Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

I saw on the news a few days ago that Korea is slowly lifting its ban on Japanese cultural products, and while I don't really care (from a cultural standpoint, mind you) that the PS2 is now available to purchase in Korea, there are some other things that it seems downright shameful that Korea has dislallowed the availability of.

For instance, these days, the wonderful films of Hayao Miyazaki have only recently become available. Anyone who is a fan of animation will know that the film My Neighbor Totoro is a decade old, and it finally saw its release in Korea just last year. I've heard the reason for this is that Korea is trying to protect their burgeoning (yeah, still pretty much non-existent) animated film industry. Whatever.

The fact is that, even if you agree Korea still has the right to hold a grudge against the Japanese for the atrocities they carried out over 50 years ago, the ban on some Japanese cultural products is blatantly wrong.

It's a sad state of affairs when I can dance my booty off to DDR, but can't pick up DVD copies of Kurosawa films.

Thoughts?

[Dan]

but most japanese products were widely available if you knew what you were doing. so I think the point is moot.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Dan, your right, but they're also morbidly expensive. My sister -- for god knows what reason -- is heavy into Japanese music, and when she was here visiting, she had to shell out 40,000 won for a CD. I myself, back before the Korean PS2 was introduced, paid about twice the cost for the Japanese version.

However, I've never seen any Kurosawa films (Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo) anywhere in Korea. Nor a Kano twins calendar.

Sparkles*_*

[Zyzyfer]

Tibby, no offense, but Japanese products are expensive even in Japan. 40,000 won for a CD isn't all that far off the mark.

[ulsanchris]

who are the kano twins

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

My bad: they aren't actually twins; just two hot sisters.

There's plenty of stuff on the net about them. Like this article:

http://www.japantoday.com/gidx/newsmaker25.html

[Chillin' Villain]

[Dan]

In New Jersey, I paid $45 for an Amuro CD I was gonna give as a present to a Japanese chick at school. I couldn't believe the price until I found out Jap. CDs really are that expensive, which is why so many Japanese just listen to those little single CDs.

[matko]

I think most of you are exaggerating the price of Japanese cds. I can't remember seeing one that cost more than 3,500 yen and that was the maximum.

What really confuses me though, is that import cds in Japan are ALOT cheaper than domestic!

[posco's trumpet]

[Gord]

[mack the knife]

You guys are joking, right? You really buy CD's? Come on...

And I don't want to hear any of this "But I want to support my favorite band" crap. Your favorite band is rolling in the dough. Don't kid yourself. They (bands) don't make money off CD's. They make money from concerts, promotions, etc. BTW...If your favorite band is charging more than say, $10-15 a ticket, your favorite band (DJ) sucks.

[Mosley]

The ban is horsehockey. I was in Japan for Chuseok and what a treat it was to sip on sake, good old nihon-shu, instead of the gut-scorching rotgut aka soju. I've been to other places in Asia where sake was readily available, even if at inflated prices. Everywhere else in Asia, Japanese pop culture is in evidence everywhere. Went into a tiny, obscure mom & pop shop in Hong Kong and there were little Norika Fujiwara dolls & posters all around the place(mind you, she's been in a few HK flicks). Even in Taiwan, which was under Japanese rule for an even longer time than Korea, "Japan" is readily found. Most of Korea's youth have no trouble w/ Japanese pop culture. Rather, the ban is kept alive by Korea's humourless, geriatric elite who think Korean identity can only be maintained by an eternal hate-on for Japan.

[mack the knife]

We must protect our fragile industries!

That's the mentality behind the ban. And it makes sense. Who gives a s**t about "Wonderful Days" when Japan is pushing out heavy-hitters like "Akira", "Ghost in the Shell"(movie AND series), "Mononoke"(I hated that f*ggy movie), "Cowboy Bebop", "Spirited Away", etc, etc, etc. And that's all OLD stuff. Not to mention, Korean comic books suck a hard one. And Korean robot toys suck big, long ones. And Korean music (generally) bites hard nipple. And Korean beer is ass. And Korean video games are about as interesting as "New Coke". And Korean game consoles (oh, wait, do they make any?) And Korean variety shows (and TV shows in general) lick b*lls.

And. And. And...

[Walter Mitty]