Will 2011 be the year the hallyu idols make a difference? With the disbandment of TVXQ, Japan was in a quiet state until the girl groups, Girls’ Generation and Kara made their debut and set the fire back into the Japanese entertainment industry. Among the hallyu groups, YG‘s male and female groups, Big Bang and 2NE1 have started their activities and have shown their confidence by saying, "We will definitely succeed on the Japanese stage." YG’s president, Yang Hyun Seok, have commented on the activities at Japan.

“Starting in May, for about 2 months, Big Bang will hold a Japan tour concert and they’re preparing for it. Right now, they’ve been going to Japan once a week and have been promoting a small out but starting in 2011, they’ll be more aggressive and offensive in their promotion tactics.”
Following Big Bang and 2NE1, they’re not your usual hallyu idol or your girl group because they’ve split up their promotion schedule so that they’ll be able to promote both in Japan and Korea, making their promotion techniques unique.

President Yang continued by saying,

“The proposal of 2NE1′s debut in Japan was proposed since last year. But because they’re a group that debuted not too long ago and are still rookies, we believed it was best to focus our attention on promoting them in Korea so it has been a bit late. After completely finishing their activities for their first full length album, they will officially debut in Japan during February.”

But what are his thoughts on the success of Big Bang and 2NE1 in the Japanese industry.
For Big Bang, he said,

“It was suggested with our partner in Japan that we split the promotions in Japan and Korea and that the focus on promoting one thing at a time. They’ll promote their Korean album during March and April and their Japanese concert will be during May and June, along with other promotions, and from July through September, they’ll promote another Korean album and from October to November, they’ll promote another Japanese album.”
He continued by saying,
“They’re well known in Korea already and in Japan, they’re getting to that point so we believe it would be best to focus on their promotions and we believe by doing that, we’ll get good results.”

Truthfully, before Big Bang started their official promotion in Japan, starting in early 2011, many fans have been interested already and they’ve been awarded 2 years straight with the Japanese Record award.

In the case of 2NE1, they have formed a partnership with TVXQ’s company, Avex, and already, their future in Japan seems bright. President Yang said, “The owner of Avex have taken a liking of 2NE1 for a while and they proposed on working with 2NE1 so the staff of YG have been anticipating greatly for 2NE1′s debut in Japan.”

2NE1′s first Japan promotion will be during February and March, for 2 months and within that time frame in May and June, they will be preparing for their Korean album that will be announced in May and June.

Source: Mcgwire@osen.co.kr via BBupdates
Translation: Eunjin@kpoplive.com