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Korean men breaking taboos, winning hearts of Japanese women
By Ryann Connell
July 27, 2004
A corny and extravagantly overacted TV drama with a cheesy script has had the
remarkable -- and once almost unthinkable -- effect of making Korean men the
biggest turn-on for Japanese women, according to Shukan Gendai.
"Fuyu no Sonata" is the tacky program that has sparked a boom in all things
from the Land of the Morning Calm in a country that has traditionally held
Koreans in low esteem.
Key to the show's phenomenal success since being re-run on free-to-air TV in
Japan from April has been its heartthrob star Bae Yong Joon, who has titillated
Japanese women in a way no man has approached since soccer star David Beckham's
heyday during the 2002 World Cup.
And now Japanese women are Bae-ing for more Korean beefcake, with the growing
appeal most obvious at Korea Rakuen, a Web site devoted to matchmaking between
Japanese and Korean couples.
In February this year, the site could claim only a trifling 80 female Japanese
members, but in the "Fuyu no Sonata"-soaked half-year since then, registrations
have skyrocketed by 16 times to top a whopping 1,260!
"Fuyu no Sonata" has given birth to numerous offshoot businesses in Japan, but
few have been as successful as Korea Rakuen.
Korea Rakuen requires women to register, then post a profile and description of
their ideal guy. Women can join for free and, if they meet the Korean man of
their dreams, Web site operators will set up a meeting in the Hermit Kingdom
for her for the cost of airfare and a handling charge of about 30,000 yen.
And, while the "Fuyu no Sonata" boom has largely been carried by middle-aged
women, even younger women in their 20s are getting in on the act when it comes
to partaking of the services the Web site offers.
Japanese women are also highly regarded by the roughly 1,500 Korean guys listed
on the site, a large chunk of who are apparently decent-looking sorts.
"I figured the site was the best way I could meet somebody like Bae," a
Japanese woman in her 20s tells Shukan Gendai. "Korean guys have got to do
military service, so they've all got nice bodies and they're sexy. They're
mentally powerful, too and look like they're fairly reliable."
Another Japanese woman in the same age bracket who has already picked up her
own Korean boyfriend has been delighted with the find.
"Korean guys don't waffle around when it comes to expressing their feelings.
They say things straight," the woman says. "And they whisper in your ears ...
it drives me wild. Japanese guys would never do anything like that."
Not every woman is happy with a Korean man. Of the hundreds of willing
participants on both sides, in two whole years Korea Rakuen can still only
boast of having made just eight successful couples. A 20-something woman with a
Korean lover is not surprised.
"Korean guys won't have sex before marriage and they've got a different set of
money values to what Japanese have," the woman tells Shukan Post. "To put it in
a bad way, Korean guys are really stingy."
Copyright 1999-2004, Mainchi Daily. All rights reserved. Ryann
Connell is a Staff Writer and Senoir Desk Editor for the Mainchi Daily News. No
content may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission.
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