Current Events > I had no idea Korea actually bans Jpop >_>

(+) Yeah! (+)

Back in the day it was outright restricted by the government but it was lifted in 2004.

But to this day companies and broadcasters still opt to ban Japanese music and jpop due to "sensitivities" between both countries.

Kind of crazy since Kpop has such a large hold over Japan now. Kind of an advantage of soft power Korea has which doesn't feel fair at all.

The Korean music market is relatively small, even if Jpop was fully embraced in Korea it wouldn't move the needle that much

Jpop's (and really the Japanese music industry at large's) biggest problem in that regard has always been that they are ridiculously insular (and therefore much harder for foreigners to follow/get invested) whereas with Kpop both the companies that make it and the Korean government itself have made it the number one priority to really push it to and embrace a global audience (started with Japan and SEA and then pushed West)

Where did you hear that Korea bans Jpop? And why did you believe it? Even now it is somewhat difficult for Japanese media to go from 0 to 100 in Korea but stuff that has any cultural heft (Pokemon, Nintendo, Shohei Ohtani, One Piece, etc) gets just as popular in Korea as anywhere else. Jpop is just globally pretty weak right now anyway. Who is even popular these days?

I don't think Koreans have much of an interest in J-pop. But no one I know (having lived in Korea for some time now) would be bothered by it. Nintendo and its IPs are quite popular (Pokemon is massive here, followed Mario and Kirby...and interestingly enough, Pikmin has had a notable surge in popularity here lately). Dragon Ball and One Piece are also extremely popular. Super Sentai and Gundam also seem to have a decently large Korean fanbase, as there are tons of Super Sentai toys and Gundam model kits at the Korean equivalents of Walmart and Target.

Ruddager posted...

The Korean music market is relatively small, even if Jpop was fully embraced in Korea it wouldn't move the needle that much

Jpop's (and really the Japanese music industry at large's) biggest problem in that regard has always been that they are ridiculously insular (and therefore much harder for foreigners to follow/get invested) whereas with Kpop both the companies that make it and the Korean government itself have made it the number one priority to really push it to and embrace a global audience (started with Japan and SEA and then pushed West)

It's kind of annoying even for the Japanese with the lotteries.

I know Koreans tend to not use Japanese products, like game systems. Is that why PC gaming is huge over there?

SpiritSephiroth posted...

Kind of an advantage of soft power Korea has which doesn't feel fair at all.

And that is why no one will ever take your opinions about geopolitics seriously.

Ultima_Fury posted...

I know Koreans tend to not use Japanese products, like game systems. Is that why PC gaming is huge over there?

Sort of? It has a lot more to do with the relationship that it has with America causing them to adopt PCs way faster, further increased by their quick adoption of things like a high quality Internet infrastructure, than anything to do with their distaste for Japanese stuffs.

SomeUsername529 posted...

Who is even popular these days?

Ado

Putting sensitivities into quotation marks like they're not a real thing is a wild choice.

Never heard of this. Is it possible resentment from when Hideyoshi tried to plunder the Korean peninsula and WW2? I mean in earlier entries to the Soul Caliber games, Misturugi was replaced with a completely different character, in terms of origins at least, for the Korean market, right?

Are you mixing up North Korea with South Korea? I have relatives who live in South Korea and I guarantee you that's just false. Maybe in the past it was more prevalent, but no the South Korean government does not go out of their way to ban Jpop. With that said, if a Korean broadcasting station were to choose between playing Kpop or Jpop....you know exactly which ones they're going to pick.

ellis123 posted...

And that is why no one will ever take your opinions about geopolitics seriously.

You can expand on that if you like instead of just insulting me lol

SomeUsername529 posted...

Where did you hear that Korea bans Jpop? And why did you believe it? Even now it is somewhat difficult for Japanese media to go from 0 to 100 in Korea but stuff that has any cultural heft (Pokemon, Nintendo, Shohei Ohtani, One Piece, etc) gets just as popular in Korea as anywhere else. Jpop is just globally pretty weak right now anyway. Who is even popular these days?

I just did some research online.

As for whose popular: Ado, Yoasobi, Aimer, Lisa, Utada Hikaru, Mrs Green Apple, etc

Prestoff posted...

Are you mixing up North Korea with South Korea? I have relatives who live in South Korea and I guarantee you that's just false. Maybe in the past it was more prevalent, but no the South Korean government does not go out of their way to ban Jpop. With that said, if a Korean broadcasting station were to choose between playing Kpop or Jpop....you know exactly which ones they're going to pick.

Fair enough. I do believe there are other issues with how Japanese music is distributed and why it's popular in the first place which harms it's own industry anyway.

Tyranthraxus posted...

It's kind of annoying even for the Japanese with the lotteries.

I think that's mostly for Idols. I've been trying to get a ticket to see Sakurazaka46 for a while now. There are different stages.

Pre-purchase, pre-purchase stage 2, then general if you're lucky. The first two stages are entirely luck based and as the group gets bigger it just gets impossible to secure a ticket. After that very rarely is there a door ticket.

Murphiroth posted...

Putting sensitivities into quotation marks like they're not a real thing is a wild choice.

Meant nothing by it. That's just there to outline that there are multiple sensitivities.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

You can expand on that if you like instead of just insulting me lol

Reducing the concept of "soft power imbalance" to something like this, even ignoring that the ban was lifted in its entirety in 2007, is just absurd. Doubly so when Japan is essentially only behind the USA as far as flagrantly flaunting its effective soft power over the rest of the world (an example of this would be umami versus oleogustus representation around the world). Soft power is not a single instance of things and many of them are minor, but even in this one instance it kind of laughable to call anything here "unfair." And this comes doubly so when you have the gall to put quotes around "sensitivities" and act like there isn't an extremely valid, and current, reason for South Korea to not particularly want to be friendly with Japan.

ellis123 posted...

(an example of this would be umami versus oleogustus representation around the world)

Do you have any sources you would recommend to learn about this?

It's a new one for me.

ellis123 posted...

Reducing the concept of "soft power imbalance" to something like this, even ignoring that the ban was lifted in its entirety in 2007, is just absurd. Doubly so when Japan is essentially only behind the USA as far as flagrantly flaunting its effective soft power over the rest of the world (an example of this would be umami versus oleogustus representation around the world). Soft power is not a single instance of things and many of them are minor, but even in this one instance it kind of laughable to call anything here "unfair." And this comes doubly so when you have the gall to put quotes around "sensitivities" and act like there isn't an extremely valid, and current, reason for South Korea to not particularly want to be friendly with Japan.

Calm down. This is the Internet, and CE for that matter. No one will hurt you here.

There are many acts of soft power. Nothing you said actually contradicted my point and in fact you just explained to me what it was.

Also I already said the ban was lifted. You did read my post right?

The South Korean government is definitely protectionist and uses tariffs to keep out foreign products, especially anything from Japan. And South Koreans are literally brought up from birth to hate Japan. Their media beats it into them all day long, and so does their education system, from a very early age.

A lot of Koreans are really into Japanese cultural stuff like manga and anime but they will hide it from the public eye because they don't want others to shame them. Koreans love traveling to Japan. And pretty much everything in Korea is copied from Japan. Love hotels, executive boardrooms, shopping centers, etc. Everything is marble and tacky outdated upholstery everywhere, just like in Japan.

ellis123 posted...

Doubly so when Japan is essentially only behind the USA as far as flagrantly flaunting its effective soft power over the rest of the world

Ranting about Japan and the US? Gee wonder why.

Ultima_Fury posted...

I know Koreans tend to not use Japanese products, like game systems. Is that why PC gaming is huge over there?

Used to be that Japanese consoles just weren't imported, and yeah that is why PC Bangs (PC gaming cafes or whatever you want to call them) and phone gaming took over Korean gaming culture. Koreans couldn't afford a home pc (or didn't have the space) and consoles just weren't an option, but they could go to a PC bang and pay a few dollars to play games. The Korean government would always try to force consumers to go for a Korean product instead of an imported one, but Korean companies didn't produce a Korean console so there was no Korean option.

Nowadays you can buy imported Switches and Playstations but they have heavy tariffs so a lot of gamers don't bother. I know that when the Switch was first imported, it was by shady resellers who weren't authorized by Nintendo, so buyers had zero warranty and zero product support. I'm not really sure what the situation is now that the Switch has been out for so long.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

Calm down. This is the Internet, and CE for that matter. No one will hurt you here.

I like how in the reply I made to not just end on it "being an insult to you" you just insult me.

Yeah, my point still stands just fine.

So how about stuff like Nizu and Twice? And the other mixed ethnicity idol groups?

Man, this topic definitely got CE'd lol

ellis123 posted...

I like how in the reply I made to not just end on it "being an insult to you" you just insult me.

Yeah, my point still stands just fine.

What? Where did I insult you lmao

NeonPhoenix posted...

Man, this topic definitely got CE'd lol

It's like walking on eggshells here. Nothing in my post was meant to be offensive.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

It's like walking on eggshells here. Nothing in my post was meant to be offensive.

I dont think it is that it was offensive. It was just wrong.

Twice is kpop/jpop bilingual

SpiritSephiroth posted...

What? Where did I insult you lmao

When you say something really dumb/wrong and then backpedal with "Don't get so serious bro.... don't get so angry bro..." that is insulting the intelligence of the other person.

ellis123 posted...

I like how in the reply I made to not just end on it "being an insult to you" you just insult me.

Yeah, my point still stands just fine.

So is that a no to the question in 17, or...?

DrizztLink posted...

So is that a no to the question in 17, or...?

Oh, sorry. I completely missed that.

I guess the follow up on my end would more be "what exactly is the thing I should be bringing up?" Like, a big part of the contention is that oleogustus is still not really officially recognized as a taste anywhere outside of the lab despite having a *lot* of evidence that proves its existence. And, when you get to the thick of things, there is arguably substantially more proof that oleogustus is a taste over umami. Hence why "umami" often gets applied to all sorts of meats where oleogustus would actually be the correct term (umami being more of a thing relating to glutamates, as opposed to oleogustus' fats). That, however, is starting to move away from my point in that I was more making the argument that there is no good reason that oleogustus hasn't been recognized by those outside of the science community when compared to something like umami. That, however, isn't really something that you can just link an article to. There isn't someone giving a real, politically backed reason as to why it hasn't been made more official. Why when you search Google for "senses of taste" you only five despite we have scientifically proven one that isn't listed. Or, when talking about the reverse, why we call it "umami" instead of "savory" and why we attribute the flavor to essentially just MSG (as many other glutamates have a wildly different taste).

_____Cait posted...

So how about stuff like Nizu and Twice? And the other mixed ethnicity idol groups?

Was about to say lol. NiziU literally first all Japan gg to win a music show in Korea. Wish XG got similar popularity but they sing purely in English and music shows tend to not like that.

And there's definitely a lot of intermingling with Japanese members in kpop groups now. I'd say they're the top foreign ethnicity in groups with Thais following closely after.

Also, damn Japan got it on lock lol. But the Yoasobi Idol stage with Misamo, NewJeanz, Stray Kids, etc was a banger

I just enjoy the K-Pop and avoid anyone who is a nationalist. I deal with Chinese and American nationalists in my family and they suck. Japanese and Korean nationalists also suck but I luckily rarely deal with them (Koreans at Japanese universities tend not to hate Japan, and Japanese professors aren't usually nationalists). If your identity revolves around where you were born and hating other people based on where they were born you are no better than a racist.

I remember having a really hard time finding this Korean punk song till I did. I think it got banned on youtube for awhile. This leads into the North or South Korea debate Whatever that Means......

That's the band's name but North and South Korea operate very differently. Also the song was just a pop punk song nothing crazy surprised it was zapped from youtube for so long.

ellis123 posted...

That, however, isn't really something that you can just link an article to. There isn't someone giving a real, politically backed reason as to why it hasn't been made more official.

Fair.

It's just an entirely new thing for me, so any information is appreciated. Thank you.

DrizztLink posted...

Fair.

It's just an entirely new thing for me, so any information is appreciated. Thank you.

Sorry I couldn't help more there. Sadly this is one of those funky things that there isn't any good rationale on. We can 100% prove that oleogustus is a real flavor, to the point that it is substantially more proven than umami, but there really isn't a good reason that I am aware of as to just why it's not official beyond conspiracy. And while I could talk about that, there is basically no real backing from anything concrete beyond "because society doesn't like to change in that way."

ellis123 posted...

When you say something really dumb/wrong and then backpedal with "Don't get so serious bro.... don't get so angry bro..." that is insulting the intelligence of the other person.

When I'm wrong the normal thing a person would do is just post "nah you're wrong here's why" without being so passive aggressive and offended. You're so emotional over a forum post it's...actually the standard here so I'm not surprised.

ellis123 posted...

Sorry I couldn't help more there. Sadly this is one of those funky things that there isn't any good rationale on. We can 100% prove that oleogustus is a real flavor, to the point that it is substantially more proven than umami, but there really isn't a good reason that I am aware of as to just why it's not official beyond conspiracy. And while I could talk about that, there is basically no real backing from anything concrete beyond "because society doesn't like to change in that way."

I teach sensation and perception and we discuss fat as a flavor, so not sure why you think there's some kind of conspiracy. I don't think any mainstream sensation and perception book doesn't mention fat. Also umami is often called savoriness (including on Wikipedia), so not sure where this Japan soft power thing comes from. It was discovered by a Japanese scientist, it isn't some conspiracy.

sfcalimari posted...

The South Korean government is definitely protectionist and uses tariffs to keep out foreign products, especially anything from Japan. And South Koreans are literally brought up from birth to hate Japan. Their media beats it into them all day long, and so does their education system, from a very early age.

A lot of Koreans are really into Japanese cultural stuff like manga and anime but they will hide it from the public eye because they don't want others to shame them.

It's at least not hidden from the public eye in the toy aisles...

https://imgur.com/8GuF8f5

https://imgur.com/YwRy7na

https://imgur.com/xbiWFIb

https://imgur.com/ZomcDvW

https://imgur.com/xJaXWyT

https://imgur.com/Njtpviz

https://imgur.com/jTtMDWV

Used to be that Japanese consoles just weren't imported, and yeah that is why PC Bangs (PC gaming cafes or whatever you want to call them) and phone gaming took over Korean gaming culture. Koreans couldn't afford a home pc (or didn't have the space) and consoles just weren't an option, but they could go to a PC bang and pay a few dollars to play games. The Korean government would always try to force consumers to go for a Korean product instead of an imported one, but Korean companies didn't produce a Korean console so there was no Korean option.

You can just buy the Switch and its games at Emart and Lotte Mart no problem. PS5 and its games are available too, but not nearly as popular. The Nintendo Switch is the first dedicated gaming device that's really gotten a strong foothold in Korea, particularly among younger Koreans. I see my students with Nintendo Switches all the time.

As long as Nintendo keeps up the hybrid model (the portability factor is extremely important) I could see their popularilty in Korea continue to grow, especially as all the kids who are growing up with Nintendo Switch enter adulthood.

Anime movies do better in Korea than America, so if it's hidden they're doing a poor job of it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2023_box_office_number-one_films_in_South_Korea

The First Slam Dunk, Suzume, Boy and the Heron, any of those go number 1 at the box office in America?

Do any console games get Korean translations or do Koreans have to pick between playing in Japanese or English?

Zikten posted...

Do any console games get Korean translations or do Koreans have to pick between playing in Japanese or English?

Most of them do. Actually there are quite a few Japanese games that got Korean translations but not English.

Zikten posted...

Do any console games get Korean translations or do Koreans have to pick between playing in Japanese or English?

Switch games, at least, generally have a Korean language option. Certainly all the big 1st party games do.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

Back in the day it was outright restricted by the government but it was lifted in 2004.

Hmm really? I didn't know this.

But to this day companies and broadcasters still opt to ban Japanese music and jpop due to "sensitivities" between both countries.

Kind of crazy since Kpop has such a large hold over Japan now. Kind of an advantage of soft power Korea has which doesn't feel fair at all.

My view is very limited, but from what I've seen...
As others have mentioned there's no need to ban it, Koreans in general just don't care to consume Japanese (or really any other country's...) things if they have a domestic alternative. Koreans are peculiarly happy with Korea and Korean things (even though ironically they make their own lives miserable). And when they aren't, they usually try to change it, not open themselves.
It differs from medium to medium of course, but yeah music (and sure, specially idol pop) is probably the best example of this. Which makes sense when you think about it.
Japan has always (well, in modern times at least) been more open when it comes to culture. Well, relatively to Korea that is. It's still not as open as the West. Although I'm not even sure that "cultural openness" is what's going on anywhere. There's always a lot of factors to consider in these things.
The situation in China is even more... interesting. In China even a lot of Chinese things are restricted, to say nothing of foreign things.

sfcalimari posted...

Nod, very interesting.

ssjevot posted...

Anime movies do better in Korea than America, so if it's hidden they're doing a poor job of it.

Hmm... with this comment I take back my analysis that the West and specially America is more culturally open than other countries. I mean, perhaps volumetrically? But not proportionally?

paerarru posted...

Nod, very interesting.

Hmm... with this comment I take back my analysis that the West and specially America is more culturally open than other countries. I mean, perhaps volumetrically? But not proportionally?

America, the place that elected the xenophobe who just talks about hating foreigners and makes up shit about them eating pets? That place?

ssjevot posted...

America, the place that elected the xenophobe who just talks about hating foreigners and makes up shit about them eating pets? That place?

Regionally, thank you. I'm going with regionally.