The Power of the Korean Wave

Was in Tokyo over Christmas. On a nice Sunday morning, we decided to head for the quiet of Yoyogi Park before we hit the shops near Omodesando dori. An hour of peace and quiet in a big open green surrounding is good for facing the massive crowds at the malls. Yoyogi Park is usually crowded with people having a picnic or having their own street performance.

We didn't see this

Or people lazing on the grass

Instead we were faced with massive crowds when we exited from the JR Harajuku station. This station is usually very crowded on any given day because of the proximity of Harajuku and omodesando dori's shops but on that day, it was unusually crowded.

A crowd that consist mostly of young women which I pointed out to R. All heading towards the entrance of Yoyogi Park or so we thought. But with all the din we were hearing and announcements over speakers in the distance, we were clearly mistaken. Then we spotted this across the street at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium.

Queues. Hordes of people.

People, and more people crossing the 3-directional bridge.

Seriously, the bridge was vibrating under the weight
of all the people marching towards their destination.
I did wonder about the loading limit of the bridge

 

Young girls, women in their 20s -30s,
you can feel their excitement.

Where will all these gals heading? I squinted and read SHINee on a banner in the distance? Isn't SHINee a korean band? I listen to korean pop but am not a big follower. Don't throttle me if you a Korean Pop fan or a SHINee fan. I now know SHINee sing that irritating RingDingDong song in all their slick packaging and eyeliner glory.

Stopped two hyperventilating cute teenagers to ask them questions,

'SHINee wa kankoku jin desu ka?' (SHINee are koreans?)

Frankly, the look of horror on their faces that I did not recognise their idols told me that I was dealing with sometime big in Tokyo. There's no denying that Korean pop group SHINee is big in Japan. Korean Wave is BIG in Japan. Something I noted while at Tsutaya (music and magazine megastore) and Tower records. The Korean singers are having their CDs displayed in prominent locations in the music stores. The Japanese singers paled in comparison to the new generation of Korean groups. In fact, the Japanese bands were rather cringeworthy as seen on their annual 红白 show this year. Very passe. In contrast, Koreans are really very good at packaging and promoting their stars overseas.

Excerpt from Channel News Asia:
Response to SHINee's first overseas solo concert on December 26 in Tokyo was so overwhelming that they added a second show on the same day.

Full article here 

24,000 fans went to see SHINee on that day.

SHINee(샤이니)_RingDingDong(링딩동)_뮤직비디오(MusicVideo)

It's either you like Korean pop or you don't.