This goes for other music markets like China. In my 20 years of being a kpop fan I’ve witnessed countless groups/idols attempt to break into the Japanese market and, after a few years, when their recognition doesn’t broaden much beyond their already established Japanese fanbase, they give up.
I’m not talking about Japanese or Chinese kpop idols who then departed from their group to make music and gained success in their own home country. I’m talking about groups (or solo singers) who’ve promoted in Japan because their companies wanted to expand outside Korea, and for some reason, Japan is always the default country.
Personally, I think this is in part due to many kpop acts first translating their hit kpop songs into Japanese, which oftentimes don’t see the same reception in Japan, and because a lot of the songs end up sounding awkward, either because of the translation, the idol’s accent/pronunciation, or both.
Then the companies will release sporadic original Japanese singles as a way to dip their toes into the water without fully committing to a consistent release schedule and keeping up the momentum.
After some years, when the companies realize the idols are not as big as the company intended, they eventually give up on Japan all together. Focus has now shifted to Global/western expansion, which is mostly working, but still kpop companies keep trying to break into Japan and China (Lee Sooman especially will not leave China alone).
What’s almost worse are the small/nugu kpop acts who get shoehorned to Japan as a way to make more money when they see little success domestically. This always goes one of two ways: either they completely lose their momentum from their already established (domestic) fanbase because the group ends up exclusively promoting Japanese music, or the group ends up coming back to Korea after failing in Japan and can never recover the small success they once had within Korea. In both scenarios the group ends up fizzling out into inactivity/disbandment anyway.
Of course there are exceptions, namely BoA, TVXQ, SNSD, and Kara, who’ve all had much success abroad, but for 90% of other kpop acts their attempts ultimately fail.
I think the key to breaking out is to keep a consistent presence in the market AND releasing music that resonates with that audience instead of treating Japanese music as an afterthought when the groups don’t see success right away, which is how the names above were able to establish themselves.
So, in your opinion, should kpop companies keep trying?
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