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The issue is partly cultural, partly economic. Shin Yong Ha, a sociology professor at Seoul National University, is among those who oppose rapid liberalization of Japanese cultural imports. He argues that Korea's economy is not yet strong enough to compete against the cash-rich Japanese entertainment industry. He also feels that, compared with conservative Korean mores, "Japanese society is too open about sex." Kim Ji Ryong, a Seoul-based expert on Japanese culture, says the real reason for Korea's hesitation is that the government wants to use the opening of its doors to Japanese culture as a bargaining chip to extract other trade concessions from Tokyo. He predicts that by the time Japan and Korea share the World Cup in 2002, most restrictions will be lifted anyway. Until then, Japanese music, videos and comic books will primarily be sold on the black markets of Seoul and other big cities. And Internet sites like www.tomatolee.com, set up by movie director Lee Kyu Hyung, will keep young Koreans up to date on Japanese aidoru (idols) and top musicians like Namie Amuro, X Japan and Puffy.
One reason for the spread of the Japanese youth scene is that it provides an Asian dimension to popular culture in ways unimaginable to Western artists and designers. While the American comic-book character Superman flies solo to protect the good and fight evil, his Japanese counterpart Ultraman enlists brothers, cousins and sundry relations in group attacks on their assailants. "In one episode, there is even a Buddhist funeral service performed for the monsters Ultraman has destroyed," says Brad Warner, spokesman for Tsubaraya Productions, the animation company that created the character. Japanese animated films draw heavily from Chinese myths and traditions, with skilled martial artists, magic spheres that can control dragons and characters possessed with a superabundance of ki (or qi in Chinese), life energy that can be funneled in glowing beams against aggressors.
Nowhere is the Japanese dimension stronger than in the fashion business. Although the first wave of Japanese designers like Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons and Issey Miyake set up shop in Europe, younger Japanese designers increasingly are looking toward Asia because of its burgeoning young population and thirst for fashion. "It's stupid for the Japanese to compete with Western designers," says Eriko Watanabe, 19, a design student in Tokyo. "We should be selling our own Eastern styles to Asia, because Asians have the fashion sense and bodies to complement Japanese designs. Why must we go to Europe to dress tall blondes? Our aesthetic matches black hair and slimmer bodies better."
Ellena Ng, 17, a Hong Kong student out for a weekday shopping spree, agrees: "If I buy a pair of American jeans, I have to roll them up several times and they're still too baggy, but Japanese pants fit fine." Ng, sporting an asymmetrically cut Japanese blouse, says the love for Japanese fashions is a generational thing. "Older people only want to wear Gucci or Prada. It's much cooler to wear a shirt from a small Japanese designer that no one else has. I want to be unique in what I wear."
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THIS WEEK'S TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Young Japan Home
The Me Generation:
The country's privileged youth are struggling to define what they want. Their efforts--both frivolous and fundamental--are already beginning to transform the culture
Day in the Life:
What a 17-year-old girl does--and buys
Culture Club:
Tokyo has taken over as the source of what's hip and happening for the rest of East Asia
Sound Factory:
An Okinawa school turns out stars
Talk Talk:
What teens are chatting about online
Not Playing Ball:
A fresh generation is starting to shake up the hidebound world of Japanese baseball
Outside the Box:
Breaking the education straitjacket
Viewpoint:
Actress Youki Kudoh says respect the old ways
Viewpoint:
Parents should examine their own ethics
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