Nowadays many people are drawn to South Korean dramas and fashion due to their high quality. South Korean entertainment has taken full root in Japanese society.

While in Japan government based fund to promote Japan is in debt.

https://otakuusamagazine.com/cool-japan-fund-is-in-major-debt-making-its-future-uncertain/

I don't always like it but it is light years ahead of Japan's output.

I always found the name 'Cool Japan' a bit self important and cringeworthy

So many good things about Japan - but having a program called "Cool Japan" and then have a panel of guests discuss whether the topic of the day is cool or not is decidedly Uncool.

But try to tell that to bureaucracy who have experts you know.!!!

Amongst younger people I have contact with - university students and others - K-pop, fashion is certainly popular, as is and has been K-drama & film for a long time now.

And Japan shouldn't feel it's a competition between rivals - like a sports game - as that will always stifle free creativity.

Korea is having it's moment in the sun, whether it be culture, electronics, cars or whatever. It's the nature of progressive economies.

Big in the UK too. You can buy T-shirts with 'The only drama I want is Korean with English Subtitles' on.

Not all of them will be your cup of tea, but when you find the sort of ones you like, you will be hooked. Crack and meth have nothing on Kdrama. Typically 16 hours on the emotional rollercoaster. Then you become an evangelist, urging your friends to see the light.

If I had to pick the best, I'd probably go with 'Reply 1988'. Everyone will have their own preferences. If you haven't tried Kdrama, you really are missing out. If you write drama or fiction, you have to experience the way Kdrama works.

If I had to pick the best, I'd probably go with 'Reply 1988'.

I haven't watched many but that's the best one I've seen too.

Korean drama, Korean fashion, Korean culture, Korean movies, Korean people are all really amazing and they seem to be very open to the world in terms of cultural sensitivities. Love Korea!

Korean culture is much more Americanised than Japanese culture so it makes sense, but Japanese culture is still much more popular in Japan and very popular in most Asian countries.

To all those people giving sneaky thumbs down but making no comments: read the comments and learn. Korea has been having the kind of worldwide success that Japan has only dreamed of and mostly failed at. Perhaps the arrogance of Japanese producers of music or dramas is actually inhibiting them from learning how to satisfy a bigger audience - there is a lot of it about - and those who simply hide behind their thumbs down tantrums are reflecting that. I actually know people in the Japanese entertainment industry who still display contempt for Korean output despite the successes.

Some people are underestimating the creativity, originality and imagination of the Japanese and what they created since the a) thirties, b) sixties and c) nineties…;

also, they’re forgetting that Tokyo is one of the five fashion capitals of the world…;

this isn’t supposed to be a competition…; there are many similarities between Japanese pop culture and Korean pop culture…;

it just so happens that the world is more interested in Korean pop culture now… ( the same way the world was interested in Japanese pop culture in the early two thousands… )

Don't know about the fashion but if you like cornball TV dramas, there's no shortage of them coming out of South Korea.

Korean movies and TV drama are widely available subbed, Japanese releases much less so.

Japanese DVDs have always been insanely expensive compared to Western boxed sets, despite rarely being subbed.

This one might hurt a bit. Typical Korean TV dramas are more complex and work the emotions more effectively than typical JP ones. Not every time, but enough for it to be noticeable. They also expect more of their viewers. Too many Japanese TV series seem to be written, produced and directed as if they exist to teach morality to children. Japanese people are not simple, but all too often their TV treats them as if they are. There are great JP TV series, but you have to look for them. I'm not Japan bashing. I would like to watch more Japanese TV drama.

How good is Kdrama? The BBC produced some superb drama in the 80s and 90s, but have badly tailed off and could learn a lot from Korea. Quite a lot of young Brits have decamped to Kdrama.

US TV drama? Some outstanding, such as 'Fringe'. But all too often just different types of cops shooting people.

Both JP and KR do well on fashion. JP wins with anime. Kpop is stronger internationally than Jpop. If it wasn't for the JP idol groups that get derided so much on here, the gap would be much wider.

I stopped watching Korean drama as 90% of the time, the story is the same.

I can tell you what happened to last 1000 Korean dramas and the next 1000 as they will be the same. A son of a rich parent owner of a big company falls for an ordinary woman and a lot of families dramas to follow.

Nothing really to watch. Even K-pop has been past due for sometime.

If you turn off the sound and subtitles, I personally can't tell the difference between K and J pop culture.

Wow ~ bro.. profound ~!

Something to think about on this wet morning in Tokyo (where I have lived for the past so many years).

Not a fan of "dramas" of any country, to be honest. "Cleaning up" was one of the few K-dramas I liked, but it is a remake of the British one.

But Korean films are generally excellent, with deep, dark themes. Parasite, The Host, Train to Busan, Escape from Mogadishu, Children, Burning - to name just a few I can remember. Great stories and excellent acting.