SEOUL, September 15 (AJP) - Takuya Enomoto, a 32-year-old pharmacist in Tokyo, watched his girlfriend's infatuation with South Korea move from SEVENTEEN on her playlist to her clothing collection.
She first became a fan of the K-pop group, particularly member Hoshi, before branching out to other Korean acts and then Korean dramas, he said.
Following K-pop artists on Instagram brought still more Korean content into her feed.
"I think the algorithm exposed her to more and more Korean content, and from there she started wanting to actually visit Korea, experience the atmosphere, try Korean food and go shopping," Enomoto told AJP.
Her love for K-things has now extended to what she wears.
Enomoto said his girlfriend regularly shops through Korean fashion platforms Musinsa and Amood alongside Amazon, Rakuten and Japanese fashion platform ZOZOTOWN.
"She often uses the Musinsa app and an app called Amood," he said. "She says Amood is a little easier to use, and she loves the clothing options provided by the platform."
Amood is a Japan-focused fashion shopping platform operated by Korean style-commerce company Ably.
Enomoto said his girlfriend particularly likes the fit and look of clothes she buys through Amood. She and several friends are planning a trip to Seoul this winter.
"I think Korean culture has reached pretty deeply into everyday life in Japan," he said.
A 2026 survey by Rakuten Rakuma found South Korea was the foreign country Japanese women in their teens through their 40s most often named as their biggest fashion reference.
Korea was chosen by 61.5 percent of teenage women, 64.7 percent of women in their 20s, 45.2 percent of those in their 30s and 35.2 percent of those in their 40s.
Among women in their teens and 20s, Korea has ranked first in all 10 editions of the survey since it began in 2016. The survey was not conducted in 2025.
The nationwide online poll, conducted from July 2 to 6, surveyed 1,200 Japanese respondents aged 15 to 86.
Among women in their 50s, France ranked first at 24.7 percent, narrowly ahead of Korea and the United States at 23.5 percent each. France also ranked first among women aged 60 and older at 35.2 percent.
Japanese men chose the United States as their top foreign fashion reference across every age group.
The divide suggests Korea now occupies among younger Japanese women some of the aspirational fashion ground that France continues to hold among older generations.
The appeal is not simply K-pop.
Among respondents who chose Korea, 50 percent said Korean fashion was affordable and easy to buy. Another 27.7 percent cited an interest in Korean artists, celebrities or other public figures.
How they discover Korean fashion also sets it apart.
Among the 260 respondents who selected Korea, 51.5 percent said they obtained fashion information from Instagram, followed by YouTube at 26.5 percent and TikTok at 23.5 percent.
For respondents who chose France, Instagram also ranked first at 28.9 percent, but magazines remained second at 24.6 percent.
The contrast points to how Korean fashion is spreading through social-media feeds and video platforms rather than primarily through traditional fashion media.
Academic research points in the same direction.
A 2024 study by researchers at Dankook University surveyed Japanese Millennial and Gen Z women who had been exposed to Korean cultural content.
The researchers found that K-pop, K-beauty and Korean influencers were all significantly associated with stronger preferences for K-fashion.
When they examined actual purchase intention, however, only K-beauty and Korean influencers showed a significant effect, while K-pop did not.
The findings suggest K-pop may open the door to Korean fashion without necessarily being what ultimately persuades consumers to buy.
Another study published this year examined an even broader shift in how young Japanese women perceive Korean style.
Ayumi Inouchi, a researcher at Arizona State University, analyzed the Japanese term kankokuppo, roughly translated as "Koreaish," in a study published in Signs and Society.
The term describes an aesthetic associated not only with clothing but also makeup, hairstyles, cafes, interiors, selfies and the way photos are styled for social media.
Inouchi's fieldwork found young Japanese women repeatedly describing Korea as stylish, trendy and sophisticated.
Korea, in that sense, can function as an aesthetic reference even when consumers are not following a particular Korean brand or celebrity.
The same demographic showing the strongest interest in Korean fashion also makes up a major part of Japan's travel market to South Korea.
About 3.65 million Japanese visited South Korea in 2025, up 13.3 percent from the previous year and the highest annual total on record.
Women in their 20s accounted for about 878,000 visitors, or roughly one in four Japanese arrivals, making them the largest age-and-gender group.
Fashion cannot be isolated as the reason for those trips. Food, K-pop, dramas, beauty and South Korea's proximity to Japan all play a role.
Shopping, however, is clearly part of the experience.
According to South Korea's 2024 Foreign Tourist Survey, 71.6 percent of Japanese visitors cited shopping among the activities they considered when planning their trip.
Half said they purchased clothing in Korea, while 71.9 percent bought perfume or cosmetics and 76.4 percent bought food products.
Kwon Soo-hyun, a 31-year-old office worker in Seoul, said the increase in Japanese visitors has become noticeable around major shopping districts.
"You definitely see a lot of Japanese visitors these days," Kwon told AJP. "People first encounter Korea through dramas and music, and that can lead them to actually visit."
Japan's fashion industry is responding to the same demand.
ZOZO, operator of ZOZOTOWN, opened a dedicated K-FASHION section in November 2025, creating a separate shopping space for Korean labels.
The company said it planned to offer more than 1,500 Korean brands and around 300,000 products by the end of the year.
Musinsa has also reported rapid growth in Japan.
The Korean fashion platform said annual transaction value through its Global Store in Japan rose about 2.4 times in 2025 from a year earlier.
Monthly transaction value surpassed 1.1 billion yen in October, when a 24-day Musinsa pop-up in Tokyo's Shibuya district drew more than 82,000 visitors.
The figures are company-provided and do not represent the broader Japanese fashion market. But they show retailers building distribution and shopping infrastructure around demand that increasingly extends beyond K-pop merchandise or celebrity-driven purchases.
For years, the Korean Wave in Japan was most visible in what consumers watched and listened to.
For a younger generation, it is increasingly showing up in what they wear — and where they shop.
AJP Takeaways
- South Korea is the top fashion reference for Japanese women in their teens through 40s, with support strongest among women in their 20s at 64.7 percent, according to Rakuten Rakuma.
- K-fashion's appeal goes beyond K-pop: 50 percent of respondents cited affordability and ease of purchase, while 27.7 percent pointed to Korean celebrities and artists.
- Social media is the main discovery channel, led by Instagram at 51.5 percent, helping turn Korean culture exposure into fashion interest and app-based shopping.
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