Korea-Japan festival consolidates cultures

Photo by Hyunjoon Rha

The Korea-Japan Festival 2024, held on Sept. 22 in Coex Exhibition Hall D, was a cultural exchange event that was held to foster a mutual understanding of cultures between Korea and Japan through diverse displays, which included food, performances, and traditional games. The festival attracted many attendees through advertisements on social media. Not only that, the incentive behind the event was enticing for attendees who wanted to understand the virtue of two cultures while building connections. 

Recently, Korea and Japan have shared many cultural interests, contributing to the longevity of this event. “I learned about this event through Facebook,” a Japanese cosplayer at the event, said. “I came to this event to build relationships and learn more about makeup.” This quote exemplifies how Korea’s beauty industry connects to Japanese individuals.”

Despite the many similarities and shared interests demonstrated at the festival, Korea and Japan differ in societal expectations. For example, in Korea, education status, such as university, career, and score on the Korean SAT, preordains how many socio-economic privileges one will receive in life. On the other hand, in Japan, the traditional standards are set aside and factors that are strongly related to a student's vitality in lifestyle and extracurricular activities are emphasized. The divergence in societal values indicates the extent to which individuals spend their spare time, pursuing hobbies, and work-life balance. Although there may be many cultural commonalities between the two nations, there is a stark difference in lifestyle and career options.

Many middle and high school students from Japan have an interest in K-pop and K-dramas. Similarly, Japanese people also have an interest in Korean food and culture, specifically japchae, gimbap, and fried chicken. The younger generation is attracted to a mixture of trendy flavors with conventional food. A major example of this is fried chicken as there are diverse  flavors that customers can choose from. The mutual interest of one another’s culture indicates the profound connection the two countries share.

The festival had food and snacks that were popular from each country. One of the booths were giving out an Umaibos, a doraemon themed snack. Many other booths were giving out Japanese snacks like Konjac Jellies and Mochi. The multitude of booths opened up for food illustrates the interest for each other’s cuisine. 

Inside the exhibition hall, stages were set for performances, and stations were prepared for experiences. The food culture experience, where Koreans could try out several Japanese traditional foods by spinning a wheel, was popular among the rest. Many more experiences were available, such as Japanese traditional games and paintings . Nihonga, one of the stations to test Japanese paintings, was flooded with people eager to try it out as it aims to use many natural minerals on paper made by hand. All these events aimed to create a bond and bridge the gap between Korean and Japanese Culture.

Building on this cultural significance, Coex Center states that the festival “is a large-scale event for cultural exchanges between Korea and Japan. Having begun in October 2005, the festival plays an important role in facilitating friendly interactions and cultural exchanges between the two countries.” It was first held in 2005 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the normalization of relations between Korea and Japan by providing free cultural events and tourist-oriented booths. Moreover,  since 2009, the Festival has been held annually in both Seoul and Tokyo, in order to build the connection gradually together. As the two countries share a profound interest in pop, this year's festival featured a variety of performances, such as a set by the J-pop boy band Ivvy and the K-pop girl group ILLIT, along with traditional dancing and singing. Korea-Japan Festival achieves its goal of consolidating cultures and bringing people of different backgrounds to a collective event. Many people who came to the event had an interest in making friends and creating memorable experiences, serving as a testament to the event’s overall success.