[Opinion] “Winter Sonata” in Japan

Korean actor Bae Yong-joon is gaining more popularity in Japan than in Korea. He even has a nickname, “Yon-sama,” in Japan. “Sama” is used as a title of honor and is only attached to the highest social classes such as the Japanese royal family and nobles. According to a list compiled by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, listing this year’s first half hit products, Bae tied for second place along with Nikon’s digital camera. Prime Minister Koizumi even commented on the current popularity of Korean dramas in Japan, “Yon-sama is much more popular than me.” Japan’s NHK was forced to scratch its plans to cancel broadcasting “Winter Sonata” during the Olympics because of the pressure by the viewers.

Japanese magazines are competing with each other to use Bae in the cover story. The Asahi Shimbun has carried various exclusive articles on Bae, but it was not able to clearly point out the reason for Bae’s soaring popularity. It could only explain that articles on Bae were written because readers wanted them. In most cases, most women that follow stars usually do it “when they are young.” However, according to Aera Magazine, women from Tokyo in their 40s is the group which likes Bae the most.

Anyway, Bae is the first Korean, since Korea was founded thousand of years ago, that the Japanese have voluntarily feverishly liked.

How can one describe Bae’s sky rocketing popularity in Japan? First of all, Bae fits the model male figure that the Japanese women desire. Bae has a “smiling noble-like” look with a soft, intellectual, pretty face. Homemakers complain, “My husband does not talk to me lovingly and beautifully as Bae Yong-joon does,” and watch DVD versions of “Winter Sonata” while their husbands are asleep. Over 150,000 sets of four-bundle packages of “Winter Sonata” DVDs costing about 210,000 won have been sold.

Some think that “Winter Sonata” appeals to the nostalgia of innocent love that Japanese housewives in their 40s and 50s share, in times when relationships between men and women in Japanese society are becoming messier and more corrupt. Others say that the lines of the drama are very good. In a broad sense, Bae is part of the “Hanryu,” or Korean wave. The novel ideas of those working in Korean mass culture have created this hot “Hanryu” in all of Asia. I think the best explanation for this is that the fresh material and extraordinary ideas reflected in all kinds of work, combined with artisanship, overcame the barriers of language and culture and touched the heart of Asians.

Editorialist Hwang Ho-taek hthwang@donga.com