Popular Culture and the Transformation of Japan–Korea Relations
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Popular Culture and the Transformation of Japan–Korea Relations This book presents essays exploring the ways in which popular culture reflects and engenders ongoing changes in Japan–Korea relations. Through a broad temporal coverage from the colonial period to the con- temporary, the book’s chapters analyse the often contradictory roles that popular culture has played in either promoting or impeding nationalisms, regional con- flict and reconciliations between Japan and Korea. Its contributors link several key areas of interest in East Asian Studies, including conflicts over historical memories and cultural production, grassroots challenges to state ideology, and the consequences of digital technology in Japan and South Korea. Taking recent discourse on Japan and South Korea as popular cultural super- powers further, this book expands its focus from mainstream entertainment media to the lived experience of daily life, in which sentiments and perceptions of the “popular” are formed. It will be useful to students and scholars of Japa- nese and Korean studies, as well as film studies, media studies and cultural studies more widely. Rumi Sakamoto is Senior Lecturer in Japanese at the School of Cultures, Lan- guages and Linguistics, the University of Auckland, and is convenor of Asian Studies, Chinese, Japanese and Korean programmes. She has published widely on Japanese popular culture, nationalism and war memory. She is a co- editor of Popular Culture, Globalization and Japan (Routledge, 2006) and Japanese Popular Culture (Routledge, 2014). Her current research looks at cultural repre- sentations of kamikaze pilots and self-defence forces in post-war Japan. Stephen Epstein is the Director of the Asian Languages and Cultures Pro- gramme at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, and served as the 2013–14 President of the New Zealand Asian Studies Society. He has published widely on contemporary Korean society, literature and popular culture and trans- lated numerous pieces of Korean and Indonesian fiction, including the novels Who Ate Up All the Shinga? by Park Wan- suh (2009) and The Wandering by Intan Paramaditha (2020). He has co- produced two documentaries on the Korean indie music scene, Us & Them: Korean Indie Rock in a K- pop World (2014) and Our Nation: A Korean Punk Rock Community (2002). Asia’s Transformations Edited by Mark Selden Cornell University, USA The books in this series explore the political, social, economic and cultural con- sequences of Asia’s transformations in the twentieth and twenty- first centuries. The series emphasises the tumultuous interplay of local, national, regional and global forces as Asia bids to become the hub of the world economy. While focusing on the contemporary, it also looks back to analyse the antecedents of Asia’s contested rise. 51 Danger, Development and Legitimacy in East Asian Maritime Politics Securing the Seas, Securing the State Christian Wirth 52 Denying the Comfort Women The Japanese State’s Assault on Historical Truth Edited by Rumiko Nishino, Puja Kim and Akane Onozawa 53 National Identity, Language and Education in Malaysia Search for a Middle Ground between Malay Hegemony and Equality Noriyuki Segawa 54 Japan’s Future and a New Meiji Transformation International Reflections Edited by Ken Coates, Kimie Hara, Carin Holroyd and Marie Söderberg 55 Dangerous Memory in Nagasaki Prayers, Protests and Catholic Survivor Narratives Gwyn McClelland 56 Popular Culture and the Transformation of Japan–Korea Relations Rumi Sakamoto and Stephen Epstein For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Asias- Transformations/book-series/SE0401 Popular Culture and the Transformation of Japan–Korea Relations Edited by Rumi Sakamoto and Stephen Epstein First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Rumi Sakamoto and Stephen Epstein; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Rumi Sakamoto and Stephen Epstein to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. With the exception of Chapter 3, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Chapter 3 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial- No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Names: Sakamoto, Rumi, editor. | Epstein, Stephen J., 1962– editor. Title: Popular culture and the transformation of Japan-Korea relations / edited by Rumi Sakamoto and Stephen Epstein. Description: London ; New York, NY : Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2020. | Series: Asia’s transformations | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2020011402 | ISBN 9780367024444 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367520250 (paperback) | ISBN 9780429399558 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Korea (South)–Relations–Japan. | Japan–Relations– Korea (South) | Popular culture–Japan. | Popular culture–Korea (South) Classification: LCC DS849.K6 P66 2020 | DDC 303.48/45195052–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011402 ISBN: 978-0-367-02444-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-39955-8 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear Contents List of figures vii Notes on contributors viii Acknowledgements x Notes on romanisation and names xi Introduction: popular culture and the transformation of Japan–Korea relations 1 RUMI SAKAMOTO AND STEPHEN EPSTEIN PART I Transforming Japan–Korea relations in everyday practice 17 1 Colonial timekeeping: bringing Koreans up to speed 19 ROALD MALIANGKAY 2 “Dye for my grey hair and curry powder for cooking”: informal politics of exchange between North Korea and Japan, 1959–1975 34 MARKUS BELL 3 The “Shiba view of history” and Japan–Korea relations: reading, watching and travelling Clouds Above the Hill 48 PHILIP SEATON PART II Reimagining Japan–Korea relations in film 61 4 Remembering to reset: representations of the colonial era in recent Korean films 63 HEE- SEUNG IRENE LEE vi Contents 5 Korean kamikaze pilots in Japanese films 78 RUMI SAKAMOTO 6 Memories of comfort: postcolonial production and consumption of Koreeda Hirokazu’s Air Doll (2009) 93 KUKHEE CHOO PART III Japan–Korea relations and popular culture manipulations 109 7 The Diary of Yunbogi and Japan–Korea relations 111 CHRIS PERKINS 8 “Imjin River” and the transnational consumption of partitioned Korea 124 SUNHEE KOO 9 Industrial miracle or Hell Island? Gunkanjima, television, and nationalism in South Korea and Japan 137 YOOJIN CHOI PART IV Japan–Korea relations and popular culture engagement 151 10 Lovers’ quarrels: Japan–Korea relations in amateur Boys’ Love manga 153 REBECCA SUTER 11 Fly the flag (at your own risk): netizens, nationalism and celebrities between South Korea, Japan and beyond 167 STEPHEN EPSTEIN 12 Japanese inherited responsibility, popular narratives and memory of the war 182 RIA SHIBATA Index 199 Figures 2.1 Niigata. Store located in the Red Cross Centre 36 2.2 Niigata harbour, Japan. Repatriation to North Korea of Koreans living in Japan 37 6.1 Inflated sex doll Nozomi in her owner Hideo’s bed 98 6.2 Nozomi exploring her neighbourhood 99 6.3 Bae Doona and Koreeda Hirokazu appear on the popular television show Waratte iitomo with the host Tamori on 14 September 2009. The caption reads “Hallyu actress Bae Doona” 100 12.1 Historical awareness of Japan’s wartime atrocities 185 12.2 Association with the Asia-Pacific War 189 12.3 Information sources on war history 190 12.4 Inherited responsibility for Japan’s historical injustices 193 Contributors Markus Bell is a migration and social inclusion expert who has published broadly on politics and social change in East Asia. He has lectured at the Aus- tralian National University, Goethe University Frankfurt, and the University of Sheffield. He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at La Trobe University and consults for Rapid Asia. Yoojin Choi recently graduated with a Master of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of Auckland. Her research interests include public history, war memory, and nationalism in post- war East Asia. She is currently studying Chinese at Peking University. Kukhee Choo is Affiliate Faculty at Hosei University, and her research focuses on globalization and cultural policies, Trans- Asian media flows, and media representations of bodies. She has published work in Women: A Cultural Review (2008), Postscript (2009), Television & New Media (2011), Mechademia (2014), Culture, Theory and Critique (2018) and various anthologies. Sunhee Koo is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Auck- land. Her research focuses on East Asian performing