These days in Tokyo tourists may think they mistakenly arrived in Seoul.

There's a Korea boom, and this time, we are not talking about cars and home electronics. This boom is in Japan, which has had a long and colorful relationship with its nearest neighbor across the water for, well, millennia.
  The most recent frenzy for things Korean was set off by a Korean TV soap opera called "Winter Sonata" that was dubbed in Japanese and shown last summer on Japan's public TV network, NHK. Ever since, cultural commentators have competed to explain the show's runaway popularity. Was it the heartrending soap-opera plot? Was it the perceived sweetness and passion of the Korean characters, or the boyish good looks of the male lead? As, by now, you might expect, the boom has affected significantly more women than men, and among the women, it would seem most are 40 or older.
  Whatever the cause, the social and economic impact has been staggering. Korean language schools have sprung up for fans eager to write fan letters. Vacation tours to Korea have swelled, and fans mob the airports whenever the stars fly into Japan. There are now Korean celebrities hawking name-brand electronics and candy in magazines and on TV commercials. In fact, the boom has even echoed back to Korea, where the show is re-airing so viewers there can discover what it is that has their neighbors so excited.
  While some are cynical about the boom's economic motivations, most Japanese would call the new interest in Korea a good thing. Korean food, for example, which is more pungent and spicy than Japanese fare, has grown increasingly popular. The boom has raised Japan's consciousness of its neighbor considerably and increased cultural exchanges—so much so that Korean dramas are broadcast nearly every day on TV now, and Korean movies are much more in evidence.