Japanese man watches Korean soap operas for 10,000 hours

“I have watched more than 500 Korean soap operas, which amount to an estimated 10,000 hours in total, over the past 15 years," a 62-year-old Japanese man said. "I watched the 247-episode daily drama ‘Miss Mermaid’ while sitting in the couch at home every weekend for three months while working."

Kunio Fujiwaki, who recently published the book entitled "Korean Dramas for Post-retirement," held an interview with The Dong-A Ilbo at a book café for Korean books in Tokyo on Tuesday. “I am absolutely sure that no other entertainment can offer better pastime than Korean dramas for people to enjoy post-retirement,” he said.

Fujiwaki is a veteran book publisher who had worked with Japanese publishing companies for 33 years. He first developed interest in Korean culture after Korean movies including "Shiri" was introduced in Japan in the early 2000s, and served as the publisher of the Japanese edition of the Korean movie magazine "Screen." “Since I encountered ‘Winter Sonata’ in 2003, I have been fascinated by Korean dramas,” he said.

In Japan, Hallyu (Korean pop culture) dramas are considered an entertainment only for middle aged women. “If you watch ‘Sandglass’ and ‘Giant,’ you will change your thinking,” Fujiwaki said. “Notably, Giant was extended originally from a 50-episode series to 60 episodes, but it was so impeccable that I could hardly tell which segments were extended. I was completely impressed by acting by Lee Beom-soo and Jeong Bo-seok, the most convincing villain character ever.”

As Korea-Japan relations have deteriorated since several years ago, the boom of Korean Wave dramas in Japan has waned a bit. “I think the Seoul-Tokyo relationship has had little impact. There is a group of enthusiastic fans centered on satellite channels,” he said. “With a new momentum such as production of Series 2 of Winter Sonata, I think the boom will revive, and I hope to see that as well.”

Won-Jae Jang peacechaos@donga.com