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In search of new possibilities of self-expression and empowerment in Hallyu 3.0: Gen Z female fans in Japan

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In search of new possibilities of self-expression and empowerment in Hallyu 3.0: Gen Z female fans in Japan

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Content IN SEARCH OF NEW POSSIBILITIES OF SELF-EXPRESSION AND EMPOWERMENT IN
HALLYU 3.0:
GEN Z FEMALE FANS IN JAPAN
by
Yingke Yang
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC DORNSIFE COLLEGE OF LETTERS, ARTS AND SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(EAST ASIAN AREA STUDIES)
AUGUST 2022
Copyright 2022 Yingke Yang
Acknowledgements
Above all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis committee chair,
Professor Kerim Yasar, and committee members, Professor Brian Bernards, and Professor
Youngmin Choe. This thesis would not have been completed without the knowledge,
suggestions, and help of my committee.
I would also like to thank Grace, Kaitlin, and Alex from the East Asian Studies Center in
USC. Thank you for always being supportive during the past two years, and making me feel at
home whenever I come to the office.
Finally, I would also like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my family and
friends, in China and America, for all their love that has supported me to finish this degree.
ii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ii
Abbreviations v
Abstract vi
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 The Evolution of Hallyu, the Transformation of Fandom in Japan 5
2.1. Fandom in the First Korean Wave: Against the Backlash, Being the Marginalized 5
2.2. Fandom in the Second Korean Wave: Social Media and the Formation of an Independent
and Diverse Fan Space 8
2.2.1. Social Media as an Independent Space 8
2.2.2. Social Media as a Diverse Space 10
2.3. Conclusion: Into the Hallyu 3.0 13
Chapter 3 Gen Z Females' Self-Expression through Instagram Posts: Seeking Affirmation and
Connections in Hallyu 3.0 15
3.1. Instagram and Hallyu 3.0 : The New Mode of Communication and Consumerism among
Japanese Gen Z Females 16
3.2. Instagram Posts, Self-expression, and Empowerment 19
3.2.1. Pursuing Photogenic Content for Affirmation 19
3.2.2. Using Hashtags for Connections 23
3.3. Conclusion 24
Chapter 4 Gen Z Females' Self-Expression through Mix Languages: Performing Distinction and
Resistance in Hallyu 3.0 27
4.1. The Japanese-Korean Mixed Language 27
iii
4.2. Performing Resistance, Feeling Empowered 32
Chapter 5 Conclusion 35
Bibliography 45
iv
Abbreviations
Gen Z Generation Z
JR EAST The East Japan Railway Company
KOCCA Korea Creative Content Agency
KOTRA Korea Trade-Investment Agency
v
Abstract
This paper deals with the Generation Z female fandom of Hallyu 3.0 in Japan and their
distinct forms of self-expression through Instagram posts and mixed languages. It begins by
historizing the evolution and development of Hallyu culture in Japan during the past two
decades, from Hallyu 1.0 to Hallyu 3.0, as well as the transformation of the fandom. The paper
then looks more into the group of Gen Z female fans in the Hallyu 3.0, with a focus on their
self-expressions in different forms with specific examples, and how their distinctive
self-expressions have contributed to their self-empowerment as a subculture in Japanese society.
This paper contributes to the need to engage with and to understand not only the latest Hallyu
subculture among Japanese Gen Z females, but also the rising young female consumer cultures,
and the changing gender dynamics in contemporary Japan.
vi
Chapter 1 Introduction
Ever since the great success of the 2003 K-drama Winter Sonata, the Korean wave, also
known as Hallyu, has landed in Japan for more than 2 decades, and has maintained its
considerable transcultural influence among Japanese fans. As identified by abundant scholarly
works, the early Japanese fandom of Hallyu during its initial stage usually evokes the image of
middle-aged female audience of Yonsama in Winter Sonata. While this specific ethnographic
group as early transcultural consumers of Hallyu have undoubtedly helped melt the ice in the
once rocky Japanese-Korean relationship, they also underwent underwent a hard time in building
their social and cultural role due to strong anti-Korean sentiments in the society, as well as
limited opportunities they could speak for themselves as a “marginalized” (Mōri 140) social
group.
As the cultural and social context changed in the past two decades, the Hallyu cultural
landscape in Japan also transformed considerably, evidenced by the emergence of Hallyu 2.0 and
the Hallyu 3.0. The Hallyu 2.0, which started around the mid-2000s, is epitomized by K-pop and
Korean idols, exemplified by TVXQ and SNSD, both of whom were greatly successful idol
groups with a large Japanese fan base during the period (Ahn and Yoon 182; B. Kim 158; Song
130); The Hallyu 3.0, which has started since the mid-2010s (Jin 4155; Song 133), is
characterized by the popularization of a wider variety of Korean cultures and products,
exemplified by K-beauty, K-fashion, K-food, in the context of Japanese society (Ahn and Yoon
187; Baudinette; Sawada).
The transformation of this transcultural flow has also led to a shift of the demographics of
the fandom in Japan: that more young people have engaged in the consumption of Hallyu, as the
Internet and social media became more intertwined with the production and circulation of
1
popular Korean cultures. In the Hallyu 2.0, the majority of the fandom has gradually become
young females “in their 20s and 30s” (Ahn and Yoon 182); in the following Hallyu 3.0, about 10
years after the Hallyu 2.0, fans appear to be even younger in general, and are mainly females in
their 10s and early 20s, who we usually considered as the Generation Z (Gen Z), a generation
raised on social media, have been identified as the majority of the Hallyu fandom, and the main
contributor of the third Hallyu in Japan (Ann and Yoon 182; Baudinette; Jingu). As Phillips and
Baudinette stated , “the third Korean Wave boom (in Japan) has firmly tied K-pop fandom to
cultural spaces aligned with young Japanese women's consumer culture” (84).
Yet, when it comes to this Japanese fandom in the latest Hallyu, very limited scholarly
work has been conducted, especially about how they navigate the new social and cultural space
they situate, and the wide-ranging resources available and accessible to build their identity in a
new age. While there is a wealth of literature examining the earlier Hallyu fandom for their
unprecedented breakthrough as transcultural consumers as well as their connection with
domestic anti-Korean sentiments, it is time to update our knowledge, and construct a new and
timely perspective of Hallyu fans in contemporary Japan: how do they position and express
themselves in a new era of Hallyu, of digitalization, and of globalization? In addition, this
research is also significant, because understanding fans provides insights into contemporary
Japanese society, since fans are shaped by social variables simultaneously as fans bring influence
to the social environment they are in. The identity of a fan is complicatedly constructed in that it
involves issues of culture, technology, politics, gender and so on. As a result, by understanding
the fans in Hallyu 3.0 and their interplays with their surroundings, we will hopefully develop a
more comprehensive view of the society from different aspects.
2
In this paper, I have chosen to investigate the fan culture among Gen Z females in Hallyu
3.0, and consider how they have figured out new possibilities, agencies, and resources to
construct their identity as Hallyu fans. I have chosen this specific demographic group not only
because they are identified as the main consumers in Hallyu 3.0 in Japan, but also because
popular trends and fan activities among Gen Z females are usually more observable, due to their
active participation online and their passion about news trends. Due to a lack of academic
sources on this fandom in Hallyu 3.0 in Japan, the methodology to study about fans in Hallyu 3.0
will be reviews and analysis of online sources, such as news articles and surveys, that discuss
related phenomenon and cultural practices among Gen Z females as Hallyu fans. With these
online sources, we will hopefully gain a general understanding of the knowledge, practices, and
interactions among Gen Z female fans during Hallyu 3.0.
Even though we will mainly focus on the fan culture in Hallyu 3.0, it is also necessary for
us to also build a historical framework of the Hallyu cultural landscape in Japan. Only when we
have learned how earlier Hallyu fans had been constructed, situated, and treated in the Japan
society, can we empathize more with the efforts later fans have made to empower themselves and
to rearticulate themselves as Hallyu fans. Besides, understanding the evolutionary process of the
Hallyu from 1.0 to 3.0 would also allow us to learn about how the changing social and cultural
context has paved the way for the growth of Gen Z female fans during Hallyu 3.0. Last but not
least, to learn about the history of Hallyu and its fandom will also help us recognize the
distinction between several generations of Hallyu in a more culturally specific way when it
comes to Japan, given the timeline and content of Hallyu might differ in various cultural and
geographical contexts.
3
Therefore, the paper will begin by historicizing the Hallyu in Japan with an overview of
the transformative Hallyu cultural landscape ever since Hallyu 1.0, in order to build a better
understanding of what Hallyu fans as a subculture have experienced and been socially
constructed, how they have dealt with complexities underlying the role of Hallyu fans differently
as the Hallyu progressed, and how the transformation has paved the way for the Hallyu 3.0. The
methodology used in the first chapter will be literature review of scholar works on especially the
Hallyu 1.0 and Hallyu 2.0 in Japan.
The following 2 chapters will do more research on fan cultures among Gen Z females in
Hallyu 3.0. Two research questions will be asked. First, how do Gen Z female fans engage in
expressing themselves in Hallyu 3.0? Second, how do fans empower themselves as they
construct their fan identity? The first question explores Gen Z female fans' creation of fan posts
on Instagram, and of mixed Japanese-Korean language respectively. The second question
explores Gen Z female fans’ identity construction and self-empowerment through their new
cultural agencies of fan posts and of mixed languages in Hallyu 3.0.
With background and discussions given, this paper argues that Gen Z female fans in
Hallyu 3.0 express themselves by posting on Instagram as well as using mixed languages. With
these new forms of self-expression, Gen Z females empower themselves as Hallyu fans, and
create more social and cultural space for Hallyu as a subculture in Japanese society.
4
Chapter 2 The Evolution of Hallyu, the Transformation of Fandom in Japan
This chapter will provide a historical overview of the evolution of Hallyu in relation to
the transformation of fandom in Japanese society, specifically by foregrounding the theme of
fans’ identity construction in conjunction with the shift of the mediascape during different
periods of Hallyu. This chapter will foster a better understanding of not only the transition of the
cultural wave itself, but also the transition of fans’ practices, mindset, and identity in the past two
decades.
2.1. Fandom in the First Korean Wave: Against the Backlash, Being the
Marginalized
To begin with, the first Korean Wave in Japan was kick-started by the Korean drama
Winter Sonata screened in 2003. The male protagonist Bae, fulfilling females’ idealized
imagination of soft masculinity as an alternative to hegemonic masculinity prevailing in Japan,
has gained unprecedented popularity as a Korean actor among especially Japanese middle aged
females (Jung 45). Giving rise to a social phenomenon of “Yonsama syndrome” in description of
the “intensity” of those female fans nationwide, the hit of this drama has become a watershed
moment in Japan-Korean relationship ever since the post-colonial era when the Japan-Korea
relations remained strained (Lux 11).
Despite the contribution of Yonsama’s fans in reconnecting the two countries, the
Japanese media treatment of them had been largely intertwined with oppression and stereotypes:
middle-aged female fans’ cultural consumption of Hallyu was subjectively phrased as “irrational,
gossip-seeking, pathetic, and even unpatriotic”, and the image of them was maliciously
constructed as “hysterical, and uncontrollable” by the mainstream media (Ann and Yoon 185;
5
Mōri 132; Nagayama 1). Even the term Yonsama syndrome and Yonsama phenomenon were
widely used by the media as a pejorative term to deride Winter Sonata’s female fans as “being
foolishly” attracted to the magnetism of Korean men (Hayashi and Lee 1).
Such media bashing of middle-aged females as poor Hallyu fans were greatly attributed
to the patriarchy-centered mainstream news outlet (Ann and Yoon 187; Nagayama 1; Hayashi
and Lee 1), such as “television, newspaper, and popular journal” (Creighton 13; Mōri 128),
which considered the infatuation of Japanese women with Hallyu men as a threat to patriarchal
nationalism of Japan. According to Nagayama, the emergence of middle-aged women fandom
obsessed with Yonsama signifies that women were reclaiming their “sexual autonomy and their
entitlement to explore their erotic fantasies and desires”, challenge the patriarchal value that take
“women's sexual subordination” for granted (4). Besides, by engaging in offline fan activities,
middle-aged female fans, predominantly housewives, had come to develop more social ties and
invest time on their hobbies. For their husbands, who conventionally expected their wife to stay
at home and take care of every household chore in a society in favor of salaryman masculinity,
they blamed Hallyu and its celebrities for bothering their family and causing their frustration in
life.
There are also other social-political reasons that account for anti-Hallyu sentiments,
which also directed the hatred towards fans, who were considered showing “seemingly
uncontrollable desire” (Hayashi and Lee 199) for Yonsama. For those in favor of cultural
nationalism, the sudden rise of Hallyu as a Korean soft power came as an intimidation towards
Japan, a country had long been taking pride in its soft power and cultural advancements
(Sakamoto and Allen 1), especially considering the fact that the J-pop industry just underwent its
peak in the 1990s before the arrival of Hallyu. Secondly, influenced by colonial history, many
6
Japanese still assumed an imperial and racist gaze at Korea as “something to be conquered,
enlightened, modernized” (Creighton 3), and asserted that “Japanese males are hierarchically
above Korean ones” (Creighton 13). Thirdly, the post-war essentialist nationalism and
xenophobic sentiments in domestic society, which emphasize “similarity over difference”
(Martinez 2) when it comes to discussion of ethnicity, have also affected the public persepctive
on Korea nad Korean ethnicity, and thus intensified the anti-Korean sentiments illustrated
through various forms as a right-wing backlash (Nagayama 5), such as street protests, and media
propoganda, including the well-known manga Kenkanryu, which means “hating Korea”.
Confronting the misogynistic media discourse in favor of “Japanese male chauvinism”
(Oh and Lee 294), as well as historical and political constraints, middle-aged female fans'
identity building were bothered due to a lack of positive and accurate media representation
(Kelsey 383). Fans thus had little choice, but to put up with the stereotypical and exaggerated
label attached on them as a marginalized group, due to a “lack of their visible social
organizations, political leaders, and systematic access to the political and economic
infrastructure” (Oh and Lee 296), while the mainstream discourses were still more inclined to
patriarchal perspectives (Mōri 131).
Admittedly, these middle-aged female fans also made use of the Internet, which is
supposed to be a newer and more independent media (Jung 137). According to an interview
study conducted by Mōri with a group of Winter Sonata’s Japanese female fans, “use the Internet
in different ways to get information on Korean dramas because information was limited in the
mainstream media” (134), such as using the online streaming service, and reading “reading mail
fanzines”. With this survey, Mōri has argued that these middle-age females are not passive and
mindless audiences as the mainstream media portrayed, but are active cultural agents engaging in
7
collection of information and re-interpretation of media content (Mōri 132). While I agree with
Mōri’s statement that these fans engaged in active audienceship, I consider their “netizenship”
still largely remained passive, in that cyberspace served more as a space where they spend more
time reading and learning as predominantly consumers of online content, with few chances to
participate and express their opinions. As a result, with their voice silenced by the mainstream
media, and their readership remaining passive online, middle-aged female fans were
considerably limited in building their social and cultural identity as fans in this era.
Despite that there also existed some media that looked at middle-aged female audiences
in a more “sympathetic way” (Lee 16), still fans were in need of outlets that would enable them
to express themselves and to rebuild their identity without external interference, and to get rid of
the negative image enforced on them.
2.2. Fandom in the Second Korean Wave: Social Media and the Formation
of an Independent and Diverse Fan Space
Through the case of middle-aged female fans of Winter Sonata as a representative group,
we have learned difficulties Japanese fans encountered in identity construction during the first
Korean Wave. In the following Hallyu 2.0, also known as the New Korean Wave “roughly from
the late 2000s to the early 2010” (Ahn and Yoon 182), a great transformation has occurred to the
Hallyu landscape, due to the emergence of new online space (Kim 158).
2.2.1. Social Media as an Independent Space
As many scholars have identified, a significant feature that differentiates the second and
later Korean Waves from the first one is that social media has been more widely used in the
production and circulation of K-pop culture and media content, and the construction of fan
community.
8
To contextualize this transformation of Hallyu, it necessitates an introduction of Web 2.0,
which has served as a great driving force behind the revolution of the second Korean Wave. The
notion of Web 2.0 was first proposed in 1999, and has become more socially recognized since
late 2004, as a word “to encompass the new generation of internet applications that enable
content sharing and collaboration” (“National”). In other words, it refers to a web technology
that attaches more importance to user-generated content, user-centered online experiences, and
more interactivities between users. Unlike Web 1.0 in which netizens are mostly consumers of
content on read-only websites, Web 2.0 encourages online users to become creators and
contributors of original content, and facilitates more interactions and collaboration within the
online communities. As a result, younger people, mostly female and tech-savvy(Jung and Hirata;
Ahn and Yoon 182), became the primary fan group of the Hallyu 2.0 in Japan, evidenced by not
only their online participations that facilitated the spread of K-pop culture, but also their in-group
interactions and connections that enhance the solidarity within the digital community (Jin).
Indeed, even during the Hallyu 2.0, the “hating Korean typhoon” still persisted on the
strength of the right-wing nationalists and conservatives in defense of patriarchy (Hagg 123), and
sometimes were even compounded by the influences of unresolved historical legacies and
political disputes. For example, from 2011 to 2014, more than 300 anti-Korean demonstrations
occurred in Tokyo (qtd. in Ann and Yoon 183), and the one of the most representative protests is
the protest against Fuji TV in 2011. In this large-scale demonstration, more than 6,000 protestors
gathered at the headquarter of Fuji TV in order to express discontent since they found the TV
station had invested excessive time in airing Korean programs (Schilling). Evidencing the
unceasing anti-Korean sentiments in Japan during the New Korean Wave, these protests also
indicate that Hallyu fans would still need to grapple with potential antagonism.
9
For the fandom in Hallyu 2.0, fortunately, the emergence of social media provided them a
more independent space to speak and consume, to build their identity, and to reimagine their fan
community. Unlike fans in the Hallyu 1.0 who consumed K-drama primarily through television,
in the Second Korean Wave, fans in Hallyu 2.0 tended to navigate user-driven online platforms,
such as Youtube and Twitter, as their main agency to create their fan-specific cultural space, and
to enjoy K-pop related content more freely (Jin and Yoon 1279).
Sensitively conscious of the controversy embedded in their identity, and the “perceived
negative connotations of being a Korean Wave fan” (Ann and Yoon 186), fans in the Hallyu 2.0
have come to rely more on social media partly as their ways of self-defense, and of “escaping
from sense of guilt for not being sufficiently patriotic”(Ann and Yoon 190). By distancing
themselves from interferences of traditional media, fans have therefore found themselves a new
platform to build their sense of self and their community, and to disengage with unfavorable
political debates presented by mainstream media. Such a significant shift of the main platform
for consumption, from conventional mass media to new media, has also paved the way for the
upcoming Hallyu 3.0, which we will investigate more in the next chapter.
2.2.2. Social Media as a Diverse Space
In addition to operatinging as a more unconstrained space for fans’ activities, social
media, as a culturally diverse and inclusive platform, has also come to equip fans with a more
open mindset towards Korea and Korean culture during the Second Korean Wave. Such
open-mindedness is evidenced by the way fans viewed Korean culture in Hallyu 2.0. Before we
delve into the discussion of fans in Hallyu 2.0, I would like to first return to the middle-aged
female fandom during the Hallyu 1.0, to consider their “bias” in a period when fans’ knowledge
10
of Korea was still largely limited, due to their limited access to information and their lack of
exposure to diverse perspectives.
While we have investigated a lot about how the nationalist and the patriarchal in Japan
have long been prejudiced against Hallyu, earlier Hallyu fans in Hallyu 1.0 had in fact also
assumed some bias against Korea and Korean culture as they consumed.
For example, Jung has argued that one of the important reasons that account for Bae’s
popularity among middle-aged female audiences is that he elicited a“retrospective” and
“nostalgic” (Jung 39; Jprime) sentiment from them. By referring to words of Shin Gyeong-Mi,
Jung considers that Bae’s pure, soft and gentle images enabled middle-aged Japanese female
viewers, who grew up in Sho-wa ( 昭和) Era, to engage in collective nostalgic yearning for
“traditional Japanese virtues” (Jung 61) that males embodied in the old days of the Sho-Wa era.
Such a transcultural nostalgia, through which female audiences constituted their memory
of their past through the “present” of Bae’s body in K-drama, essentially implies their
stereotypical gaze at Korea, because they assumed an “immutable temporal lag” (Iwabuchi 549)
between Japan and Korea, and treated the mass-mediated images from K-drama as a
“second-rate culture in the past” (Jung 45), an impression compounded by the colonial
memories. In other words, by orientalizing Korea as the underdeveloped, those female audiences
came to project their past onto the presentation of Korea in K-drama, gain a nostalgic feeling,
and replace their sense of loss with a sense of “coevalness” (Dirlik 406; Iwabuchi 565).
However, with the growing importance of social media ever since the Second Korean
Wave, more Japanese fans have come to consume Hallyu in a more open-minded way by
detaching themselves from historical stereotypes or political biases against Korea (Ahn and Yoon
191; Lux 43).
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Firstly, such a detached pattern of consumption is due to a generational phenomenon
among young fans that they have shown an indifferent attitude towards political and historical
discourses in general, and thus they are less influenced by cultural stereotypical values as a
consumer. Several reasons accounting for such an apathy are their distrust of and dissatisfaction
with the inactive Japanese government and political system (Ahn and Yoon 191; Tsujimoto, et al.
56), their hesitance to openly discuss and engage in politics which might invite potential
conflicts (Tsukada), their lack of motivation and efficient channels to invest time in complicated
political issues in an era of online entertainment (Kasai). Therefore, persistent political disputes,
including malicious discourses against Korea, do not pose a great impact on the way young
Hallyu fans think about Korea and consume its culture.
Secondly, their reliance on social media has also contributed to a more comprehensive
understanding of Korea, and also more tolerance and respect for cultural differences. On the one
hand, unlike conventional mass media in Japan which tend to emphasizing a negative and partial
image of Korea in relation to especially political and historical issues (Ahn and Yoon 192), social
media has broadened their horizon by exposing them to more diverse and updated information
and opinions about Korean and Korean culture, no matter positive or negative, and has helped
fans develop a more comprehensive image of Korea as an independent foreign country, with
more “a-contextual” attitudes (Kelsey 383). On the other hand, by engaging in Hallyu
consumption and building a fan community on social media, Japanese fans are able to participate
in fan activities regardless of geographical locations, time, cultures, and other factors that used to
interfere with earlier Hallyu fans who depend more on offline gatherings. Larson has used the
word “elsewhereness” (81) to describe the transcultural Hallyu fandom built on social media
since the second Korean Wave: despite fans’ diverse culture and geographical origins, still they
12
are bound closely online by Hallyu, through their shared consumption of “K-prefixed cultural
products” (Larsen 79). Situating in a all-encompassing virtual space where they can experience a
collective sense of “globality” that is “immediate, consistent and pervasive” (qtd. in Morimoto
and Chin 179; Jung), fans in Hallyu 2.0 have become able to come into contact with more
diverse people sharing similar taste with them, and to develop a more inclusive attitude towards
cultural differences. Therefore, it is not only a reconstruction of the image of Korea with more
online resources, but also a multicultural fan community made possible by social media that have
fostered a more open-minded and unbiased perspective among fans during the Hallyu 2.0.
2.3. Conclusion: Into the Hallyu 3.0
In discussion of the transformation of Hallyu cultural landscape from Hallyu 1.0 to
Hallyu 2.0 in Japan, we have gained a basic understanding of two main questions: how have
Hallyu fans been historically constructed, and how have fans transformed in response to the
social context they were in? Firstly, Hallyu fans have long been a marginalized group, due to
disputes and complexities embedded in their cultural identity as Hallyu fans in Japanese society,
especially when the social discourses were still dominated by anti-Koreanism. Such a socially
constructed image is also the reason why, as the title of this paper suggests, Hallyu fans in Japan
were and are still searching for new possibilities to express and empower themselves and their
community. Secondly, with the development of social media as an independent as well as
culturally diverse, young female Japanese fans in Hallyu 2.0 have come to reimagine their fan
identity and to cultivate a more inclusive mindset on social media, and to drift away from the
mainstream mass media.
In the next chapter, we will see how these transformations and progress in Hallyu 2.0
have greatly laid the foundation for the upcoming Hallyu 3.0. In our further discussion of Gen Z
13
female fans in Hallyu 3.0, we will see how they have utilized social media more flexibly, and to
engage in transcultural practices more proactively to empower themselves and create their social
presence as Hallyu fans in a more self-assertive and creative way.
14
Chapter 3 Gen Z Females' Self-Expression through Instagram Posts: Seeking
Affirmation and Connections in Hallyu 3.0
As mentioned in the last chapter, the development of Web 2.0 has made social media a
replacement of traditional mass media for Japanese fans to consume K-pop media content and to
build their online fandom independent of anti-Korean social discourses during Hallyu 2.0.
In the Hallyu 3.0 that started in 2016, social media have even played a more crucial role
in facilitating fans' consumption of Korean cultures. Such a more intertwined relationship
between the Hallyu fandom and social media is inseparable from the fact that the main consumer
group of Hallyu 3.0 has become Gen Z females, who not only simply tech-savvy, but have grown
up as digital natives. In comparison to fans in Hallyu 2.0 which occurred 10 years earlier, these
Gen Z female fans are more accustomed to the use of smartphones and social media as an
essential part of their daily lives. According to KOTRA's official report on the background of
Hallyu 3.0 in Japan, this Korean organization also considers the Hallyu 3.0 as a result of the rise
of a digital generation, by contextualizing that “around 2015, Japanese (paper) magazines
targeting females in their teens and 20s were suspended one after another” (qtd. in Sawada).
With such a context provided, this chapter will inquire more into the online fan culture in Hallyu
3.0. Specifically, we will study fans’ use of Instagram as a crucial social media in shaping a
distinct consumer culture especially among Japanese young females, and in paving the way for
the consumption boom of various K-cultures in Hallyu 3.0 in Japan. More importantly, we will
make sense of how Gen Z female fans have taken advantage of Instagram to express, to build
their identity, and enhance their self-esteem as Hallyu fans and supporters.
This chapter will be developed in 2 stages. The first section will investigate Instagram as
a new social media closely related to the arrival and development of Hallyu 3.0, by considering
15
its contribution to the young female consumer culture, and also its facilitation of a new form of
self-expression among users. The second section will examine the particular way in which Gen Z
female fans display their identity, and the way how their new form of self-expression, fully
utilizing graphics and hashtags in Instagram posts, serves to empower them.
3.1. Instagram and Hallyu 3.0 : The New Mode of Communication and
Consumerism among Japanese Gen Z Females
Instagram was officially launched in Japan in 2014, exactly before the Hallyu 3.0 started.
Above all, this new digital platform is well-known as a visual social media for its photo-sharing
and image-editing features as well as the visual-oriented layout, all of which prioritize the
display of visual content, and encourage users to focus more on creating compelling visual
content, in the forms of feed and story, as their way to communicate, regardless of the limitation
of language barriers. Compared to text-based social media, Instagram removes potential
language barriers in communication, and facilitates more rapid response and affective
engagements through the primary use of visuals. Beside, another important feature of Instagram
is its hashtag feature. Functioning primarily as a tracking tool and an index, the hashtag (#)
allows its users to discover other user-generated content in a real-time manner through searching
keywords. Even though hashtag was originally created and used by Twitter, Instagram’s
visual-centric nature has given even more prominence to this feature, by allowing its users to
search images through hashtags, and thus to get access to others’ posts in a more efficient way.
Introducing a new pattern for online users to discover and share information, Instagram
has attracted lots of attention rapidly, with its users in Japan skyrocketing from 400 million in
2014 to 3300 million in 2019 (qtd. in Unique One). Lots of Japanese media have reported that, as
the Instagram has become more universalized in recent years, there arise a stronger tendency
16
among online users to search with hashtags, or to taguru ( タグる) since mid 2010s, than to search
keyword on conventional searching engine like Google, or to guguru ( ググる) (Akina; Hosoi;
Sato). In 2020, the number of hashtag searches performed by Japanese users on Instagram is 5
times higher than the average number of those performed by users worldwide.
In particular, such a phenomenon of taguru is conspicuous among young Japanese
females in their 10s and 20s (Akina; Hirose), who have been identified as the main user group of
Instagram in Japan ever since 2016, according to the official demographic statistics provided by
Facebook (qtd. in SMMlab). In a 2017 research survey about the use of Instagram among 3500
Japanese respondents from 10s to 50s, 75% of female respondents in their 10s and 20s have
reported that they have an Instagram account (SMMlab). Such a percentage, strikingly higher
than that of other age groups or gender groups, suggests the great popularity of Instagram among
young Japanese females as a specific social group.
What accounts for this greater popularity is that, young Japanese females are usually
considered more passionate about and sensitive to new trends that are stylish and kawaii (cute),
especially when it comes to food, cosmetics, and fashion, which are all visual topics that can
usually elicit their sensual and affective response through visuals (Allied Architects; Sawada;
Suzuki; Takahashi). Therefore, Instagram functions as an ideal platform for them to not only
research the latest trends they are interested in with the use of hashtags, but also scan through
user-generated posts as their way to collect more credible, original, and authentic views and
information filmed and provided by others (MONEY PLUS). Under such a context, a new
pattern of Instagram-based consumer culture, in which the decision-making process relies more
on taguru, has gradually come into shape and prevailed among many young Japanese females.
More importantly, such a new consumer culture has paved the way for the flourishing of Hallyu
17
3.0, in which more various Korean apparels, beauty products, and food —— Korean cultures that
serve as compelling visual topics optimized for Instagram —— have been circulated more
widely and have attracted more attention from Japanese young females to engage in the
consumption .
However, it should be taken into consideration that Instagram is both a source of
information and a platform of self-expression in terms of one’s own consumption, experience,
and worldview (AMP News). In other words, the consumption pattern shaped by Instagram is
not simply characterized by the use of taguru as the way among consumers to collect
information, but rather involves what Shoji called “a cyclical process” (Social Wire): in which
users post about what they have purchased, spread their original content to others, and influence
others’ buying decision.
Such a cyclical process has also been greatly demonstrated by the fandom in Hallyu 3.0.
The Hallyu 3.0 in Japan is unprecedentedly “fan-driven”, since fans not simply consume more
various Korean goods, but also greatly accelerate the spread of influence of Hallyu cultures, by
actively creating and sharing original content on Instagram about Korean products and cultures
that they consume in daily life. Gen Z females have extensively utilized Instagram posts for
intentional self-disclosure and open self-expression as Hallyu fans and supporters online. Such a
prevailing practice, which prioritizes self-expression and self-entertaining, among the digital
fandom in Hallyu 3.0 differentiates them greatly from their counterparts in previous Hallyu
booms (Ahn and Yoon 188). Hwang, the director of Japan Business Center in KOCCA, has
commented that, “if the first and second booms had a vertical structure between suppliers,
supplying Korean dramas and music, and customers, the current third boom has a horizontal
structure led by consumers”(qtd. in Jeong). Even though social media had already been
18
introduced to and widely used by the fandom during the Hallyu 2.0, fans’ social media
participation was more centered on K-pop artists, music and media content (Ahn and Yoon 187),
and their online expression was comparatively limited due to a lack of social media they were
accessible to in late 2000s. In comparison, the digital native generation has become the engine of
the Hallyu 3.0, enriching and pushing forward the new cultural wave with their participation and
interactivities.
In short, in this section we have investigated the role of Instagram as a new media in
shaping a new consumer culture among especially young Japanese females, and in laying the
foundation for the fan-driven Hallyu 3.0. In order to further examine the Instagram fandom in
Hallyu 3.0, we will take a closer look at the distinct way how fans utilize Instagram to build their
identity through the looking glass of Gen Z females, and, more crucially, we will develop a
deeper understanding of motivations underlying their efforts in self-expression online.
3.2. Instagram Posts, Self-expression, and Empowerment
In this section, we will study Gen Z female fans’ self-expression through their Instagram
posts, specifically their use of visuals and hashtags, to understand how their self-expression on
Instagram serves to empower them as Hallyu fans. To clarify about the methodology, my
observation and analysis of general online practices among this specific group of fans are
primarily based on online vote-and-rank surveys conducted towards Gen Z females in relation to
their fan activities on Instagram, as well as on related online newspaper articles in Japanese.
3.2.1. Pursuing Photogenic Content for Affirmation
As a visual-oriented platform, Instagram has encouraged users to make the visual part of
their posts more attractive and impressive with an aim to receive “likes”, followers, and
comments as non-monetary incentives. Insutabae ( インスタ映え), rated as the Neologism of the
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Year by Jiyukokuminsha in 2017 in Japan, was coined in description of an extensive pursuit of
instagram-worthy, or photogenic, content related to personal life among Instagram users in
Japan. This neologism with its great influence on the social mediascape in Japan, commented by
Sanseido
1
, “suggests the beauty that everyone wants to share and symbolizes the unique feeling
of the SNS society” (qtd. in ITmedia).
For the Gen Z females fandom in Hallyu 3.0, they have also integrated such a pursuit in
their process of identity building on Instagram, by coming up with insutabae content about their
consumption of Korean food, fashion, cosmetics, as well as other Hallyu-related experiences
(Suzuki;). In the following discussion, by looking at some commonly seen post topics among
them, we will see how these Gen Z female fans have shown their endeavors to express
themselves through aesthetically pleasing posts during Hallyu 3.0.
Above all, Gen Z female fans tend to consume visually appealing Korean products and
services as their insutabae content to post on personal accounts. For example, cheese dakgalbi
( チーズタッカルビ) and cheese hot dog ( チーズハットク), two of the most popular Korean foods
among Gen Z females especially around the years of 2017 and 2018, have been widely circulated
on Instagram (AMF; Kirishima). The main reason lies in the great popularity of these cheesy
Korean food is their stringy cheese pull, which poses an attractive visual impact even in photos
and elicit a sense of visual hunger from others (Kirishima). Gen Z females are thus passionate
about uploading photos of the cheese pull when they are eating those Korean food. Another
example is Korean-style cafe ( 韓国風カフェ) ranked as one of the top 10 Instagram buzzwords
among Gen Z females in 2020 according to the survey provided by a Japanese website Petrel
(qtd. in Pasture). Different from conventional cafes in Japan, Korean-style cafes are considered
more stylish among Gen Z female fans, and are usually characterized by their light color paint,
1
A Japanese publishing company known for publishing dictionaries and textbooks.
20
simplistic interior, and delicate Korean food and drinks. Therefore, it has become a popular trend
among Gen Z female fans to search for such Korean-style cafes to consume and, more
importantly, to capture stylish photos in such a cafe with fashionable Korean-style atmosphere as
their insutabae materials (SNS Trend Lab).
In addition to the consumption, Gen Z females are also passionate about creating their
original Korean-style ( 韓国風) and Korean-inspired items, in an aesthetic manner, that serve as
compelling insutabae content. One instance is torekadeco ( トレカデコ), which is the abbreviation
of “trading card decoration”, a fandom culture originated from Korea, and has later attracted
more attention from Gen Z females in Hallyu 3.0 in 2020 (AMF). For Japanese Gen Z female
fans, Torekadeco serves as such a great Instagram-worthy topic that suggests their interest in
Hallyu, so they have come to decorate their favorite Korean celebrities’ photo cards in a cute,
and creative way with the use of stickers, ribbons, colors and so on. Another example is ouchi
cafe ( おうちカフェ), which means an Instagram trend of home cafe that originated from Korean
youth, and was later spread to Japan youth later and was even voted as one of the Instagram
buzzwords among Gen Z females in 2020 (qtd. in Pasture). Insutabae posts of Korean-style
home cafes are usually characterized by pretty Korean-style drinks and desserts, cute containers,
and bright backgrounds. As a result, Gen Z females would make their own drinks and sweets,
and take pictures in an aesthetic way to create a Korean cafe-like atmosphere at home, by
carefully taking into account the background pattern, the color balance, the lighting, and so on.
Given these examples, it is illuminating to firstly take into account underlying efforts to
achieve those insutabae posts, which would necessitate fans to search photogenic products and
places, to take photos with techniques and creativity, and even to create and decorate handmade
items themselves. Despite such a time-consuming and energy-consuming process involved, the
21
fact —— that Gen Z female fans are still passionately pursuing insutabae content as their
self-expression in Hallyu 3.0 —— implies more than a wish to display their fan identity. More
precisely, they show the eagerness to seek more affirmation and validation, in expression of
“likes”, by representing themselves in a more positive light, with the use of insutabae content
that visually highlights the attractiveness and freshness of their consumptions, experiences, and
interests as Hallyu fans. Such practices reminds me of Hall’a perspective on self-representation:
“representation is a very different notion from that of reflection, it implies the active work of
selecting and presenting, of structuring and shaping not merely the transmitting of an already-
existing meaning, but the more active labor of making things mean” (qtd. in Smutradontri and
Gadavanij 2). In this regard, Gen Z female fans’ self-expression is completed through selective
self-representation with photogenic visual topics.
Even though there might be opinions considering the purposeful pursuit of instabae in
general as problematic, since it could lead to an over-idealized and even unrealistic self-image, I
personally hold an optimistic view specifically towards Gen Z female fans’ utilization of
photogenic posts to represent their identity online. Rather than building a fake digital self, I think
it is more appropriate to consider that Gen Z female fans intentionally display their fan identity
“in a way that is deemed important to self, but also more socially acceptable and favorable”
(Edwards 32). In a subculture group that has once been marginalized and defamed, young Hallyu
fans have taken more initiative in building their self-esteem, and reconstructing their social
image, which used to be overshadowed by the misrepresentations on Japanese mainstream
media, through their self-promoting and approval-seeking practices on Instagram.
In conclusion, it is through their pursuit of photogenic content in Instagram posts that
Gen Z females not only foreground their identity as Hallyu fans, but also demonstrate their
22
endeavors for more social acceptance that enables them to become more self-assertive, and for
more desired social impression on the image of Hallyu fans in Hallyu 3.0.
3.2.2. Using Hashtags for Connections
While visual content is the primary way for one’s self-expression on Instagram, hashtags
attached to a post also matter, since they serve to increase the reach of the post, and connect the
poster with more like-minded users.
In the beginning of this chapter, we have learned that the hashtag functions as an efficient
searching tool that has even given rise to the generational phenomenon of taguru in Japan, but it
also plays an important role in developing one’s collective identity. By categorizing users into
more specified niches with the use of a hashtag page, hashtags enable one to easily engage in
more extended conversations and interactions within a community composed of like-minded
users. For example, several recent online surveys towards young Japanese females have
identified that one of the most significant motivations underlying their use of hashtags on
Instagram is the wish to communicate with someone similar to them, or someone with the same
interest as them (MarkeZine; Sato).
In Hallyu 3.0, hashtags are also used extensively by Gen Z females as a way to develop
ties with each other, and to strengthen their sense of collective identity as Hallyu fans. Several of
the representative examples of hashtags circulated among fandom are #likekorea (# 韓国好き),
as well as hashtags of “I want to connect with people who like Korea” (# 韓国好きと繋がりたい)
and of “I want to become good friends with with people who like Korea” (# 韓国好きな人と仲良
くなりたい) (qtd. in Takahashi). By attaching these hashtags in their post related to Hallyu
cultures or related to themselves, fans straightforwardly foreground their interest in Korea and
Korean culture and their identity as Hallyu fans. Such a public display of their preferences and
23
identity through hashtags also indicates Gen Z female fans’ desire to be discovered and
“recognized as part of a larger community” (Summerville 6), the digital fandom. Besides, the
sense of collective belonging is reinforced as fans engage more fully in this hashtag community,
through more extended and varied conversations and interactions with other fans.
It is thought-provoking to consider the fact that while posting photogenic images on
Instagram is seeking affirmation from other users in general, attaching hashtags is seeking more
than affirmation, but connection, identification, and empathy from like-minded users within a
smaller but more connected community, because fans are more likely to empathize with and
engage with each other’s post around a similar interest. Therefore, by actively utilizing hashtags
in their posts, fans not only display their fan identity in a concise way with the use of keywords,
but also participate more fully in the online fandom, in which they are able to develop more
intimate connections with other fans, to strengthen their feeling of collective belonging to the fan
community, and to feel empowered in their subculture. Especially for Gen Z female fans,
Instagram hashtags is even more an indispensable part in building their fan identity and
self-esteem, due to their heavier reliance on taguru in search of new information and
socialization as the digital generation, and also their loss of in-person interactions with other fans
especially during the period of pandemic.
3.3. Conclusion
To conclude, this chapter has taken a closer look into the online fandom among Gen Z
females on Instagram in Hallyu 3.0. In the first section, we have examined how Instagram as a
new media has become “intimately tied to a young women’s ‘consumer tribe’ and related
lifestyle”(Baudinette), and has paved the way for a more fan-driven Korean Wave in Japan. This
section provides a more general background of the relationship between Instagram as new media
24
and the fandom as consumers, and alludes to the fact that the more active role Gen Z female fans
have taken in online participation and self-expression during Hallyu 3.0.
In the second section, we have delved into specific ways how Gen Z female fans express
themselves and empower themselves on Instagram. To begin with, “in the online world where
there is no face-to-face interaction and no clues from fan accessories, language and sign is the
only way to express and detect one’s fan identity” (Smutradontri and Gadavanij 11). We have
thus investigated their fan posts on Instagram through their use of photogenic content, and their
use of hashtags. For fans, however, they use these agencies as more than a tool for their
self-expression, but a tool for self-empowerment in different ways. By presenting photogenic
content related to their Hallyu-related consumption and experience, fans aim to build a more
attractive personal profile, to seek for more social acceptance, that could eventually help
contribute to a more desired social impression of what they consumed and who they are; By
attaching hashtag mainly used among supporters of Hallyu cultures, fans strive for more in-group
connections, interactions, and participation that reinforce their collective identity, and enhance
their self-confidence as Hallyu fans.
While Instagram, as a “new medium of youth sociality”(Robards and Bennett 308), has
provided more opportunities and conveniences for Gen Z female fans to create and socialize, we
should also be aware of fans’ efforts in flexibly utilizing the platform to make themselves be
seen, be validated, and be identified by more people in Hallyu 3.0.
After all, the distinctiveness and significance of such a new form of online
self-expression among Gen Z female fans lie less in Instagram itself as a new media, nor the use
of graphics or hashtags. What matters more is how those fans have actively navigated new
25
technologies in an era of convergence culture, and integrated the process of identity construction
and self-empowerment into their use of Instagram in Hallyu 3.0.
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Chapter 4 Gen Z Females' Self-Expression through Mix Languages:
Performing Distinction and Resistance in Hallyu 3.0
While the previous chapter has focused more on Gen Z females’ online construction of
fan identity in relation to their consumption in Hallyu 3.0, this chapter will shift the focus to
another fan practices, by looking at their creation and use of new languages as their way of
self-expression.As a distinguishing tool between groups, languages play an important role in
reflecting one’s social and cultural identity, emphasizing a sense of distinction, and reinforcing
one’s collective identity. Likewise, for Gen Z females in Hallyu 3.0, they have also created and
shared their unique languages by mixing the use of Japanese and Korean, which serve to
demonstrate their fan-specific knowledge, values, and interactions, and also to delineate their fan
subculture from other cultural groups in the society.
That being the case, in this session, we will inquire into their use of Japanese-Korean
mixed languages, as another factor that contributes to Gen Z female fans’ self-expression and
identity-construction in Hallyu 3.0. In particular, this chapter begins with introducing the
socio-cultural background in which Gen Z female fans create their specific languages, and then
elaborating more on the cultural practice of using mixed language among fans. Afterwards, we
will inquire into the role of such mixed languages in constructing their identity and empowering
the group of Hallyu fans in the society.
4.1. The Japanese-Korean Mixed Language
For the young generation in Hallyu 3.0, the Korean language is becoming a more
commonly seen cultural element in everyday life. According to a report provided by a
language-learning website Duolingo Japan this year, an overwhelming percentage around 50%
of Gen Z respondents have identified that they themselves and peers surrounding them are
27
accustomed to using some Korean expression on a daily basis. Besides, more young Japanese
have also shown a stronger willingness to learn Korean language, evidenced by a drastic rise in
the number of young Japanese examinees, in their 10s and 20s, of Test of Proficiency in Korean
(TOPIK), as well as the increasing sales of Korean language textbook in major bookstores like
Kinokuniya in recent years (qtd. in Inagawa).
In explanation of such a social phenomenon, in the first place, it is inseparable from the
flourishing of especially K-drama and K-pop, which have accelerated the spread of Korean
languages embedded in media content, and therefore enable fans to access to more basic Korean
expressions, and even stimulate them to learn Korean language more systematically. Besides, in
a more general sense, the cultural environment in which Gen Z have grown up also matters in
fostering their knowledge of the Korean language, whether they are Hallyu fans or not.
Specifically, Oh and Lee have argued that the young generation’s open mindedness towards
Korean culture is a result of the increasing “Hallyu moms” (284) in Japan. As older fans of
K-drama and K-pop ever since Hallyu 1.0 or 2.0, those Hallyu moms have therefore raised their
kids as a Hallyu native by “exposing them to the Hallyu subculture” more frequently (Oh and
Lee 288), and educating them to be “politically neutral and culturally appreciative of Korea” (Oh
and Lee 300). As a result, more Japanese youth, even if they are not a fan, have adopted a more
culturally inclusive mindset and become accustomed to hearing and using Korean language.
For the group of Gen Z female fans in Hallyu 3.0, the phenomenon of using Korean
language is even much more noticeable, since they have grown up in a more Korean-immersive
cultural environment as the young generation influenced by Hallyu moms, but have accumulated
many Korean expression as they consume Hallyu cultural content as fans themselves. Besides,
28
they have even developed their own language pattern by fusing Korean words into Japanese, and
thus give rise to a new phenomenon of using Japanese-Korean mixed language among fans.
One of the persons who has intensified this phenomenon is a Japanese comedian
Hashimoto Ryo ( 橋本涼), who has has uploaded a video series with the title Common Things
Among Female Hallyu Fans ( 韓流好き女子あるある) on his Youtube channel Schoolzone ( スクー
ルゾーン) since 2019. As a big fan of K-pop himself, Hashimoto has made efforts to take
advantage of his interest in Hallyu and his knowledge of Hallyu fans to enrich his comedian
works. In his videos, this comedian has vividly imitated the distinct speech style among young
Japanese females, especially schoolgirls, interested in Korean cultures, who try hard to showcase
their knowledge of Korean, and insist on using a mixture of Japanese and Korean with their
friends. Though the video series are originally intended for jokes, Hashimoto’s funny imitation
has elicited strong empathy from Gen Z female fans, and even facilitated more widespread use of
such mixed languages among them. In particular, the most widely circulated expression coined
by Hashimoto is chincha sorena ( チンチャそれな), which is even later voted as the Buzzword of
the 2020 among Young Females in a famous Japanese TV program ZIP!. By combining jinjja
( 진짜), which means “really” in Korean , and sorena ( それな), which is a Japanese expression
for "that's right", the phrase Chincha sorena is broadly used by young females to emphasize
something is true and exact to a great degree (Inagawa).
Another representative example is yabainde ( やばいンデ), and the expression is made up
of a Japanese slang yabai ( やばい), “incredible” in English, and a Korean suffix -nde ( ㄴ데),
which is used to convey certain circumstances. Originally created by Sakura, a Japanese member
from a K-pop girl group IZONE, yabainde is later spread to and has been extensively spoken by
Japanese Hallyu fans to describe something amazing and remarkable.
29
Besides, some other instances include daichingu ( 大チング) —— a compound of the
Japanese word dai for great and the Korean word chingu ( 친구) for friend —— which is voted
as the Buzzword of the 2021 among Young Females in ZIP!, and is usually used to refer to best
friend; There is also kiyoi ( キヨい), a combination of the kiyo extracted from the Korean word
gwiyeopda ( 귀엽다) for cute, and the Japanese adjective suffix -i. After all, for Japanese fans,
chincha, chingu, and kiyo are all some commonly heard phrases, vocabularies, or even simply
pronunciations from K-dramas, K-pop songs, and other Hallyu-related videos and audios. By
compounding those Korean expressions or quasi-Korean expressions with Japanese words, and
even Japanese prefixes and suffixes, young fans reprocess their familiar Hallyu-derived semiotic
resources for their own use and purpose.
It is noteworthy that the practice of using expressions mixing Japanese and Korean is, in
fact, not a recent phenomenon in Japan, taking into account the language shared among the
zainichi ( 在日) Koreans, or Korean residents in Japan. A Japanese scholar Inagawa has given
several instances in his analysis of zainichi language as a Japanese-Korean pidgin:
In the zainichi language used by the zainichi community, there is a saying “please mara
the rice and eat” that incorporates the inflection form mara ( 말아) of the word maruda
( 말다), which means the action of putting rice into the soup. Moreover, Japanese
community in Korea have some expressions such as “please tell someone to chaba ( 잡아,
grab) a chari ( 자리, seat) because I am going late”, and “how about shikyo ( 시켜,
ordering) pedaru ( 배달, delivery)”.
However, given the immersive Japanese environment zainichi situate in, the translingual
use of languages for them, argued by Inagawa, is “no more than a social dialect circulated’ in a
closed community. In other words, for this unique ethnic group in Japanese society, mixed
30
languages function more as a tool that facilitates ease of communication as well as convenience
of life; their translingual practice is closer to the process of code-switching from a linguistic
perspective, which means shifting between languages in order to make themselves sound more
precise and approachable in conversation.
In comparison, Japanese-Korean expressions prevalent among Gen Z female fans are
apparently intended for different purposes. For these fans who are not Korean native speakers
and do not use Korean on a daily basis, the mixed language apparently does not make
communications more effective in a social setting. Besides, using translingual expressions does
not necessarily prepare fans for more transcultural communications with Korean people, given
that the mixed language is predominantly circulated within the young Japanese fandom.
In that regard, it is more appropriate to describe their Japanese-Korean neologisms
function as fandom slangs, or subcultural languages. In description of fandom language, here is a
quotation from Smutradontri and Gadavanij,
There is no dictionary, notes, or handbook for this kind of code and communication style.
It is a rather gradually built-up lexicon that has been created through different events that
happened in their fandom. In order to understand the words, fans have to understand
those “events” as well. Thus, it could be said, the longer they stay in the fandom or the
more effort they put in (i.e., researching), the more codes they know and the more they
become a part of their fandom. (9)
In the case of Gen Z female fans, their mixed language are more built on their shared and
accumulated knowledge of Korean words and expressions from Hallyu media content, as well as
from a more Korean-immersive society they situate in. Therefore, Korean language components
being used in their mixed language are not “replacements of their Japanese equivalents”
31
(Yamashita 230), but rather cultural capitals they take pride in as Hallyu fans, and signifiers that
marks out their “membership” (Gil-Lopez and Teresa 17) in the Hallyu fan subculture. In this
regard, mixed Japanese-Korean languages serve as a new agency to articulate their distinction as
Japanese Hallyu fans, in that they are not solely speaking or using Korean language, but actively
create and spread a mixed language pattern that could well imply the cultural hybridities
underlying their identity as transcultural consumers and fans.
The mixed languages used by fans, therefore, create both feelings of intimacy and
alienation (Smutradontri and Gadavanij 11). On the one hand, by using the coded language built
on their shared knowledge and signifies their group identity, fans are able to cultivate a stronger
sense of in-group cohesiveness and solidarity, and reinforce their belonging to and enhance their
pride in the Hallyu subculture. On the other hand, fans’ distinct communication patterns also
delineate themselves from non-fans as others, in a social context, and thus construct the fan
subculture as a unique “society in society” (Tkachivska 20).
4.2. Performing Resistance, Feeling Empowered
In my opinion, however, mixed languages serve more than a cultural tool for Gen Z
female fans’ self-expression in displaying their transcultural identity as Hallyu fans. More
crucially, I consider their creation and use of the mixed languages are also intended for
conveying resistance, as a female fan subculture that has long been overshadowed by the
mainstream power dominated by nationalism and patriarchy. The following discussion will
explain how mixed languages are wielded by Gen Z female fans to perform their resistance, to
claim their self-autonomy, and to feel empowered.
Cultural nationalism
32
In the first place, by integrating Korean into their daily expression, and creating new
mixed languages that epitomize cultural hybridity underlying their identity, Gen Z females fans
express their resistance against the cultural nationalist perspective on Hallyu. One important
reason Hallyu were largely excluded from Japanese mainstream culture especially in early
Hallyu 1.0 is due to the domestic view in favor of cultural nationalism, which has labeled Korean
cultural elements and ethnicity as inferior and impure (Willis and Murphy-Shigematsu 306;
Larson 89; Creighton 3). Such an essentialist perspective against Hallyu in early 2000s not only
posed an undue hardship to development of Hallyu in the Japanese market, but also made early
Hallyu fans suffer for the complexities embedded in their identity as consumers of the “impure”
cultures, as discussed in the first chapter. However, in the case of Gen Z females fans in Hallyu
3.0, what their mixed language demonstrate is less a sense of inferiority, but even a feeling of
pride in the cultural hybridity underlying their identity, in that that they not only consume, but
active create their own language as a public embodiment of themselves as Hallyu fans in
Japanese society. Even though the voices of cultural nationalism against Hallyu might be less as
strong as they were 2 decades ago in present-day Japan, I still consider the practice of using
mixed Japanese-Korean language as a more self-assertive move of fans in expressing their
resistance towards those negative voices.
In the second place, by creating mixed languages as one of subculture emblems of their
female fandom, Gen Z female fans claim their power in a cultural sense and express their
resistance against the patriarchal view of Hallyu fans. The formation of fan culture among
middle-aged female fans of K-drama in Hallyu 1.0 was greatly confined by the opposition from
defenders of patriarchy, who blamed the rise of Hallyu for disturbing the patriarchal gender
system in Japan (Creighton 13; 125 Hagg), since those female fans’ increasing engagement in
33
activities were considered as a threat to the institutionalized gender norms in favor of
patriarchalism. Therefore, the mounting influence of Hallyu fan culture as a feminine subculture
was greatly “incapacitated” under the oppression of male-dominated mass media and popular
culture during that period (Oh and Lee 288). By comparison, Gen Z female fans’ creation and
use of mixed Japanese-Korean languages in Hallyu 3.0 have served as an evidence that they have
asserted more “independence and control over their cultural choices regarding multicultural
hybridity and decisions” (Oh and Lee 299). By creatively formulating their original cultural
narratives as a female subculture, they show their rejection to “the premium put on female
self-sacrifice in mainstream Japanese culture” (Miller 231).
To conclude, this chapter has explored mixed Japanese-Korean languages prevalent in
among Gen Z female fans in Hallyu 3.0, and analyzed the identity-making process underlying
the creation and the use of their mixed languages, which function as not only a signifier of fans’
distinct cultural identity, but also a public marker of fans’ resistance to conform to the
mainstream cultural values that have long been enforced on Hallyu fan subcultures in the society.
With their use of mixed language, Gen Z female fans reveal their strive for
self-autonomy, by exercising the freedom to flexibly use their shared knowledge and language
resources at hand, with an aim to please and empower themselves. In Ng and Deng’s discussion
of the power of language, they have argued that “language is viewed as having no power of its
own and yet can produce influence and control by revealing the power behind the speaker”(4).
Likewise, though the discussion of Gen Z female fans’ use of mixed languages in Hallyu 3.0,
they have evidently wielded their languages as a cultural agency to demonstrate their collective
power as a subculture.
34
Chapter 5 Conclusion
Inagawa has commented in his discussion of Hallyu that “in less than 20 years, the
Korean Wave has evolved from a boom to a culture in Japanese society ”. As a university
professor, he was surprised to realize that most of his students were merely young kids when the
first Korean Wave started in Japan, and they have witnessed the process of how popular Korean
culture has become more penetrated in their life and their society as they grow up. The
increasing number of these “Hallyu natives” in the young generation, according to Inagawa,
serves well to illustrate how Hallyu has gradually taken roots in Japanese society as an
influential culture.
Indeed, the flourishing of Hallyu in Japan is inseparable from the revolution of the Hallyu
industry itself in the first place. During the past two decades, the Hallyu industry has put a lot of
effort into localization to cater for the general taste of the Japanese market, which is one of its
most important foreign markets. For example, K-pop songs and K-dramas have been remade into
Japanese versions, more Korean celebrities have been trained to speak Japanese even before their
debut, and more Japanese members have been recruited in recent K-pop idol groups. Besides, the
growing global influence of Hallyu has also facilitated this cultural wave to absorb more
different cultural elements and to transform from an original Korean cultural product into a “fruit
of hybridization through digesting the influx of culture” (I. Kim). Such revolution of Hallyu has
made itself much more approachable for Japanese fans, who become able to enjoy Korean
popular cultures as quasi-Japanese or even global cultural products, and to generate
cross-cultural resonance more easily with less historical or political concerns.
Furthermore, the advancement of technology and new media has also provided more
convenient and efficient platforms and chances for people to engage in transcultural
35
communications and learn new knowledge without cost. Such digital advancements in the past
two decades have also expanded the reach of diverse Hallyu cultures into Japanese society.
However, this paper considers the growing presence and development of Hallyu in Japan
as a result of not only the cultural industry’s marketing strategy or socio-digital progresses, but,
more importantly, the proactive role taken by Japanese fans in expressing and empowering
themselves and their subculture in a changing environment..
To begin with, the first chapter historizes the culturally specific obstacles faced by Hallyu
fans in Japan to express themselves and build their identity, especially through the case of the
female fandom of Winter Sonata. Socially constructed as a marginalized group with few
opportunities to speak up for themselves, those fans had to put up with condemnation and
misrepresentations by patriarchal and nationalist mainstream media that had dominated the social
discourses. Such a historical context also shed light on the importance for Hallyu fans in Japan to
find more ways to get rid of such difficult situations, and to empower themselves as a subculture
group, who can be more self-determined and assertive in rearticulating their social image .
Fortunately, in the following Hallyu boom, fans have been gradually figuring out more
possibilities to claim their independence and power in self-expression, and to feel empowered
with both a less restrained digital space, and a more independent cultural mindset, thanks to
social media. While the discussion about Hallyu 2.0 in Japan is less specified in this paper, we
have at least built an overall understanding that fans in this era had come to take advantages of
the social media as a rising platform to not only curate their independent cultural space for
consumption and communication within the fandom, but also to cultivate a more comprehensive
view of and open mindset towards Korea and Korean cultures as them engaged in the learning of
more diverse perspective online. These progresses in Hallyu 2.0 have also greatly paved the way
36
for the upcoming Hallyu 3.0, in which fans have found more new possibilities in expressing and
empowering themselves.
In Hallyu 3.0, by looking at the fandom among Gen Z females in Japan, we have learned
how fans have improved newer possibilities of identity building in a more developed and
diversified digital context, and a more hybrid cultural context. In examination of Gen Z female
fans’ search for empowerment, this paper has delved into two agencies of their self-expression
and identity construction: their Instagram posts, and their mixed language.
Firstly, building their new consumer emergence of Instagram as a new media prevailing
among the young generation in Japan, Gen Z females extensively utilize this platform to not only
learn about and consume more Hallyu products embodying Korean style, but also building their
self-image as Hallyu fans through user-generated content. By posting on Instagram with
photogenic content as well as hashtags in relation to their consumption of and interests in Hallyu,
they showed their initiative in both self-expression, and seeking more affirmation, identification,
connections that enable them to build more self-esteem and feel empowered as Hallyu fans.
Secondly, growing up in a cultural environment with more exposure to Korean language,
Gen Z females have taken advantage of their shared knowledge of Korean language, integrated
Korean into the Japanese they speak, and created a mixed Japanese Korean language as their
own cultural capital shared among Hallyu fans. Through using the mixed Japanese-Korean
language as their self-expression, they showed their initiative in articulating their distinctiveness
and resistance in order to foster their collective sense of pride in their identity as Hallyu fans.
No matter the Instagram post, or the mixed language, they both function as the agencies
through which Gen Z female fans are able to “conspicuously and consciously display their
identities” in the society (Phillips and Baudinette 96). Such self-expressions in a more open and
37
proactive manner enable fans to foster a stronger sense of confidence and pride in their
distinctive fan identity through various and new methods, specifically by highlighting a positive
self-image, by engaging in a more motivated community, and by performing self-autonomy and
resistance to authority.
At the same time, it is interesting to consider that Gen Z female fans want themselves to
be seen and validated on the one hand, and want to articulate their distinctiveness and resistance
on the other hand. Such seemingly conflicted motivations underlying their self-expression
essentially point to complexity, multiplicity and temporal specificity underlying the identity of
fans, who are empowered by more various transcultural and transmedia practices in a more
digitized and globalized age.
Moreover, these shared fan practices among Gen Z females to express themselves
actively in Hallyu 3.0 have made them the main driving force and the protagonist of this new
cultural boom in Japan, in which fans are not only consumers, but creators and contributors of
new trends and cultures (Ahn and Yoon 188). In other words, they have become more
self-determined in what they consume, and contributed to an unprecedented fan-driven Korean
Wave that also makes fans feel more empowered, and motivated to keep engaging in this
subculture. It is under such a context that the Hallyu fandom has gradually matured more into a
“‘recognized’ subculture within Japan's hyper-consumerist marketplace” (Baudinette).
In my perspective, the reason why Hallyu fans are nowadays considered as a more
socially “recognized” subculture lies less in the extent to which they have overcome those hostile
sentiments, influence, disputes directed against them, because anti-Korean sentiments, and
anti-Hallyu voices have been a persistent phenomenon in Japanese society (Kawano et al.),
despite the expanding influence of Hallyu in the past 2 decades. What matters more is that fans
38
nowadays have adapted to the ever-changing digital environment more flexibly, appreciated
Korean culture in a more open-minded and creative perspective, and come up with newer
possibilities and ways to build their fan identity and fan community. It is with all these endeavors
that Hallyu fans nowadays are able to enhance their self-esteem, and to be more confident and
self-determined in further consumption and . In Baudinette’s discussion of Hallyu fandom among
young Japanese women in recent years, he also mentioned that “not even anti-Korean Wave
sentiment could shake” the fandom, because the strength of their culture was so great
(Baudinette).
Despite all those negative labels previously attached to the Hallyu fandom, recent Gen Z
females tend not to be limited by the preconceived impression and historical complexities
underlying their identity as fans, but reframe their fan identity in their own way, by considering
Korean cultures as an extension of themselves, and a subcultural token — something that can
empower them, but not define or determine them. The core of Gen Z females fans’ experiences
in Hallyu 3.0 are not simply “disengaging from ongoing anti-Korean sentiment in Japan”, but
taking more initiative in self-expression in various patterns that ultimately serve to empower
them. By leveraging the power of Hallyu in a digital and globalized age, Gen Z female fans in
Hallyu 3.0 have created their own idiosyncratic and self-empowering narratives, and eventually
accelerated the spread of influence of their subculture in the domestic marketplace and the
Japanese society.
In addition, it will be illuminating to consider the growing presence of Hallyu fandom
from not only a cultural perspective, but also a gender perspective. Despite ever-changing and
still growing Hallyu fandom in Japan, many scholars have identified that there has long been a
gendered nature of the consumption of Korean Wave in Japan, and Hallyu fans have been
39
predominantly females ever since the Hallyu 1.0: from middle-aged aunties in Hallyu 1.0 to Gen
Z school girls in Hallyu 3.0. That being said, Gen Z female fans in Hallyu 3.0 are empowering
themselves not only as fans within a subculture, but as females within a society. In other words,
the growth of Hallyu subculture reflects that Japanese females, who make up the majority of
Hallyu supporters and consumers in Japan, have obtained more opportunities and power to shape
the society in their own interest.
One of the most conspicuous manifestations is the fact that young female fans have
nowadays become more visible in the public space than ever before. Scholars have identified a
“gendered nature of the public space in Japan”, since “ the city’s public spaces are typically
understood as profoundly masculine, tied to the ‘salaryman’ or white-collar ‘corporate warriors’
who dominate the world of Japanese business”(Phillips and Baudinette 82). By comparison,
women are more interrelated with the notion of home and private space. Such a conventional
gendering of geography also implies the deep-rooted patriarchal social structure, characterized
by corporate masculinity and housewife femininity (Lida 4). As discussed in the chapter about
Winter Sonata’s female fandom, they were condemned for spending more time on offline fan
activities and less time at home, and, essentially, for not sticking to their gender role and
gendered space enforced by the patriarchal society.
However, Japan has witnessed the emergence of more feminine spaces within the
cityscape along with the growth of the Hallyu subculture in the past two decades (Phillips and
Baudinette 82). For instance, Shin Okubo, the little Koreatown with its well-established Korean
community located in central Tokyo, is well-known as a new feminine consumer space. As
Hallyu 3.0 flourishes, more and more young Japanese females have headed to this place as their
pilgrimage destination, where they can access and consume a wide range of Hallyu cultures,
40
ranging from K-pop album shops to Korean food restaurants and K-beauty stores. According to
the statistics of "The 2017 Ranking of Passengers by Station per Day" released by JR East in
July, the growth rate of passengers to Shin Okubo is around 9.8%, and is overwhelmingly the
highest (qtd. in Kirishima). Though originally known as the neighborhood where Zainichi
Korean resides, Shin Okubo has been strategically commercialized by the Shin-Ōkubo
Promotional Committee as a Hallyu district “to further gear the commercial activities toward a
young female market” (Baudinette), due to not only the rising purchasing power among young
females fans as consumers, but also the stronger eagerness among these fans to openly express
their subcultural identity “through consumption” (Phillips and Baudinette 96). In the same vein,
Takeshita Street, a well-known pedestrian street in Harajuku of Tokyo, has also introduced more
Korean-style fashion stores targeting young female fans since Hallyu 3.0 (J-CAST NEWS). As a
result, while Gen Z female fans’ active self-expression and consumption has given rise to more
Hallyu spaces in the city, they are in essence creating more public space for themselves as
females, whose consumer culture has become more embedded in the urban area, and challenging
and redefining the once gendered nature of the public space as well as the assumed gender roles
in Japan. As Oh and Lee argued in A League of their Own: Female Supporters of Hallyu and
Korea–Japan Relations,
Hallyu has provided many Japanese women, who were once considered marginalized as
the second sex, with a new political and social tool with which to articulate their hope for
obtaining cultural independence, gaining more opportunities for social participation, and
garnering their political rights to fight social elements of discrimination in their own
society. These unintended, yet important,consequences of Hallyu have been neglected by
Korean Hallyu soft power. (299)
41
After all, there is a lot more research that could be performed on the Hallyu fandom from a
gender perspective to consider the changing gender dynamics involved in the development and
consumption of Hallyu, which has gradually become “a cultural alternative to the
male-dominated Japanese pop culture” (Oh and Less 300), and reflects young female fans’
improving socioeconomic positions in Japanese society.
Last but not least, this research paper has to be seen in light of some limitations. The first
issue is that, as mentioned in the introduction, there is a limited amount of scholarly studies on
the selected demographic group in this paper, Gen Z female fans in Japan during Hallyu 3.0.
Besides, the definition and understanding of Hallyu 3.0 varies slightly in different cultural
contexts, so I have chosen to rely less on research papers discussing Hallyu 3.0 on a global scale.
In order to make the discussion more culturally specific to Japanese society, this paper primarily
refers to online sources published in Japanese to build the basic knowledge of the phenomenon
of Hallyu 3.0 in Japan. The second issue of this paper lies in the limited access to information
about research objects. Even though this research has used a lot of online sources of primary
sources as reference, including interviews as well as online surveys conducted towards Gen Z
females, the sample size and range of Gen Z females the ra could vary in different surveys.
Therefore, observations and findings of the Gen Z females fans' activities and cultures in this
paper are not inclusive enough to represent all Gen Z female fans in Hallyu 3.0. Still, especially
when it comes to online surveys, I have only looked at results from surveys covering a relatively
large number of respondents, at least over 200 people, to ensure the data and statistics being used
are less random and more dependable. After all, while this study provides an initial glance at the
demographic group of fans and their cultural spaces in Hallyu 3.0, more research is necessary to
substantiate the findings.
42
Given these limitations, here are some ideas for further studies on this topic. Firstly, it
would be meaningful to conduct more in-depth interviews with a certain number of random Gen
Z females engaging in Hallyu 3.0, to investigate more on culturally specific fan activities and
practices, and also on the way how they define their identity as Hallyu fans, and how they
negotiate anti-sentiments, if there is any, against them and Hallyu in real life. This study has
investigated both the Instagram posts, and the mixed languages thanks to a few online sources
reporting and reviewing on the related fan practices in Hallyu. Therefore, it would be interesting
to explore more deeply about fandom cultures that are less reported, and are shared among fans
as insiders, through the method of direct interview.
Secondly, apart from the group of Gen Z females who constitute the majority of the
Hallyu fandom nowadays, it would also be meaningful to look at other groups in the Japanese
fandom, and to compare the dynamics between fandoms composed of people of different age,
gender, career and so on. In particular, I think it would also be interesting to delve more into the
perspective of past Winter Sonata’s female fans on Hallyu 3.0, in terms of the way they consider
the Hallyu consumption by the younger generation.
Thirdly, even though the issue of geography is less mentioned in this paper, more studies
on Japanese Hallyu fans in relation to their geographical location could provide insight into the
market of Hallyu in Japan. Does the geography matter less when the growth and circulation of
Korean cultures become more intertwined with social media? Or, does the geography still matter,
given the rise of consumer culture is more related to urban consumer class?
While this paper has considered Hallyu 3.0 in Japan as the latest Korean Wave that has
lasted until today, there are a few media opinions that Hallyu 4.0 has already started in Japan as a
result of the outbreak of epidemics 2 years ago (TOKYO Web; Yahoo Japan). Therefore, with all
43
we have discussed about fandom in Hallyu 3.0 and the society they situate in, we can start
considering what could possibly be some further progress in Hallyu 4.0.
44
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract This paper deals with the Generation Z female fandom of Hallyu 3.0 in Japan and their distinct forms of self-expression through Instagram posts and mixed languages. It begins by historizing the evolution and development of Hallyu culture in Japan during the past two decades, from Hallyu 1.0 to Hallyu 3.0, as well as the transformation of the fandom. The paper then looks more into the group of Gen Z female fans in the Hallyu 3.0, with a focus on their self-expressions in different forms with specific examples, and how their distinctive self-expressions have contributed to their self-empowerment as a subculture in Japanese society. This paper contributes to the need to engage with and to understand not only the latest Hallyu subculture among Japanese Gen Z females, but also the rising young female consumer cultures, and the changing gender dynamics in contemporary Japan.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Yang, Yingke (author)

Core Title In search of new possibilities of self-expression and empowerment in Hallyu 3.0: Gen Z female fans in Japan

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program East Asian Area Studies

Degree Conferral Date 2022-08

Publication Date 07/23/2022

Defense Date 07/23/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Hallyu 3.0,Hallyu fandom in Japan,Instagram posts,Japanese Gen Z female fans,mixed languages,OAI-PMH Harvest,self-expression: empowerment

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Yasar, Kerim (committee chair), Bernards, Brian (committee member), Choe, Youngmin (committee member)

Creator Email yingkeya@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111375233

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Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Yang, Yingke

Type texts

Source 20220728-usctheses-batch-962 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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