KARA's popularity in Japan soars despite recent controversy

Ever since KARA returned to Japan as all five this week, the Japanese media has been hot on their trail. The girls were bombarded by media attention immediately upon their arrival and followed them throughout their drama schedule for "URAKARA," as well as their third single jacket album photoshoot. Fuji TV even went as far as to follow the girls to their "URAKARA" film set, which is exceptional in itself since the drama is broadcast by their rival network, TV Tokyo.� The network risked giving media exposure to the other network in order to report on their day-to-day activities as well as minor details like their plane seating list. One news program nicknamed the arrival of KARA and the attention they've garnered as the "KARA Phenomenon," which is a term that hasn't been used since the legendary Hallyu star, Bae Yong Joon. On the "URAKARA" episode broadcast on February 4th, the girls gave a short message for their fans stating, "We'll be promoting in Japan into the future, so please look forward to us." Meanwhile, it was found that Seungyeon and Jiyoung's parents accompanied the girls on their trip, and although they were revealed to be monitoring the girls' activities, DSP Media added that they were not going on set with the girls. Source + Photos: Newsen, Star News via Daum (1) (2), Asia Economy via Naver