A Japanese expert on Korean culture says the driving force behind the fourth Korean Wave taking off in Japan is the confident female characters portrayed in South Korean TV dramas. 

Aya Narikawa, a former Japanese journalist and an assistant researcher at Korea's Dongguk University's Institute for Japanese Studies, has released a report in a journal published by Seoul National University Asia Center.

According to her analysis, there have been three waves of the Hallyu phenomenon in Japan since 2003 led by K-drama and K-pop, and the current fourth wave is again riding on Korean TV series and films viewed on the streaming platform Netflix.

Data from Netflix Japan shows that Korean soap operas accounted for half of the ten most popular shows in Japan last year, with "Crash Landing on You" taking the top spot. 

Narikawa, who worked for Asahi Shimbun newspaper until 2017, credited the popularity to independent female characters shown in Korean dramas and films and took the example of Son Ye-jin, who played the role of a young and competent businesswoman in "Crash Landing on You".

She also urged governments in Seoul and Tokyo to provide support to prevent the pandemic or strained bilateral relations from adversely affecting cultural exchanges between the two countries.