The dispute has spread to Japan, where fans lament that JYJ has remained unable to make televised appearances
“We are watching the direction of both pop groups TVXQ, which played a leading role in K-Pop in Japan, and JYJ. We expect a common-sense decision from terrestrial broadcasters.”
Japanese fans have showed a keen interest in the direction of the situation reported by the Hankyoreh on Tuesday - namely, because broadcasters care about the feelings of SM Entertainment, a major entertainment agency currently engaged in a legal dispute with the boy group JYJ, the latter have been unable to appear on music programs - works itself out. In an email send to the Hankyoreh on Wednesday, one Japanese homemaker in her 40s, a fan of TVXQ and JYJ, said the article was posted on several blogs, and Japanese fans read it immediately. Japanese fans were putting the relevant Hankyoreh articles, translated by Korean JYJ fans, onto their blogs and Twitter sites.
Japanese fans were shocked by the seriousness of the situation itself. On one Japanese blog, there were comments such as, “I had no idea it was this serious,” and “If this is the situation, will they ever be able to sing freely?”
Other Netizens missed the old days when TVXQ was a five-man group, with one saying, “Leaving behind the court case with the agency, it is sad that TVXQ split up.”
There was much regret that JYJ cannot perform in Japan. JYJ signed a deal with Avex, which represented TVXQ in Japan, and appeared in dramas, but in September, Avex said it was suspending management of the three out of consideration of the lawsuit and to comply with corporate ethics. With this, JYJ’s activities in its largest overseas market, Japan, were stopped. It was reported that some 200 thousand TVXQ fans signed up with Avex in Japan starting from January of last year, and many of these were JYJ fans.
Mami, a Japanese fan living in Korea, said, “In Japan, the issue with SM Entertainment was one thing, but the issue with Avex needs to be resolved first.”
The reason for the intense interest is that when JYJ were members of TVXQ, they played a leading role in sparking the craze for K-Pop in Japan. “Break Out,” released in January of last year as TVXQ’s 29th single, sold 256 thousand recordings in its first week, the first time a foreign artist sold more than 20 thousand recordings in the first week. A look at the 2009 sales of Oricon’s over 20 thousand retailers and Internet shops showed that TVXQ’s sales were 6.8 billion yen ($82 million), third behind following Arashi and Exile.
In an interview with the Hankyoreh in September, Japanese producer Yasushi Akimoto said the success of TVXQ played a big role in the K-Pop craze in Japan. Because of TVXQ, people wanted to know more about Korean singers, and this also extended to girl groups.
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
Source: [The Hankyoreh]
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