Apparently, not everyone is in love with South Korean singer Psy?s internet smash hit ?Gangnam Style?. While the song has reached epic proportions worldwide, particularly in the US, UK and other parts of Asia, Japan has not embraced the phenomenon and some South Koreans are not too happy about this ?snub?.
It?s not like the Japanese don?t like Korean music. In fact, K-pop is one of the most popular genres in Japan. But the Gangnam fever that has swept through the world (it?s currently No 2 in the Billboard US charts and has topped the UK charts as well) has barely made an impact in Japan. It barely made the Top 30 of the Japanese iTunes chart.
But more than indifference, some Japanese have even treated it with disdain. Some claim that the 530 million YouTube views (and counting) of Psy?s horse-galloping musical romp is actually generated by bots or automated viewing programmes. It has been playfully called ?F5 Style?, in reference to the refresh button on the keyboard.
The Koreans are hitting back though. The Korean Wave Research Institute (KWRI) whose mission is to ?aggressively? promote Korean popular culture worldwide has denounced the ?conspiracy theories? going around. Its president Han Koo-Hyun said they are ?tantamount to doubting a world record in an Olympics marathon?.
There are many theories as to why Gangnam Style hasn?t been well received in Japan. One is that Psy didn?t release a Japanese-language version of the song, which is what K-pop artists usually do to make it big in Japan. For the more political theory, some assume it?s a result of the ongoing territorial dispute between Japan and South Korea over the Takeshima/Dokdo Islands. Well, if it?s the latter, surely there must be bigger problems than a chart-topping dance craze right?
[ via Menafn.com ]
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