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With Japanese broadcaster NHK playing reruns of the 2002 Korean drama ¡°Winter Love Song,¡± the ¡°Korean Wave¡± is now washing up on Japanese shores.
Under the Japanese title, ¡°Winter Sonata,¡± the Korean drama has received praise as a ¡°drama of pure love, forgotten in Japan,¡± and quietly developed a cult following.
NHK was forced to play an encore showing of "Winter Sonata" during the Christmas season prime time at 10 p.m. from December 15 to December 26. The station had originally scheduled the showing for sometime at the beginning of next year.
As soon as the December broadcasts ended, publications and DVDs related to the program started flying off the shelves. The Korean Wave, a term generally applied to the popularity of Korean pop culture in China and Southeast Asia, is heating up in Japan.
In order to get a feeling for the kind of reception "Winter Love Song" is getting from viewers in Japan, one can check out the Japanese site of the online bookstore Amazon.com (www.amazon.co.jp) -- the most-ordered book as of noon Sunday was a special edition of "Winter Sonata", complete with pictures of scenes from the program.
Also taking advantage of the program¡¯s success was ¡°A Guide to Korean Drama and Movie Stars,¡± checking in at number nine, and ¡°Beginning Korean through Winter Sonata,¡± at number 10.
At Amazon Japan¡¯s DVD department, two "Winter Sonata" DVD sets were ranked first and second on the sales list, and in its music section, the drama's audio soundtrack has the top spot all to itself. The "Winter Sonata" DVD surpassed 40,000 sales back in September.
NHK runs a website (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/kaigai/sonata/index.html) that introduces the director, actors and singers of the drama. Japanese Internet movie provider AII has a portal site for Korean dramas. Propagated rapidly by the Internet, Korean dramas are gaining popularity.
That¡¯s not all. "Winter Love Song" has sparked a boom in learning Korean in Japan, and travel agencies are preparing marketing blitzes centered on Winter Sonata Korea tourism.
The viewer response in Japan has really stood out. For the Japanese, it was a story of pure love -- the kind which is said to be hard to find in Japan -- tied together with Korea¡¯s beautiful winter scenery and flowing love songs. One commenter on Amazon.com called "Winter Love Song" a masterpiece of love stories, without equal in Japan. She went on to say that through the drama he had become a fan of Korean dramas, and even friends who had considered Korean dramas to be stupid before were now passionate fans as well.
In the culture section of Japan¡¯s daily Nikkei Shimbun, one article suggests that with viewer ratings of Japanese dramas falling, interested Japanese parties should take a look at the reasons behind "Winter Love Song"¡¯s success. And with the Korean drama ¡°Hotelier,¡± staring Bae Yong-jun, along with other dramas and movies lined up for release in the Japanese market, it looks like Japan¡¯s Korean Wave is going to continue.
(Lim Jungwook, estima@chosun.com )
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