The Fickle History of K-Pop in Japan
Who belongs in the foreground of the history of the second Korean Wave in Japan?
Yes, girl groups, as well as their mostly young, mostly female fans, although when it comes to anything more specific, things get complicated. There is no shared consensus. In 2010, when k-pop was beginning its ascendance in Japan, media outlets like NHK, The Korea Times, and The Fact pointed to four girl groups who they saw on the verge of a breakthrough – 4minute, SNSD, KARA and Brown Eyed Girls. Conversely, today’s version of this same history halves the number of groups. According to this telling, there were the two main groups, SNSD and KARA, as well as a few smaller, but notable successes like T-ara.
Neither of these takes on history more right than the other, especially since in the choice of which groups is not necessarily evidence-based. In fact, the choice of media in 2010 to group these four groups appears to have been a matter of similarity and proximity than actual viability in the market. That is they were all girl groups and all signed to major labels that were rolling out PR campaigns to promote them. They all debuted around the same time with 4minute first in May, followed by the other three in August, all with Japanese remakes of their Korean songs.
Similarly, the tendency of today’s narrative to be tilted towards KARA and SNSD, is like with 2010, a product of ulterior motives. The story of their careers, which doubles as a history of k-pop in Japan, is only part of a larger narrative pushed by the government, media outlets, as well as fans, is about k-pop’s global spread. First, k-pop conquered Japan, then the rest of Asia, and — will eventually — take on the world, or so the story goes.
To include 4minute and Brown Eyed Girls’ Japan careers in this would only detract from this story, since neither were especially successful. Despite seven singles, two albums, as well as various promotional activities including concerts and handshake events, fan meets, and television appearances 4minute’s sales peaked at the 10,000 mark before declining. Likewise, Brown Eyed Girls, whose career was shorter albeit no less active, never found a niche despite post-debut promoting extensively on television and radio, and magazines
And so, in the service of the story they were edited out. No matter the effort and time they had put into into their career. Here, that does not count as evidenced by the emphasis on image, over actual labor, as the reason often given for the success of groups like SNSD and KARA. This history is one of peaks, a highlight reel of the accomplishments focused solely on who is seen as the “winner,” not a participant.
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