Marriages between South Korean men and Japanese women surged last year, according to Statistics Korea on Mar. 26. This trend is partly attributed to the rise of Korean culture, including the popular Japanese drama series “Eye Love You”, which depicts a Japanese woman’s relationship with a Korean man.
Statistics Korea revealed in its “Marriage and Divorce Statistics for 2023″ that the number of marriages between Korean men and Japanese women reached 840 last year, up 40.2% from the previous year. Although this figure represents only a fraction of total international marriages, which stood at 19,700 last year, the growth of this pairing was more pronounced compared to marriages with other nationalities.
Data shows that the most common international marriages involving Koreans were unions between Korean men and younger Vietnamese women, which increased by 48.3% last year. The increase in marriages between Korean men and Japanese women, a close second, was notably 20 percentage points higher than those involving Korean men and Filipino women, representing the third largest increase at 23.6%.
In comparison, marriages between Korean women and Japanese men remain relatively less common, with 143 pairings last year, ranking seventh behind marriages to men from the U.S., China, Vietnam, Canada, Australia, and the UK.
In Japan, marriages between Japanese women and Korean men represent the highest percentage of unions involving Japanese women and foreign spouses. A survey by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reveals that out of 6,682 marriages between Japanese women and foreign men in 2021, 1,561 were to Korean men. This figure, accounting for 23.4% of international marriages in Japan, places Korean men at the top of the list compared to other nationalities, significantly ahead of Chinese men (903 marriages) and American men (1,049 marriages). It is important to note that the discrepancies in marriage statistics between South Korea and Japan arise from how each country records the number of registered marriages.
The rebound of international marriages is partly driven by the end of the pandemic and the impact of Korean culture in Japan. The popularity of the Japanese drama series “Eye Love You” is a testament to this trend.
The drama is about Yuri Motomiya, a woman with the unique ability to hear the thoughts of anyone she locks eyes with, falling in love with Korean student Taeo. “Eye Love You” stars Japanese actress Fumi Nikaido, 30, as the female lead, Yuri, and Korean actor Chae Jong-hyeop, 31, as the male lead, Taeo. Featuring Korean dialogues and cultural elements, the series is lauded for detailing Korean dating practices that Japanese women love. Since airing in January, the drama series become the most-watched show on Netflix Japan. Korean actor Chae Jong-hyeop has been dubbed “Hyeop-sama” by Japanese viewers.
Content focusing on Korean-Japanese couples is also popular on YouTube. Channels like “TomoTomo” (1.03 million subscribers), “Jeju-Couple” (530,000 subscribers) and “Cookie Couple” (350,000 subscribers) stand out as prime examples. Adding to this trend, Netflix Japan launched a reality show last year titled “Love Like a K-drama.”
Recent improvements in diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan, alongside a more favorable perception of Korea among the Japanese public, may also have contributed to this trend. According to a Nikkei poll of 1,607 adults in Japan last month, 37% of respondents said they liked South Korea. This is a significant increase from the 14% under the former Moon Jae-in administration.
