ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Japanese influence on Korean culture

Okay, imagine if your teacher taught you some really cool new games to play during recess. You really liked these games and started playing them every day with your friends. Soon, all the other classes in your school saw you playing these games and thought they looked fun too, so they started playing them too!

That's kind of what happened between Japan and Korea a long time ago.

Japan is a country that is pretty close to Korea, and at one point they got really interested in a lot of the things that Korea was doing. They liked things like Korean pottery, art, and writing, and started to take some of those things back to Japan to try themselves.

Over time, though, things started to change. Korea became a part of Japan's empire, and Japanese soldiers took over and made Korea follow their rules. This meant that a lot of Korean people were forced to do things the Japanese way, and some of their own traditions and beliefs were pushed aside.

Today, though, both Korea and Japan have their own unique cultures that have been influenced by each other over time. In Korea, you might see some things that were originally from Japan, like certain types of food, fashion, or entertainment. Likewise, some things in Japan might have originally come from Korea.

So while the relationship between the two countries has had its ups and downs, they have also impacted each other in many ways throughout history.