Japan’s “Yon-sama”

Bae Yong-jun, the leading actor of the “Korean Wave” in Japan, has placed his nickname, “Yon-sama,” at the top of the list of Japan’s most popular words of 2004.

The Asahi newspaper said on November 17 that its recent poll to find out the most popular word of 2004 showed that “Yon-sama” gained the largest number of votes. The poll was conducted on the Internet and by mobile phone, commemorating the newspaper’s publication of “Ziezo 2005,” a terminology dictionary.

The second most popular phrase of 2004 was, “That is all a player can do…,” a phrase that became popular due to the strike of Japanese baseball players.

Following are “Ichiro,” the major league baseball player with most hits, and “Life is varied,” a remark made by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the diet.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com