Korean Pop is big business in Japan - you see and hear a lot of it on TV and while walking out n about town. K-POP has been around for a while in Japan but seems to have really taken off last year in 2010 with groups like Girls Generation (少女時代) [소녀시대] who reached top 2 in the Oricon charts with "Gee" and KARA reaching top 5 with "Mister."
Girls Generation (also known as SNSD) and the Japanese version of their tune "Genie" below.
And the Korean version below.
Go into a book shop and you are likely to see Korean singers on the cover of many mags too. Here we have more Girls Generation. Their "Gee" is just so awesome - Korean version below.
And the Japanese version below. I saw that some Japanese folks complained that they localized the lyrics for the Japanese market and preferred the original Korean.
Video of the girls performing at Odaiba.
KARA is hot property in Japan too. There was a period when they were on the news for weeks regarding some shenanigans about them splitting up.
Japanese version of their hit tune "Mister" below.
My fave tune of KARA however is "Honey."
K-POP is also finding its way into Japanese TV commercials - the one below starring Girls Generation.
Another girl group Brown Eyed Girls.
As with my Japanese learning, music played an important factor while learning Korean too. Listened to SES all the time.
Most music shops have a K-POP corner too.
런던 대학에서 일본어와 한국어를공부했어요. 과학잡지 "네이처"로 일하고 있었을 때에는 한국어 사용하고 있었습니다만, 요즘은 사용하는 기회가 적고, 한국어는 대부분 잊었어요. 우우우우우우우
사실은, 옛날에 영어, 일본어, 중국어와 한글의 블로그 쓰고 있었다. 시간이 좀더 있으면 매일 한글도 쓰고 싶어요.
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