BTS's Jimin continues to show his brand power and popularity in Japan as his GQ cover magazine ranks on the Yahoo Japan official online store

Vogue Korea and GQ Korea collaborated and released a special magazine for the January New Year issue to mark the beginning of the year 2022. BTS was selected to be on the cover of this special edition issue, which was to consist of 8 different covers, including individual member covers for the seven members of BTS and a group cover. Data recorded from Yahoo's official online store in Japan as of December 6th showed that Jimin's cover magazine was the only individual cover marked as popular in sales on the site, apart from the group cover, further emphasizing his popularity in the country.

Jimin's popularity in Japan, which also fuels his immense brand power in the country, has come to light on various occasions over the years, and it has only been growing with each new year. He has won polls and surveys where only Japanese netizens or students were participants, and he constantly receives tons of praises from Japanese TV show hosts and other celebrities such as singers, as well as from the nation's Olympics-winning athletes. He has continuously been selected as the celebrities’ “One Pick” despite BTS not promoting in Japan and has undoubtedly made an impact in every segment of Japanese society.

For example, Jimin has gained recognition as a representative figure for Korea considering his selection as a role model for Japan's 15-21-year-old female students back in March of this year. Jimin was the only K-pop male idol selected for this survey, proving his hot popularity status in the country.

Another instance where he has stood as a representative figure for Korea and K-pop in Japan is when his name appeared in a Korean textbook that was published by 'NHK,' Japan's state-run broadcasting station. His name was used as an example to explain the Gyeongsang-do dialect. Him being selected out of anyone else in South Korea speaks to his impact.

When it comes to celebrities and TV shows mentioning Jimin, he has received praises from top artists such as Ayaka Hirahara, who named him as an artist with "Heavenly High-pitched Vocals," placing him alongside other well established Japanese singers like Takahiro Moriuchi, commonly known as 'Taka.' Taka is a lead vocalist in 'One Ok Rock,' a Japanese rock band, and Kerrang! magazine selected him among "50 Greatest Rock-stars in the World,' in 2017. Such is the status that Jimin is perceived by Ayaka and several other singers in Japan.

The sporting world in the country has also shown a ton of affection and admiration for Jimin, who has been mentioned by top athletes such as the Japanese gymnast and 2020 Tokyo Olympics medalist Murakami, Japanese softball national athlete Miu Koto, and Hanyu Yuzuru, who won two consecutive men's figure skating titles at the Pyeongchang and Sochi Winter Olympics. These are just but a few of some Japanese athletes who have shown affection to Jimin for his flexible dance, heavenly voice, and charming and humble personality.

Jimin's dancing has also conquered hearts in Japan, as seen from a survey for the 'best dancer in K-pop' that was conducted back in August of this year, where he ranked first out of 28 contestants with 16.3% of the votes, as detailed here.

He was also selected as the third-best dancer by Japanese high school dance club students back in early 2018, the Wannabe dance group, which was also the highest rank for a Korean on this list of dancers. Jimin's popularity as the best dancer started long ago.

Jimin's extensive popularity across various sectors is consistent with his unmatched brand power in the country, which also translates to other countries.

Previously released magazine covers such as the WSJ magazine's innovator's issue released in 2020 also saw him top sales rankings on various websites for several days, such as the Kyobo Bookstore, Yes24, Interpark, and Aladdin, all of which make up South Korea's top four main bookstores.

Jimin's popularity and brand power are witnessed all around the globe.

Meanwhile, Jimin ranked 4th among the most mentioned K-pop artists in Chile in 2021. He is the highest Korean individual on the list, further reflecting his widespread popularity.

Congratulations to Jimin!