Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses the transnational transitions of the representation of fatherhood, masculinity and family as elements in the formation of an adult in society in the Korean original and Japanese remake of the TV drama Two Weeks.

Paper long abstract:

In the past two decades public discussions as well as policies in Japan were concerned with the growing demographic change. Rise in marriage age and low birth rate raised concerns over the general population and the balance between the young and the elderly and the future of the nation. Japan is not alone in this concern as it is shared by its neighbour, South Korea. This shared interest was the basis of appeal of the Korean TV drama Two Weeks (MBC, 2013) to the Japanese television industry, an interest that led to a Japanese remake by the same name (Fuji Tv, 2019).

This paper applies transnational media flow theories to the exploration of the original and remake of Two Weeks. The drama, which follows a hero who discovers he is a father and goes on a journey to save his daughter’s life, presents a lens to explore representations and discourses around fatherhood, masculinity and family as elements in the formation of an adult in society (shakaijin). Moreover, those formations are used not only to explore the discourse within Japan but also to position it vis-à-vis its neighbour. Although the message of the original and the remake, the importance of fatherhood, is common to both versions, differences in representation of fatherhood highlight subtle variations of Japanese society within the Asian context.