'Kenchana' takes hold as Korean reshapes Japan’s television, slang and advertising a century after suppression

TOKYO — A century ago, Japan tried to stamp out the Korean language. A century later, the language Japan once sought to silence thrives on primetime television screens and in the slang of young people.

For much of its first episode, Nippon TV’s hit series “Ten Strokes to You” hardly sounds like a Japanese drama. The dialogue is almost entirely in Korean, and Japanese subtitles run throughout.

At the heart of the story is the protagonist, Kim Min-seok, played by Jun Shison, a Japanese man adopted into a Korean conglomerate family who later becomes embroiled in a dispute with his Korean stepmother, Kim Kyung-hwa, played by Korean actress Kim Joo-ryoung, over money and corporate control.

“Mother, how could you do that?” Japanese actor Shison asks in Korean.

“Don't you remember? I never thought of you as my son. Not once,” Kim snaps back as his stepmother, also in Korean.

The two spar in Korean, their exchanges remarkably fluid and natural.

The Korean influence begins with the title itself: a literal Japanese translation of a Korean proverb — No tree will stand firm if chopped at ten times. The story draws on a children's book that shares its title with the proverb, conveying the idea that perseverance leads to success.

“There was so much Korean dialogue that they had to prepare a separate script,” Shison said in an interview. Korean dialogue runs through the series finale, and a Korean language coach stayed on set throughout production — in both Korea and Japan. The actor devoted his time off set to mastering his lines, whether at home or behind the wheel.

Just as Korean has found its way into leading dialogue on Japanese television, the Korean language has now found its way — beyond its homeland — into Japanese society through the latest youth trends. It has clearly struck a chord with Japan's young people.

This year marks 100 years since the Korean Language Society, a scholarly organization devoted to studying and preserving the Korean language, and other groups established “Gagyanal,” or "Gagya Day," in 1926 to commemorate the proclamation of the Korean alphabet. The name derives from “ga” and “gya,” taken from a mnemonic device for learning Hangul. That observance evolved into today's Hangul Day.

One Korean expression that has become particularly familiar to young Japanese is “kenchana,” the Japanese rendering of gwaenchana, meaning “it's okay.” The phrase tied for third place in a survey of popular slang among Japanese high schoolers last year. The research firm attributed its popularity to TikTok audio clips and K-pop idols.

Even Japanese brands are speaking Korean.

Suntory chose “kenchana” as the advertising hook for its new “Bishoku Kancha” drink in May. The commercial features Asa, a Japanese member of K-pop girl group BabyMonster, who shouts, “Kenchana! Kancha!” Another ad uses “onni,” a Japanese rendition of eonni, a Korean term of address for an older sister or woman. Suntory bets that Japanese consumers need no translation.

Korean slang has made it onto Japan’s drink shelves. Coffee brand Georgia now sells “Ashachu,” a drink named after the Korean abbreviation for ice tea with an extra shot of espresso. Its website touts the beverage as a “popular cafe menu item in Korea.”

The appeal of Korean has become an advertising story in its own right. A Tokyo Gas commercial titled “Mom's Oshikatsu” (translated) tells the story of an ordinary middle-aged Japanese woman whose newfound love of a K-pop group leads her to study Korean, make friends and discover a world beyond her familiar routine. The ad won a gold award at the 2023 ACC Tokyo Creativity Awards.

The enthusiasm for Korean isn't limited to speaking it. More people are trying their hand at writing it, too. The Korean Cultural Center in Japan received a record 4,504 submissions from across Japan for its Korea-Japan exchange writing contest this year, including 378 Korean-language essays and 955 Korean poems.

Ria Shimizu, a third-year student at Osaka-based Tezukayama Gakuin University who won the top prize in the general Korean-language essay category, said her interest in the language began with BTS's “Spring Day” (2017). “I wanted to understand the lyrics of my favorite song, so I started studying Korean on my own in my first year of middle school,” she said. “I began studying it more seriously after entering university.”

Young Japanese aren't just picking up Korean words. They are also blending them into their own language. Shimizu pointed to “Hanbon-eo,” a Korean-Japanese mix that has caught on among younger speakers and roughly translates to Japorean.

When ordering takeout, some say “shikiru,” a playful mashup of the Korean verb sikida, meaning “to order,” and “ru,” a common Japanese verb ending. If something catches their fancy, they might say “Joa,” Korean for “I like it,” instead of using Japanese.

“You see so many Korean products in stores these days,” Shimizu said. “It really shows me how much Korean culture has grown in popularity since I began studying the language.”

Despite her passion for Korean culture, Shimizu has yet to set foot in Korea. That will soon change, thanks to the plane ticket she received as a prize. Seoul is first on her itinerary. And the first place she wants to visit? “Olive Young,” she replied without missing a beat.

Not every Japanese student discovers Korean through K-pop or television.

For Arisa Washio, it started with a web novel. The 19-year-old Niigata University sophomore, who earned an honorable mention in the general essay category, first encountered “Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint” (2018-20) in her final year of high school.

“I used a translation app to read it, but I thought, ‘I want to read this on my own,’” Washio said. “So I started learning Korean when I got to university. Now, I'm saving up for a trip to Korea next spring."

BY YOU SEONG-UN [[email protected]]