japanese songs have never been played on mainstream South Korean television before.
“Even though we speak a different language, Korean viewers were very receptive to it, and I don’t think they linked it to any painful historical events or other things.”
Japanese singer Utagokoro Rie, also a participant on the show, said she was not aware of the grim past between the two countries before making her first ever trip to South Korea for the programme.
“When I first appeared on the show and sang, I wasn’t thinking about (politics) at all,” the 51-year-old told CNA. “But after this show aired, I heard Koreans say I’m a bridge between South Korea and Japan. I felt a sense of responsibility when they said that to me.”
The camaraderie today is in stark contrast to just five years ago, when Koreans took to the streets against Japan’s export restrictions on some of South Korea’s key industrial materials.The curbs in 2019 was Tokyo’s retaliation in a series of tit-for-tat moves, following an order by South Korea’s top court for Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labour.
President Yoon now plans to use local funds for the victims, instead of seeking direct compensation from Japanese firms.The izakaya’s owner Kim Tae-kyung told CNA he considered the two countries’ ties before opening the venue about a month ago because he had seen how anti-Japanese sentiments can affect Japan-related businesses in South Korea. “(These days), lots of young people are travelling to Japan and they like Japanese culture, and so I thought it would be all right to open an izakaya,” he said.
Japanese pop and rock music are also growing in popularity, particularly among youths, with some bands enjoying sold-out concerts in South Korea.
