J-pop Boom Among Young Koreans

When the Japanese girl group Cutie Street made an appearance on Mnet’s Korean music program “M Countdown” in March, performing their viral hit “Can’t We Just be Cute?”, the reaction was immediate and overwhelmingly positive.

While it’s becoming less rare for Japanese artists to appear on Korean music shows, the eight-member J-pop group garnered significant attention for their distinctively cute concept. This included pastel-colored outfits, bubbly choreography, and exaggerated, yet charming, styling.

Since then, the performance video for Cutie Street has surpassed an impressive 11 million views on YouTube, with several clips highlighting individual members also exceeding the 1 million-view milestone. Online, fans affectionately dubbed the group, seen in their puffy, colorful dresses, as “happy shower balls” and “dancing cupcakes.” This widespread embrace signifies a shift, as this distinctly Japanese style of cuteness, once potentially considered overly childish or niche by some Korean audiences, is now being celebrated.

Due to overwhelming local demand following their successful first visit to Korea in March, the popular Japanese girl group is already slated to return for additional performances in July.

Cutie Street’s burgeoning popularity is a clear indicator of a wider resurgence and growing appeal of J-pop in Korea, particularly among the younger generation of music listeners.

For a long time, J-pop was largely considered a niche interest in Korea, appealing to only a select group of dedicated fans. However, J-pop has steadily broadened its audience since the pandemic years (2022-2023), significantly boosted by the pervasive rise of social media-driven music consumption and discovery.

Industry observers frequently cite singer-songwriter Imase as a pivotal turning point in this J-pop resurgence. In 2023, his hit song “Night Dancer” made history by becoming the first J-pop track to ever enter Melon’s Top 100 chart. Following this breakthrough, other prominent Japanese artists like Yoasobi and Aimyon have achieved widespread popularity across Korea. Furthermore, classic Japanese city pop from the 1980s and 1990s has also experienced a notable resurgence, amplified by streaming algorithms and short-form content platforms.

The growing appeal of J-pop in Korea is further underscored by the success of live performances. Kenshi Yonezu, a celebrated Japanese artist, completely sold out 22,000 seats over two days during his inaugural concerts in Korea last year. Similarly, Wonderlivet, Korea’s premier large-scale J-pop festival, significantly expanded, attracting over 40,000 attendees in 2025, up from 25,000 in 2024.

Upcoming events further highlight this demand: the acclaimed Japanese band Back Number is scheduled to perform at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on September 12 and 13, while popular artist Vaundy will grace the stage at Inspire Arena in Incheon on September 19 and 20. Remarkably, all four of these highly anticipated J-pop shows are already completely sold out.

Critics and industry experts point out that this current wave of J-pop popularity distinguishes itself from previous trends in Korea. The key difference lies in Japanese artists actively localizing their content specifically for Korean audiences. A prime example is Cutie Street, which not only released a Korean-language version of their hit song “Can’t We Just be Cute?” but also produced a dedicated Korean-language music video as part of their promotional efforts in the country. Furthermore, Cutie Street has been diligently creating tailored short-form content and vlogs, often speaking brief sentences in Korean, to directly engage with their Korean fanbase.

“This approach mirrors how Korean artists successfully promote themselves in Japan, often by releasing Japanese-language songs and appearing on Japanese reality TV shows,” explained culture critic Kim Sung-soo in an interview with The Korea Herald on Friday. “Now, it’s evident that Japanese artists are employing these localized strategies to effectively penetrate the Korean market and captivate a much broader audience, extending beyond traditional fans of Japanese music.”

Citing Cutie Street’s performances and their Korean-language song releases as prime examples, Kim further noted that Korean audiences are responding exceptionally well to Japanese artists. He attributes this positive reception to the artists’ “sincerity shown in trying to connect with Korean fans,” confidently predicting the continued growth of this trend.

“Historically, J-pop in Korea was predominantly linked with band and rock music genres,” stated culture critic Lee Moon-won to The Korea Herald. “However, we are now observing a significant shift, with idol music and dance pop acts increasingly making their way into the Korean music market. Given the unexpected and surging popularity of Japanese animation in Korea, the future outlook for J-pop within Korea appears exceptionally promising.”