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Taiwanese wave (traditional Chinese:臺流; pinyin:Táiliú; Japanese:台流; rōmaji:Tairyū) is aneologism originally coined in Japan to refer to the increase in the popularity ofTaiwanese popular culture in the country (including:actors,dramas,music, fashion,films), and to distinguish it from theKorean wave (Korean: 한류;RR: Hallyu) co-existing inJapan.[1] ManyTaiwanese dramas,songs as well asidol actors,singers,bands or groups have become popular throughoutEast Asia andSoutheast Asia.[2]
Towards the turn of the 21st century, there was a noticeable growth in cultural imports from Taiwan, one of theFour Asian Tigers. The spread of Taiwanese popular culture occurred before the Korean wave was known in Asia.
In 2001, the Taiwanese dramaMeteor Garden (an adaptation of the Japanesemanga seriesBoys Over Flowers byYoko Kamio) was released and soon attracted audiences from all over the region. It became the most-watched drama series in Philippine television history,[3][better source needed] garnered over 10 million daily viewers inManila alone,[4][better source needed] and catapulted the male protagonists from the Taiwanese boybandF4 to overnight fame.[5] Their popularity spread throughout Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines. With their success, many other Taiwanese boy bands emerged around this time, such as5566,183 Club andFahrenheit. In 2002, aBBC journalist described the members ofF4 as previously unknown actors who have "provoked hysteria across Asia" as a result of the success ofMeteor Garden.[6]
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The popularity of"Meteor Garden" can be attributed to the explicit attention to female sexual desires—departing from conventional dramas that tend to eroticize the female body,"Meteor Garden" markets the sexual attraction of the male actors (as played out by the Taiwanese idol groupF4), giving women a certain freedom of sexual expression.[8][9]
Since 2002, television programming trends in Southeast Asia began to undergo a drastic change as TV series from Taiwan filled the slot originally reserved for Hollywood movies duringprime time.[3] Much of Asia still have their eyes focused on Taiwanese bands such asF4,S.H.E andFahrenheit.
Boy groups
K-pop is one of two popular trends occurring in Japan, the other being Taiwanese pop (sung inMandarin Chinese). This phenomenon is called台流 (pronounced Tairyū) in Japanese, which literally means the influx of Taiwanese pop culture in Japan. This trend has been prevalent in Japan for at least twenty years, withTaiwanese idol dramas likeMeteor Garden,It Started with a Kiss,Hot Shot, and soonAutumn's Concerto making waves in Japan, and Japanese artists likeGackt making frequent visits to Taiwan for pleasure.[1]
Up to now, Taiwanese male singerShow Lo has been regarded as leading theTaiwanese wave in Japan.[10] On 15 February 2012, he made his foray into the Japanese music scene, with the release of his first Japanese singleDante. The single peaked at number 10 on theOricon chart within the first week of its release. He is the second Taiwanese singer to make it into the Oricon chart in the past 25 years after the veteran singerTeresa Teng, and the first Taiwanese male singer to make it into the top 10 positions on the chart.[11]
At the end of 2010,Hoa Học Trò Magazine [vi] proclaimed a list of the top 5 C-popboybands of the 2000s decade, all are from Taiwan. They are:F4,183 Club,5566,Fahrenheit (Fei Lun Hai), andLollipop (Bang Bang Tang).[12]
The English-based Kpop blogosphere has made it known to western fans of the huge popularity of Kpop over in Japan, but what has not been reported is that Kpop is actually only one of two popular trends going on over in the land of the rising sun. The other trend, of course, is Taiwanese pop. We kid you not, and there's even a word for it Japanese called台流 (pronounced Tairyū), which literally means the influx of Taiwanese pop culture in Japan.