Japanese backlash

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GL23Dg02.html

This is an article I found on Asia Times on-line. I posted the section that I think is the most relevant. I think it shows the two extremes that Asian countries have reacted to the Korean wave. How much of an impact do you think the "The Hate Korea Wave" really will have?


A chronicle of Korea-Japan 'friendship'
By James Card

On the cultural front of South Korean-Japanese relations in 2005, BoA, a South Korean bubblegum pop idol created by S M Entertainment, went to the top of Japanese music charts with her fifth K-pop album. Incredibly successful in Japan since 2001, she appeared in numerous commercial and advertisements throughout the country. On the screen, the most popular man was Bae Yong-joon, the foppish South Korean star of the drama Winter Sonata. His appearances drew massive crowds of Japanese housewives and his film, April Snow, was a box-office success this year.

In South Korea, Japanese novels this year outnumbered local novels on the bestseller list for the first time in Korean history. Haruki Murakami, Kaori Ekuni, Jiro Asada, Ryu Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto were the most popular authors.

Two books, however, inflamed South Korean readers. One was titled, Medicine for Korea's Ills by Ryoma Nakaoka. The satire portrayed South Korean men as twisted stalkers and women as harridans, and mocked South Korea's plastic surgery fetish. The other is a backlash of the popularity of the so-called "Korean Wave" of pop culture. Titled, The Hate-Korea Wave, the comic book by Sharin Yamano sold more than 360,000 copies in Japan. Considered by most as Japanese bigotry, the book delves into the half-truths and historical distortions of South Korea.