At first.... I cannot complete the essay draft. Sometimes the sentences are left unfinished.
Maybe it is difficult to read, but please forgive me.
Nakajima Saki
ARW sec.BG
Prof. Christianson
October.9.2011
Why some Japanese feel an antipathy against Korean?
1, Introduction
On August 21, more than two-thousands Japanese demonstrate against the Fuji broadcasting TV station. It was because the Fuji broadcasts many Korean programs.They insisted that the Fuji treat Korean with more favor than Japanese and called it a betrayer of Japan, and atempt to continue demonstration. It is true that the Korean TV programs are increasing. According to asahi.com, Fuji broadcast Korean programs for about 38 hours in July 2011, which number was the most among the Japanese commercial broadcasting TV stations. However, the reason why the Korean TV programs are increasing is because they are cheap to broadcast while the Japanese ones need a lot of production costs (Takahisa). It is natural that the company try to reduce the expenses, so the thought that the Fuji is a betrayer of Japan is misdirected.
In additon, though American and Western cultures spread widely, only few Japanese[a] criticize it[b][c]. Therefore, it can be said that they do not oppose receiving other countries’ cultures, but feel an especial antipathy against Korean.
It is true that the relation seems to become familiar, because they restored diplomatic relations, and nowadays Korean culture is booming in Japan. However, theserious[d][e] relationship still remains. In order to prevent a new diplomatic clash, Japanese have to consider why some Japanese feel an antipathy against Korean and how they can improve the relation.
2, (body)
(1) the detail about Korean wave and the current situation that some Japanese have anpathy
According to Chua, the current Korean wave can be said to began since 2003, when the Korean melodrama “Winter Sonata” began to broadcast on NHK TV station (Chua) . The leading actor, Bae Youn Joon became very famous in Japan and called “Yon sama” , which means “Brother Yon”. This name was selected as one of the most used words in 2004 (Kotoshino). As Chua also explained, this program was popular especially among Japanese middle-aged female audience (Chua) . After that, the young K-POP singers began to appeared. For example, one of the popular young men’s group, Tong Vfang Xien Qi make debut in Japan in 2005. Now, the Korean girl’s groups, like KARA or Shoujojidai, are at the height of their popularity. According to “oricon ranking”, which informs Japanese of the ranking about the well-sold music and so on, their music is very popular. For example, on October 12, 2011, when KARA’s DVD “KARA’s All about Beauty” began to be sold, it was the first rank in terms of daily sales. In addition, they appear on many advertisements in the city.
However, it is true that some Japanese feel an antipathy against Korean. According to the public-opinion poll by both Asahi Shimbun and The Dong-a Ilbo in 2010, 10% of Japanese dislike Korean (Sakurai). In addition, some relatively young Japanese are also anti-Korean. The video recording of the demonstration against Fuji broadcasting TV station mentioned above proved that many people in twenties and thirties participated in (yhoogoo). The conceivable reasons why some Japanese feel an antipathy against Korean are the history and nationalism, the biased information, and ignorance about Korean.
(2) the first conceivable cause : the nationality
Some Japanese stick to the nationality in several different aspects, such as the discrimination came from history or the cultural conservatism.
First, some Japanese, especially elder Japanese look down on Korean[f], which is affected by the history. In the history, Japan and Korea has had a close, and perhaps, disagreeable connection. In the latter part of ninetieth century, Japan began to put pressure on Korea, and then since 1894 Japan place Korea under its control substantially. In the first half of the twenty century, Japan strengthen the control with discrimination (Nahm)[g]. Therefore, it will be possible the elderly Japanese discriminate Korean still now.
Moreover, such history produced cultural conservatism. According to , “cultural conservatism” means that [h][i]. In addition, if many products of Koran culture import to Japan, the Japanese economy may be damaged, so some Japanese feel cautious of Korean action. Such negative attitude against Korean culture can be seen in other countries. For example, [j] [k] Therefore, the nationality by which Japanese regard their own country as important makes them to feel an antipathy against Korean.
(3) the second conceivable cause: the biased information
It can also be said that the biased information caused the antipathy against Korean. It is very quick that the information, such as the reports by media or the information on the Internet, spread because of the development of information technology, so the biased one is conveyed to many people fast and be believed,[l] too.
Tsutomu Nishioka insisted that the media reported excessively, and as a resort it told the wrong information again and again and made the situation worse( )[m]. For example, [n].[o] Therefore, though the media should report correctly and give the hint to improve the situation, it fans the antipathy against Korean conversely.
In addition, the information which people send freely on the Internet also incites some Japanese. The demonstration against Fuji broadcasting TV station mentioned above is the example of it. The start of this demonstration was the comment by Japanese actor Sosuke Takaoka on “Twitter” on July 23, 2011. He stated that the Fuji too broadcasted the Korean programs and Japanese wanted the Japanese own traditional programs. This comment aroused a public response especially on the Internet (“Takaoka”). <Connect demo[p][q]> On the Internet, a minor matter can become a big and serious, and sometimes biased one through exchange of the information by many people.
(4) the third conceivable cause: ignorance
One of the cause of the antipathy against Korean is Japanese ignorance about Korean. It may form the basis of other conceivable causes, too. If some Japanese do not know a lot about Korean, they will only presume the Korean situation, and then they can have the biased image.Ignore history…
WORK CITED
Nahmm, Andrew C, ed. Korea Under Japanese Colonial Rule. Michigan: the Center for Korean Studies Western Michigan University, 1973. Print.
Takahisa, Jun. “Hanryubangumi naze hueta?”[Why did Korean programs increase?] asahi shinbun. asahi.com, 20 Sep. 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.
“Kotoshino ryukogo ha ‘Yon sama’ word of the year”[The most popular word this year is “Yon sama.” Word of the year].Asahi.com. Asahi shinbun, 16 Nov. 2004. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.
Chua, Beng Huat. “East Asian Pop Culture: Consumer Communities and Politics of the National.”
Cultural Space and Public Sphere in Asia. Asia’s Future Initiative, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.
ORICON STYLE RANKING DVD overall daily ranking. Oricon Inc, October 2011. Web. 12 October. 2011.
Sakurai, Izumi. “Nihon ‘Mijika ni’ 55%, Kankoku ha 42% Nikkann yoron chosa”[55% of Japanese fell familiar with Korean, while 42% of Korean feel so with Japanese, according to a public-opinion poll.] Asahi.com.Asahi shinbun, 10 June. 2010. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.
Nishioka, Tsutomu. Nikkann gokai no shinenn [ the abyss of misunderstanding between Japan
and Korea]. Tokyo: Akishobo, 1992. Print.
“Takaoka Sousuke tuitta de hihan ‘8 ha ima majide minai”[Sosuke Takaoka criticized on Twitter. “I do not really watch Channel 8 now.”]Sponichi Annex. Sponichi Annex, 27 July. 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.
yhoogoo, prod. Fujiterebi kougi demo 8・21 kougashitu sononana [The video of demonstration against Fuji broadcasting TV station on August 21, which has good image quality, No.7].YouTube. You Tube, 21 Aug. 2011. Web. 18 Oct 2011.
