Washington Post: Bae Yong Jun popular with J women

[Kuang_Grade]

A little behind the times since I believe the craze started oh, 2 years ago or so, and lacks a little balance...it would have nice to hear about what some Korean women think about Korean men or even just a quote from a Korean man in Japan...But it was actually a front page story (albeit below the fold).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083002985.html

Japanese Women Catch the 'Korean Wave'
Male Celebrities Just Latest Twist in Asia-Wide Craze
By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, August 31, 2006; Page A01
TOKYO -- Thin and gorgeous in a slinky black dress, Mikimoto pearls and a low-slung diamond Tiffany pendant, 26-year-old Kazumi Yoshimura already has looks, cash and accessories. There's only one more thing this single Japanese woman says she needs to find eternal bliss -- a Korean man.

She may just have to take a number and get in line. In recent years, the wild success of male celebrities from South Korea -- sensitive men but totally ripped -- has redefined what Asian women want, from Bangkok to Beijing, from Taipei to Tokyo. Gone are the martial arts movie heroes and the stereotypical macho men of mainstream Asian television. Today, South Korea's trend-setting screen stars and singers dictate everything from what hair gels people use in Vietnam to what jeans are bought in China.

Yet for thousands of smitten Japanese women like Yoshimura, collecting the odd poster or DVD is no longer enough. They've set their sights far higher -- settling for nothing less than a real Seoulmate.

The lovelorn Yoshimura signed up last year with Rakuen Korea, a Japanese-Korean matchmaking service, to find her own Korean bachelor. And she is hardly alone. More than 6,400 female clients have signed up with the company, which says its popularity has skyrocketed since 2004, when "Winter Sonata" became the first of many hot Korean television dramas to hit Japan. Even in Shinjuku ni-chome, Tokyo's biggest gay district, niche bars with names such as Seoul Man have sprouted like sprigs of ginseng in a Pusan autumn.

"South Koreans are so sweet and romantic -- not at all like Japanese guys, who never say 'I love you,' " Yoshimura said as she waited for her blind date, a single Korean man, in the 50th-floor bar of a chic Tokyo skyscraper. A telephone operator who lives with her parents in Hiroshima, she has spent thousands of dollars on her quest for a Korean husband, flying to Seoul 10 times in the past two years and bullet-training to Tokyo for seven blind dates with Korean men.

So far, though, she hasn't found the one she's looking for....

[dimwit]

Sounds like the Washington Post is still in silly season

Do people still watch Korean dramas? I haven't seen a Yon-sama commercial in ages. Hasn't that fad more or less past off the face of the earth?:confused:

[Greji]

Sounds like the Washington Post is still in silly season

Do people still watch Korean dramas? I haven't seen a Yon-sama commercial in ages. Hasn't that fad more or less past off the face of the earth?:confused:

They're still watching them hot and heavy! I try not to pay attention, but there are a couple of names of the K-boys being thrown around as super hot, etc., that you can't help hearing .

[IkemenTommy]

Sounds like the Washington Post is still in silly season

Do people still watch Korean dramas? I haven't seen a Yon-sama commercial in ages. Hasn't that fad more or less past off the face of the earth?:confused:

They still air that silly Secom CM occasionally.

[Choeki]

Considering the Washinton Post is owned by the Moonies you would think they would have talked about this earlier.

Nevertheless, I think the article is misleading on the average age of Japanese women who are part of the wave (generally 35-40+ years old from what I've seen).

[Kuang_Grade]

Considering the Washinton Post is owned by the Moonies you would think they would have talked about this earlier.

The Washington Times is owned by the Moonines (they own the news wire service UPI as well). The Washington Post is publicly traded company(Warren Buffet owns a big chunk) but remains in the control of the Graham family, which has running the paper since 1933.

[Captain Japan]

I expect the Washington Post to run a story like this in 3 years...

'Handkerchief Prince' Saito has Yon-sama's housewife brigade in a flap
Mainichi

Schoolboy hurler Yuki Saito has become a national heartthrob for daintily patting his sweaty face with a blue hanky and flicking his perspiration onto the pitching mound. But, Shukan Shincho (9/7) notes, that's not the only mound Saito is moistening, as middle-aged women's loins across Japan are dampening at the mere thought of him.

Saito, now being called The Handkerchief Prince across Japan, has replaced Korean actor Bae Young Joon from the maudlin TV drama "Winter Sonata" as the object of desire of swooning housewives throughout the country.

Though currently in the United States to play a series of games against American schoolboy teams, the Waseda Jitsugyo High School hurler has attracted legions of female fans, with a significant swathe of them middle-aged women 40-and-up of the type who've spent the past few years going crazy over Bae, who they call Yon-sama, or Lord Yon....more...

[IkemenTommy]

I expect the Washington Post to run a story like this in 3 years...

It's amazing how Mainichi-MSN is considered "newsworthy" and there are people out there who get their info from reading this kind of shit.

[Greji]

It's amazing how Mainichi-MSN is considered "newsworthy" and there are people out there who get their info from reading this kind of shit.

There was apparantly a piece on TV yesterday that my wife told me about concerning a shock for the Handkerchief prince (or more so for the press). As you may or may not know, an all star team is selected from the HS teams at Koshien each year and they tour the states playing games. Who they play against depends on who you ask. As you know having one FG on the opposing team qualifies it as a Nichibei or International Taikai! At any rate both Saito the prince and his arch nemesis, Tanaka from Tomakomai are on the team, which is accompanied by no less than 500 ranting and raving J-journalists.

Yesterday's show was supposedly great, as the game was between a three state area from both coasts and the Koshien all stars. The J-squad lost. The breathless journalists practically attacked a scout from one of the MLB clubs at the game, who had the audacity to admit that he had not come to see any members of the Japanese team. He further compounded this faux paux by telling J-reporters he had not heard of Saito, of Hanky Royalty!

He insulted their intelligence in responding to the inevitable question of "Now that you have seen the best of Japan's HS's against the best from the US, what do you think of J-baseball?", by saying he couldn't give them an answer since this was only a put-together team for three state local area and not a selection representing the entire US and besides that the J-team lost to this team. When they went to the unbeliveable extreme of taking their valuble time to point out the star prince to the scout, the scout then committed the unpardonable by saying "Oh you mean him" and then stated that Saito was probably too small, but maybe if he went to the minors and worked hard for several years, he might be able to do well enough in the future to possibly make an MLB Club. Adding insult to injury, he sprinkled salt on the wounds of Waga writer-tachi, a bit further by saying Tanaka looked like the better candidate, if any, from the J-squad. The media then gave up on this lout and went looking for kids hanging around the backstop in hopes of more professional comments! Tanaka the pitcher was immediately dismissed after saying this US team was just "too good".

Dollar to a dog turd this don't make any of the sports sheets!

[Captain Japan]

Hankies of Japan's baseball pitcher sold dearly on Net auctions
People's Daily

The same kind of handkerchief used by a star baseball pitcher Yuki Saito, whose team recently won Japan's national high school baseball summer championship, was sold more than 10 times than its original price on Internet auction sites, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Tuesday.

The kind of towel handkerchief which Saito used to wipe his face during the game, is selling at prices over 5,000 yen (about 43 U.S. dollars). Even used ones of the same make have been auctioned at prices between 3,000 yen (about 26 dollars) to 5,000 yen, it said.

Saito led Tokyo's Waseda Jitsugyo to its first national high school baseball championship title on Aug. 21. He was dubbed the "handkerchief prince" by female fans who admired his dashing style and the way he wiped his face with a handkerchief.

The production of the handkerchief has been discontinued. However, noting its popularity, the Osaka-based maker is considering to market the product again.

[Jack]

I had mentioned this in an earlier post about when J-women get something in their head they will exclusively pursue that idea to its end at the expense of everything else. Being stubborn is how I had descirbed it. This is another example of an idiot doing just that. Making 10 trips to Korea an d meeting 7 blind dates in Japan and has not yet found the right petrson. Let me see how this moron's mindset works. I guess that there is a reason why she can't find the right person. That person in her little fucking brain does not exist.

[Bucky]

[garterbelt3098]

I didn't know Yon-sama is also popular with women in 20 to 30's.

Last time I saw him on TV, he was at a concert(?) in Japan with her partner in Winter Sonata, and most of the audience are old women.

[damn name]

In a nation where singing groups consist of 48 pre-teen looking girls, women in their 20s are considered old women.

[McTojo]

I had mentioned this in an earlier post about when J-women get something in their head they will exclusively pursue that idea to its end at the expense of everything else. Being stubborn is how I had descirbed it. This is another example of an idiot doing just that. Making 10 trips to Korea an d meeting 7 blind dates in Japan and has not yet found the right petrson. Let me see how this moron's mindset works. I guess that there is a reason why she can't find the right person. That person in her little fucking brain does not exist.

We vibe on this one. Isn't that just cool?

[Greji]

I had mentioned this in an earlier post about when J-women get something in their head they will exclusively pursue that idea to its end at the expense of everything else. Being stubborn is how I had descirbed it. This is another example of an idiot doing just that. Making 10 trips to Korea an d meeting 7 blind dates in Japan and has not yet found the right petrson. Let me see how this moron's mindset works. I guess that there is a reason why she can't find the right person. That person in her little fucking brain does not exist.

You're partly right about the single minded gonkko thinking of a lot of girls, but I think you're missing a major point here. The current major problems to finding a mate in Japan for young women is increasing as more men are waiting later and/or deciding not to marry at all. A lot of these women have many marriage meetings, either arranged by family, or friends, or through dating services. Many are going online in the search. It may strike you, McTubo or others as moronic, but I assure you it's not at all uncommon these days. The dating,or arrangement services, usually available on-line seem to be extremely popular because it allows them access with out friends or family knowing.