Japan is in the midst of a "Korea boom." It seems that the smiling face of Bae Yong Joon is everywhere, and almost 10,000 (mostly) female fans greeted the superstar Korean actor when he arrived at Narita airport last November. Perhaps sparked by 2002's jointly hosted soccer World Cup, films, fashion, food and all things pop-cultural are cross-pollinating between the two nations at an unprecedented rate.
Although there was no crush of delirious women mobbing Do-Ho Suh at the opening reception for his "Reflection" exhibition in the Maison Hermes Forum in Tokyo's upscale Ginza, the media attention visited on the South Korean artist was still quite extraordinary. So, when I had a chance to chat with 42-year-old Suh, right off I asked him if he saw a new relationship developing between Japan and Korea.
"Yes, it really is something, I think. Finally, the attitudes are changing," he said. "I had the chance to work here with the many younger Japanese who helped with this installation. We could go have a drink and talk, and I was amazed at how much they were interested in Korean culture. They knew some basic words and phrases, but they also knew Korean songs. You know, when I was young in Korea, it was prohibited to listen to Japanese music and things like that."