"K-Pop Ttalagaja"... Japanese Government Invests 6 Billion Yen in Overseas Expansion of Cultural Artists

Japanese Government to Support Overseas Expansion by Selecting Creators
Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs Considering Establishment of Asian Version of Grammy Awards

The Japanese government plans to launch a program that selects young cultural and artistic creators and supports their overseas expansion.

Korean girl group NewJeans appeared on 'Kohaku Uta Gassen'.
[Photo by NHK 'Kohaku Uta Gassen']

On the 10th (local time), local media reported that the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the department responsible for Japan's cultural policy, will select a group of creators in the cultural and artistic fields, mainly young people with rich international experience, and support their overseas expansion. To this end, the Agency for Cultural Affairs plans to establish a fund of 6 billion yen (approximately 54.8 billion KRW).

The media stated, "The Japanese government has mainly operated support programs for cultural and artistic creators on an annual basis, but recently it has judged that a mid- to long-term program is necessary to support everything from project planning and production to successful overseas expansion."

Japanese media further reported the background of the Japanese government's new program, saying, "While Korea actively exports music, movies, and dramas overseas, Japan has been criticized for its delayed overseas expansion. Additionally, Japan faces concerns that its domestic market may shrink in the future due to population decline."

Earlier, in September last year, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced that it was considering establishing an Asian version of the Grammy Awards. Shunichi Tokura (都倉俊一), the head of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and a former composer who created many popular songs including the hit 'UFO' by the once-popular Japanese girl group Pink Lady, expressed his ambition in an interview commemorating the agency's half-year relocation to Kyoto, saying, "I want to hold a globally recognized music awards ceremony in Kyoto to promote J-pop overseas."

Meanwhile, BTS member Jungkook's solo album 'Golden' ranked 28th on the 'Billboard 200,' successfully charting for nine consecutive weeks. 'Golden' is the first K-pop solo artist album to remain on the 'Billboard 200' for nine consecutive weeks. In addition to BTS, groups NewJeans, ATEEZ, ENHYPEN, and Stray Kids also appeared on the 'Billboard 200.' NewJeans ranked 110th with their mini-album 'Get Up.' Entering at number one in August last year, 'Get Up' has remained on the chart for 24 weeks, repeatedly breaking the longest record for a K-pop group album.

The popularity of Korean content in Japan is increasing day by day. On December 31 last year, Korea's representative idols such as NewJeans, Stray Kids, SEVENTEEN, LE SSERAFIM, and TWICE-Misamo appeared on NHK's representative year-end special program 'Kohaku Uta Gassen.' This program divides performers into red and white teams to compete on stage on the last day of each year, and being listed as a performer is considered to mean being 'the most popular singer in Japan that year,' so Korean idols appearing on this representative Japanese broadcast attracted significant attention.

Korean groups are also standing out on Japan's representative music ranking chart, the Oricon Chart. LE SSERAFIM recorded sales of 2.12 billion yen (approximately 19.3 billion KRW) from album and digital sales in the 'Oricon Annual Ranking 2023' (survey period: December 12, 2022 ? December 10, 2023), and TREASURE's second full album 'Reboot' ranked first on the Oricon Weekly Album Chart (January 1, 2024 ? January 17, 2024).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.