Ask many Japanese women about Yong-sama and they will either break into a broad smile or appear dumb-struck, as if in a trance. Yong-sama is the pet name of Bae Yong-joon, a 31-year-old South Korean actor who has become the latest TV heart-throb.
He has been setting hearts a flutter ever since the popular South Korean drama, Fuyu no Sonata (Winter Sonata), began being screened in Japan last year. The dramatic love story of former high-school sweethearts proved a big hit in South Korea in early 2002, sparking a national craze.
When it was first aired in Japan last April by the state broadcaster, NHK, on its satellite channel, it soon struck a chord with fans of love stories and led to a Fuyu Sona boom. When the 20-episode series ended in September, the broadcaster was inundated with requests for a rerun, and it was shown again. But fans kept calling for more; about 20,000 in all, many of them women in their 40s and 50s, who wrote, phoned and e-mailed.
Japanese women - and men, too - loved the storyline and music, and the show renewed their interest in South Korea's contemporary culture. As a result, people rushed to join tours of South Korea featuring trips to the scenic location sites and a meeting with the cast, including naturally, Bae, and his female lead, Choi Ji-woo. NHK sold nearly 150,000 DVDs and videos of the series, nearly one million copies of the Fuyu Sona novel and almost 300,000 guidebooks for the TV drama. 'It is the happiest event in my life of 55 years, encountering this drama,' wrote one housewife.
In an unprecedented move, NHK began airing the series again this month, this time on its terrestrial channel, late on Saturday nights, a slot traditionally reserved for popular American TV series like The West Wing or ER. And there is no sign of the phenomenon ending. When Bae, also dubbed the smiling prince of Korea, arrived in Japan for a six-day tour this month, he was greeted by 5,000 screaming fans - mostly middle-aged women. On Sunday, 2,000 fans - chosen from 60,000 - sighed and cheered as he appeared at a public hall in Shibuya, in downtown Tokyo, to promote his movie debut in Untold Scandal.
He has graced the cover and inside pages of every woman's magazine, which carried details of every word he said, the food he ate, and how he behaved every step of the way during his stay in Japan. 'There are many good-looking actors in Japan, but none has such a beautiful smile,' said TV commentator Ryoko Ozawa in one magazine. 'He is very decent - a chosen man.'