조경수역에서 표류하는 일본 - 한류와 혐한류를 통해 본 현대 일본 사회 -

Abstract

This article examines the recent phenomena of “Korea Wave (Kanryu^)”and “Hate Korea Wave (Kenkanryu^) in contemporary Japanese society. I argue that the “(Hate) Korea Wave”is a part of larger phenomena related to the disintegration of “main stream consciousness”during the economic recession of the 1990s. The“ main stream consciousness”refers to the collective self-perception of Japanese people in which 90% of Japanese considered themselves as members of new middle-class. Both “Korea Wave”and “Hate Korea Wave”have their roots in populism embedded in the frustration and distrust toward the established order and the ambivalent expectation for reform of the existing social system. It still remains to be seen how these contradictory undercurrents in Japanese society will transform Japan’s self-perception and view of the other.