Best K-Drama Chosen By Japanese: No.3 Crash Landing On You, No.2 Dae Jang Geum & No.1 Is?
The rankings of best Korean dramas selected by Japanese viewers have been revealed, attracting keen attention
On March 5th (local time), Japan’s portal site “Yahoo Japan” recently announced the results of the survey on ‘Best K-Drama In My Life’. The survey was conducted on 6334 women of all ages in Japan.
According to the survey, the 5th most loved Korean drama in Japan was SBS’s “Stairway to Heaven” (2003), starring Kwon Sang-woo and Choi Ji-woo, with 191 votes. The 4th place was taken by SBS’s 2009 drama “You’re Beautiful” with 201 votes.
tvN’s “Crash Landing on You”, which aired in 2019, landed in 3rd place with 232 votes. Starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin, the drama tells the love story of South Korean chaebol Yoon Se-ri, who made a crash landing in North Korea due to an accident, and North Korean soldier Ri Jeong-hyuk, who tried to save her. At the time of its broadcast, the drama achieved the highest rating records. Starting at 6% in episode 1, its ratings rose steadily and reached 21% in the final episode. As a result, “Crash Landing on You” became the highest-rating drama in tvN history, surpassing the record ò 20.5% set by “Goblin”.
The second place went to MBC’s drama “Dae Jang Geum” with 431 votes. Starring Lee Young-ae and Ji Jin-hee, this historical drama was about the growth of a court lady named Seo Jang-geum as a righteous woman during the Joseon Dynasty. “Dae Jang Geum” is considered a representative drama that caused the Korean Wave. At the time of its broadcast, the drama gained explosive popularity and saw its ratings rise sharply. Starting with 19.8% in episode 1, the drama surpassed 40% in episode 17 and reached the peak of 57.8% in episode 54. Airing that the same time, “Stairway to Heaven” also recorded high ratings but couldn’t beat “Dae Jang Geum”.
The No.1 drama in this survey was none other than KBS’s “Winter Sonata” with 498 votes. Starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo, the drama was not only successful in Korea, with an average viewership of 23.1%, but also in Asia, especially in Japan. Airing in 2022, it tells the first love story of three people.
In April 2003, one year after the drama ended in Korea, the Japan Broadcasting Association released the dubbing version of “Winter Sonata”. After the broadcast of the dubbed drama, the Korean Wave spread widely in Japan. In addition, Choi Ji-woo’s hairstyle and Bae Yong-joon’s scarf in the drama even became a trend, proving the influence of Korean dramas in Japanese fashion.
Meanwhile, TOP 5 of the survey was followed by “Goblin” with 162 votes, “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim” with 157 votes, “She Was Pretty” with 155 votes”, “Itaewon Class” with 154 votes and “Squid Game” with 150 votes.