Earlier this month, South Korea implemented the fourth phase of allowing Japanese popular culture into the country. In 1945, Korea imposed a ban on Japanese cultural products, but from the mid-'90s the country began to relax restrictions. Now, only Japanese animated films and Japanese TV variety shows are prohibited in Korea.

So-nin, the Korean actress who has become popular as a talent in Japan, hosts a special documentary about Korean popular culture on NHK Monday night (BS1, 10 p.m.). The program looks at the latest liberalizations but also discusses the current strengths of Korean popular culture, especially the country's movie industry, which is the most vibrant in Asia. Korean stars are becoming extremely popular in China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand. Show-business professionals from these countries travel to Korea to study the industry, especially in the area of movie and television production.

Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui are the two most popular Japanese players in Major League Baseball, but likely few fans know they have a relationship of sorts. Apparently, they first met as junior high-school students, when their respective prefectural teams (Ichiro's from Aichi, Matsui's from Ichikawa) played at a national championship. They met again under similar circumstances when they were in high school, and rumor has it that they even discussed their professional prospects at the time.