Japanese novels, musicians unfazed by consumer boycott

Yet publishers feeling pressure for Japan-bashing

Japanese novels and musicians are two rare creatures remaining in calm waters amid the stormy Japan-bashing in Korea.

Koreans are simmering and trying to boycott anything related to the neighboring country as Japan plays its trade card to put pressure on the Korean economy in return for the local court's rulings demanding Japanese companies compensate surviving victims of wartime slave labor.

The consumer boycott began earlier this month to target made-in-Japan goods or commodities produced by Japanese manufacturers and has since spread to anything related to Japan, such as outbound tourism to Japan.

However, Japanese novels and singers are unfazed by the ongoing consumer boycott.

According to the nation's largest bookstore Kyobo Books, Koreans still love Japanese fiction.
Every one out of five newly released books in July was written by a Japanese author. Japanese novels still have a strong presence in bookstores. According to Kyobo Books, among the top 10 best-selling books, three are written by Japanese authors. Six Japanese novels made the top 20 best sellers list of July. Gaku Yakumaru and Keigo Higashino are among the most popular Japanese writers.

A culture of bashing, however, has inevitably caused publishers to cancel or reschedule their publications.

Joo Yeonsun, the founder and publisher of Eunhaengnamu (maidenhair tree) Publishing Company in Seoul, said many publishing houses are canceling prescheduled books or suspending plans to release books written by Japanese authors. "From July, we decided to suspend the publications of Japanese novels. We were in the middle of printing a couple of books but it was stopped because of the anti-Japanese sentiment," he said.

The publishing house has released 10 or more Japanese novels every year since the early 2000s.

Joo said the Japan-bashing has impacted local publishing houses, particularly companies like Eunhaengnamu which rely heavily on Japanese fiction for income. The local publishing industry, which is already struggling due to poor book sales, is poised to suffer due to the anti-Japan sentiment.

According to him, this year the local book industry has seen repackaging of old books, steady-sellers and books that were published years back but disappeared from book shelves for various reasons. His company was preparing to release some past best-selling Japanese books again with new cover designs, including a million-seller "Swing in the Air" written by Hideo Okuda.

"We delayed the repackaging plan, too, because we are not sure of its sales," Joo said.

'Homegrown pirates'

Bookstores are not a sole venue where consumer boycotts are not felt. The music scene also has remained safe from the anti-Japan campaign.

On Tuesday, Woolim Entertainment has unveiled a video about the six-member of the girl band Rocket Punch who debuted on Wednesday. The girl band includes a Japanese member named Juri. The video uploaded on the agency's Facebook account shows each member and their characteristics.

The entertainment agency's "bold" move of debuting a new girl band having a Japanese member is no surprise to those who are familiar with K-pop culture.

Earlier in July, some internet users uploaded posts rallying support for consumer boycotts on Japanese members in K-pop groups, such as TWICE and IZ*One. They called on the Japanese members to go home and one singled out TWICE member Sana as a target.

Their posts, however, met a backlash. Rep. Ha Taekyeung voiced worries about the campaign, saying boycotting Japanese K-pop idols is a stupid thing. "The Japanese girl band members know a lot about Korea and they are pro-Korea. Why should we send them back home? What good would we get if we do that?" he wrote on Facebook.

Actor Kim Euisung fired at the internet users who stirred up the public to join hands to boycott Sana. "No Sana, please," he wrote on social media.

"Sana is not the one we should attack. People who we need to attack are to-chak-oie-gu, not Japanese girl band members like Sana."

The term "to-chak-oie-gu" refers to "homegrown pirates" who are sympathetic to Japan. It is a derogatory term referring to Japanese and was derived from the way old Koreans called Japanese "dwarf pirates."

The use of the term dated back to the early 1900s and flared up in March in the political arena.

Mentioning the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs' announcement to investigate freedom fighters, Rep. Na Kyungwon of the Liberty Korea Party said the government must bear in mind that the parliamentary special committee, which was set up in 1948 in order to detect and punish the Koreans who colluded with Japan during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation, did a disservice to the nation and noted it only divided the people.

Her remarks ignited some liberal politicians who called Rep. Na a homegrown pirate.

Anti-Japan sentiment has popularized the term. It went viral as internet users and even celebrities have been using the term when they label certain people as Japan sympathizers.

Japanese books and girl band TWICE's Japanese member Sana