# Boy it sucks to be a Japanese man these days!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-it-sucks-to-be-a-japanese-man-these-days/276128>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 22, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-it-sucks-to-be-a-japanese-man-these-days/276128 "2004-11-22T17:08:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-it-sucks-to-be-a-japanese-man-these-days/276128/1 "2004-11-22T17:08:13Z")

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[All things Korean now popular in Japan](http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2004/11/22/korea_japan/)

> [@](#):
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> Koreans have a harsh history in Japan. Their homeland was under Tokyo’s colonist yoke for 35 years, and in Japan they still face discrimination and cruel stereotypes. But thanks to the mega-hit South Korean soap opera “Winter Sonata,” Koreans these days also face something quite different in Japan: adulation.
> 
> On visits to Tokyo, the show’s two main actors – Bae Yong-joon, 32, and Choi Ji-woo, 29 – are mobbed by swooning fans, and sales of chewing gum and chocolates they advertise have surged.
> 
> Japanese are filling Korean language classes, crooning Korean pop songs at karaoke clubs and buying out flights to Seoul to visit places featured in the drama.
> 
> Ayumi Udagawa, 30, has gone a step further. Like thousands of women in recent months, she has registered with a matchmaking agency for the ultimate hot-selling item: a Korean husband.
> 
> “When I watched the drama, Korean men were so attractive and different from Japanese men,” she gushed. “I want to meet a masculine, passionate Korean man.”