BoA
:
For other things named Boa, see Boa (disambiguation).BoA (권보아
Kwon, Boa, born in
November 5,
1986) is a
Korean singer. She has released albums in both
South Korea and
Japan, and her Korean record label,
SM Entertainment, is positioning her as a cross-cultural star for all of Asia. She has released nine full-length albums, three
mini-albums, two
compilation albums, two
remix albums, and over thirty singles in South Korea and Japan. Her albums have also been released as "overseas versions" throughout Asia and her total record sales are quickly approaching the ten million mark. BoA's first language is
Korean, but she also speaks fluent
Japanese and conversational
English, and has performed versions of her songs in
Mandarin Chinese and is currently learning
Mandarin Chinese as well. She has also composed and written the lyrics for several of her songs.
Today, BoA is considered one of the most popular pop-artists in both Korea and Japan, and is one of the leading stars of the
Korean Wave otherwise known as "Hallyu".
BoA broke records in both Korea and Japan with her smash hits, including
No. 1,
Valenti, and
Listen to My Heart. She has made strides in music and acting with chart-breaking albums released in both Japanese and Korean (BoA once accounted for over 75% of musical exports from Korea).
Statements have also been occasionally made that BoA is a contributor to establishing and improving relations between Japan and Korea, in response to the rivalries in Eastern Asia as a result from previous wars and conflicts.
BoA has re-signed an extended contract with SM Entertainment until 2012 for which she will receive 100,000 shares of SM Entertainment.
Beginning
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Screencaps from interview with BoA prior to her debut (1998–2000) |
BoA grew up in South Korea with two older brothers. At the age of ten, she accompanied one of her brothers to a talent search held by Korean musical conglomerate SM Entertainment, which at the time was searching for a new international icon, and she herself got the part. After her reluctant parents agreed to let her pursue a career in singing rather than focus on school, BoA was trained in singing, dancing, and foreign language in preparation for her Korean album debut.
ID; Peace B era - First Korean album
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Cover of BoA's Korean debut album: ID; Peace B |
After two years of vigorous training, at the age of thirteen, BoA released her Korean debut album
ID; Peace B on
August 25,
2000, by the artistic name
BoA* (
Beat
of
Angel). The album won much acclaim and climbed into the top ten, going on to sell 218,114 copies. The album and its promotion dazzled many with BoA's powerful singing and dancing, and helped garner interest in her from overseas. Meanwhile, her Korean record label SM Entertainment made arrangements with Japanese music giant
Avex Trax to launch BoA's music career in Japan.
Jumping into the World era - One-Fifth Korean album
In early 2001 BoA released her first mini album,
Jumping into the World, which showcased more of her vocal skills. After this album was released, BoA took a hiatus from the Korean music industry to focus on the Japanese market. The months prior to release of her first Japanese single were spent entirely in Japan, and BoA was only allowed to speak Japanese in order to solidify her hold of the language. BoA described these months as some of her saddest and most lonely.
LISTEN TO MY HEART era - First Japanese album
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Cover of BoA's Japanese debut album, LISTEN TO MY HEART |
The recording contract that BoA signed with
avex trax resulted in BoA's foray into the Japanese music industry. In
2001 she released her first Japanese single, the Japanese version of
ID; Peace B. Although the single debuted at only #20 on the
Oricon chart it received wide-spread publicity since BoA was a young foreigner with phenomenal dancing skills for her age.
ID; Peace B was followed by subsequent singles
Amazing Kiss (#23),
気持ちはつたわる (
Kimochi wa Tsutawaru) (#15), and
LISTEN TO MY HEART (#5). The single
LISTEN TO MY HEART catapulted BoA into the spotlight (since few foreigners break into the top 5 in Japan) and went on to sell over 179,000 copies. Finally, her much anticipated Japanese debut album,
LISTEN TO MY HEART, was released on
March 13,
2002. On the shoulders of the lead single,
LISTEN TO MY HEART, the album debuted at #1 on the
Oricon chart and would chart in the Oricon Top 200 for 91 weeks and go on to sell over 932,000 copies domestically and over 1,300,000 copies worldwide. This was a surprise not only because it was BoA's debut and she was a foreigner, but also because the album's release was during the 2002
World Cup, when Japan was playing Korea and tensions were high. On the same day as the album's release, BoA's 5th single
Every Heart -ミンナノキモチ- (
minna no kimochi,
everybody's feelings) was released. The song was the ending theme for the hit
anime series
InuYasha; the single peaked at #10 on the charts.
No.1 era - Second Korean album
|
Cover of BoA's second Korean Album, NO.1 |
|
Cover of BoA's second Korean Album on the back, NO.1 |
Less than a month after BoA's chart-topping performance in Japan she released her second full studio Korean album,
NO.1. This album catapulted BoA to the top of the charts in Korea and became her biggest selling Korean album, with over 572,000 copies (excluding overseas sales). Now BoA's name was popping up all across Asia and her popularity skyrocketed. The album was also released in Japan and peaked at #15 on the charts—a very strong performance, especially for a non-English or Japanese album. Later in the year she would win a
Daesang (Korean Music Award) award for this album, making her the youngest artist to ever receive one. She received her second
Daesang award in 2004 for her music video,
My Name.
Miracle era - Two-Fifth Korean album
In September 2002 BoA released her second Korean mini-album. Featuring some Korean renditions of her Japanese songs and several original songs, this album is hailed by many as one of BoA's best Korean releases. For this album BoA also dropped the asterisks which had characterized her career in Korea up to that point.
VALENTI era - Second Japanese album
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Cover of BoA's second Japanese Album, VALENTI |
After stellar album sales in both
South Korea and
Japan, BoA continued releasing singles in anticipation for her second Japanese album, including
Don't start now (#17), a "special single" featuring a Japanese edition of the promotional track of her Korean mini album,
Don't Start Now, and her biggest hit single
VALENTI. It peaked at #2 on the charts, her highest showing on the singles chart at the time, and would go on to sell over 200,000 copies.
Valenti was quickly followed by two more hit singles:
奇蹟 (kiseki)/ NO.1 (#3),
JEWEL SONG / BESIDE YOU "僕'呼ぶ声"(
boku wo yobu koe) (#3). On
January 29,
2003, her second full studio album
VALENTI was released. This album compounded the success of her previous Japanese album and hit
#1 on the charts (with over 615,000 copies sold in the first week of release [these high first week debut sales were ranked as the 83rd highest of all time in Japan in a list compiled in January of 2006]). It became BoA's highest selling Japanese album, selling over 1,250,000 copies domestically (making her the highest and fastest selling Asian foreigner in Japanese history) and 1,400,000 copies worldwide. After topping the album charts for two weeks in a row,
VALENTI put BoA in the spotlight of the Japanese music scene with other big players such as
Ayumi Hamasaki and
Utada Hikaru. The album's live tour was sold out in
Osaka and
Nagoya within 15 minutes and in Tokyo within a day. The album would go on to become one of the top 5 selling albums of the year in Japan.
BoA's
VALENTI was also featured on
Andamiro's popular dance simulation game,
Pump It Up.
Atlantis Princess era - Third Korean album
|
Cover of BoA's third full Korean Album, Atlantis Princess |
This highly anticipated album again topped the charts in
Korea. Released on
May 30,
2003,
Atlantis Princess would go on to sell over 340,000 copies. This album was well received throughout Korea and would move on to receive multiple awards later in the year.
Shine we are! - Three-Fifth Korean album
BoA released her third (and last to date) mini-album
Shine We Are!. This album again showcased Korean renditions of her Japanese songs, but later received criticism for the darker, more mature image portrayed on the cover and thus the sale went down to barely 80,000 copies. This was her last Korean translated Japanese album since 2004 Japanese album able to released in South Korea.
LOVE & HONESTY era - Third Japanese album
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Cover of BoA's third full Japanese Album, LOVE & HONESTY |
After the release of her hit albums
VALENTI and
Atlantis Princess and her first country-wide tour
LIVE TOUR 2003 -VALENTI- (in Japan; she has never done a full scale country-wide tour in Korea), BoA continued to pursue her activities in Japan. She released several hit singles for her upcoming album:
Shine We Are! / Earthsong (#2),
DOUBLE/Midnight Parade/Milky Way - 君の歌 (#2), and
Rock With You (#5). Then on
January 15,
2004 her highly anticipated third Japanese album,
LOVE & HONESTY, was released. It again hit #1 on the
Oricon chart and would go on to sell over 650,000 copies domestically and over 800,000 copies worldwide. Although it did not sell as well as her album
VALENTI, it was still among the top albums in sales for 2004. Another single from the album,
Be the one (#15), was released a month later. Later, the album's live tour would prove to be a huge success (in some venues, the arenas were filled to a thousand above capacity due to the high demand for seats).
My Name era - Fourth Korean album
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Cover of BoA's fourth full Korean Album, My Name |
2004 also brought the release of BoA's fourth full Korean album,
My Name. This album aroused much controversy because it showcased a complete style shift from young and cute to a much more mature look. (BoA was turning 19 in
Korean age reckoning; 17 going 18 in non-Korean reckoning.) It would again top the charts in Korea and go on to sell over 200,000 copies. These sales, though slightly lower than that of her debut's, were very strong considering the heavy recession in the music industry of
South Korea. Some people point to this album as the beginning of BoA's decrease in Korean popularity while some suggest
My Name is arguably her best. Nevertheless, she concluded the year with victory by winning her second
Daesang award at the 2004 MKMF Awards for the music video of the album's title track,
My Name. The album was consequently followed by more focus on the Japanese market.
The music vidoe for "
My Name" became the first music video shown on KMTV, the music television channel aimed mainly for Korean Americans.
BEST OF SOUL era - First Japanese compilation album
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Cover of BoA's first "Best of" album compilation, Best of Soul |
After the release of
LOVE & HONESTY and her highly acclaimed second live arena tour
LIVE TOUR 2004 LOVE & HONESTY, more singles were released:
QUINCY / コノヨノシルシ (Kono Yo no Shirushi) (#4) and
メリクリ (Merikuri) (#5). However, instead of releasing her expected fourth Japanese language studio album, BoA released her first "Best of" compilation album of her Japanese singles up to that point (plus a bonus track: "La La La Love Song" feat. SOUL'd Out, and also "the Love Bug" feat.
m-flo) on
February 2,
2005. This album catapulted BoA again to the #1 position on the charts and went on to sell over 1,090,000 copies domestically, and over 1,250,000 copies worldwide.
BEST OF SOUL made BoA the first non-Japanese Asian singer to have two albums sell over a million copies domestically:
VALENTI and
BEST OF SOUL. [
1] It reaffirmed BoA's position as one of the top singers in Japan; her third live tour would again be sold out, and this album would be the ninth highest selling album of
2005.
Also, during this period BoA was rumoured to have gone on a date with a friend of her hairdresser after several pictures of their outing showed the two apparently as intimates (holding hands and walking close to each other). However, BoA and avex trax both deny that the excursion was romantic at all and claim that the two are just friends. Further suspicions arose after the release of her 16th Japanese single,
make a secret, which featured songs about keeping a relationship secret; however, no further pictures have surfaced since the outing in March, nor have any comments (or further details) from the man in question been released, just leading to further speculations and rumours.
Girls on Top era - Fifth Korean album
|
Cover of BoA's fifth Korean Album, Girls on Top |
In
2005 BoA released her highly anticipated fifth album,
Girls on Top. It reached #3 on the monthly charts, and so far has sold approximately 115,000 copies. Although the sales were disappointing to many, one should note that Korean album sales have dropped by over 50% from
2004 alone, so sales of over 100,000 copies are very respectable. This album also featured BoA's foray into a more "hip-hop" feel, following the trend of many other Korean artists away from pure pop music. BoA also sported a "ragged"
mullet for the first few weeks of promotion before switching back to a more feminine look during the promotion of the second leading track of the album, "MOTO". The album also hit #1 in
Taiwan, showcasing BoA's popularity outside of
South Korea and
Japan. Also, for the album BoA would win the "Best Female Artist" award at the m.net music festival at the end of the year.
BoA celebrated the five year anniversary of her Korean debut with fans on
August 25,
2005 and to advertise for the special event, a new limited edition "MOTO" repackaging for the
Girls on Top album was released. On January 18 2006 SM Entertainment released a Korean version of the single "EVERLASTING" that included a new song "슬""은 넘쳐도 (People Say..)", instead of "Soundscape". It is rumoured that BoA's sixth Korean album may be pushed back from the expected release of summer 2006 as far as early 2007 due to BoA's entrance into the Chinese market this year.
OUTGROW era - Fourth Japanese album
|
Cover of BoA's fourth Japanese Studio Album, OUTGROW |
Capitalizing on the success of
BEST OF SOUL, BoA's 15th single
DO THE MOTION hit #1 on the
Oricon chart, making her just the fifth non-Japanese singer to have a single hit #1, and the first in over 21 years. In September, BoA went on to release her 16th single,
make a secret (#3), and accompanying the miniscule amount of promotion by avex, the single would end up as a huge flop, barely selling 55,000 copies. Her 17th single,
抱きしめる (Dakishimeru) (#9), was released on
November 23,
2005 and was met with equally dismal sales. Her 18th single,
Everlasting (#4), was released on
January 18,
2006 and was also met with low debut sales (appoximately 33,000 copies) due in great part to the proximity of its release to that of
OUTGROW; however, the single's long chart life in the top 20 allowed for it to break the trend of flops, and gave BoA her first commercially successful single since 2005's
DO THE MOTION. Everlasting was also released as her fourth Korean single, with the titular track redone in Korean and a different B-side track,
People say....
Her fourth Japanese studio album,
OUTGROW, was released on
February 15,
2006 and comes in two formats: a limited edition CD+DVD with the music videos from
DO THE MOTION to
Everlasting, and a normal CD version. People who buy the first pressing of the CD+DVD version also get a secret password to unlock a special version of BoA's official website. During that time, BoA's record label stated that with the worldwide release of
OUTGROW, BoA's total record sales will most likely pass the ten million mark, marking a major landmark in her career. After topping the charts in preorders from several online providers,
OUTGROW hit number one on the Oricon chart for its first week of release, making it her fifth Japanese album to do so. This also makes her tied with
Namie Amuro,
Kuraki Mai and
MISIA in second place behind
Ayumi Hamasaki (among female Japanese artists) for having her first four original studio albums hit number one; however, the album had relatively low debut sales (220,000 copies sold) making it her lowest selling first week debut for an original album. It is projected that
Outgrow may become her lowest selling Japanese studio album to date if the album does not manage to maintain a long chartlife in the top 20.
BoA also released her first digital single,
Merry Christmas from BoA, on December 7th (and online distribution came to a close on December 25th) and performed in
NHK Best Singers contest for the fourth year in a row (she is the only foreigner to ever perform in the event for that many years) with other top Japanese artists such as
SMAP and
Ayumi Hamasaki.
BoA has also gathered with the hottest K-pop artists in Korea to make compilation albums entitled "
SMTOWN". Boa has been featured in the following songs:
*
Christmas In SMTOWN released in December 1999 : (This was SM TOWN's 1st Album but BoA wasn't part of the project until a year later)
*
Winter Vacation In SMTOWN.com released in December 2000:
"Waiting For White Christmas" - SM Town:
"Christmas Time" - BoA:
"Merry Christmas" - BoA
*
Winter Vacation in SMtown.com - Angel Eyes released in December 2001:
"Angel Eyes" - SM Town:
"Feliz Navidad" - BoA:
"겨울"람" (Winter Wind) - BoA
*
Summer Vacation In SMTown.com released in June 2002:
"Summer Vacation" - SM Town:
"My Boy" - BoA:
"Amazing Kiss" - BoA
*
2002 Winter Vacation in SMTOWN.com - My Angel My Light released in December 2002:
"My Angel, My Light" - SM Town:
"Snow in My Mind" - Shoo, BoA, M.I.L.K, Isak N Jiyeon:
"Dear My Family" - SM Town:
"Jewel Song" - BoA
*
2003 Summer Vacation in SMTOWN.com released in June 2003:
"Hello! Summer!" - SM Town:
"Summer in Dream" - 희준 (Hee Jun), Shoo, BoA, 재원 (Jae Won), 현진 (Hyun Jin), 재영 (Jae Young):
"Romeo" - BoA
*
2003 Winter Vacation In SMTOWN.com released in December 2003:
"두번째 겨울" (SnowFlake) - Kang Ta, Moon Hee Jun, Shoo, Fly to the Sky, BoA, 진영 (Jin Young), 지연 (Ji Yeon) & Dana:
"Feel the Same" - BoA
*
2004 Summer Vacation in SMTOWN.com released in July 2004:
"여름편지" (Hot Mail) - SM Town:
"Lollipop" - BoA:
"Midnight Parade" - BoA
*
'06 SUMMER SMTOWN released in June 2006:
"태양은 가"히" (Red Sun) - SMTown:
"TOUCH" - BoA
On
April 4 2006 BoA released her 19th single
Nanairo no Ashita~brand new beat~/Your Color. The other A-Side (The single was a double A-side single)
Your Color was used as the ending theme song for for the
Xbox 360 Japanese release of
Ninety-Nine Nights. This was the first BoA single to be released in the CD+DVD format.
On
August 8 2006 BoA will be releasing a new single "KEY OF HEART / DOTCH". The titular track is the
Over the Hedge ending theme in Japan. In the single, BoA will also release an English version of "KEY OF HEART", which will only be available on the first press editon of the CD only version of the single. She recorded her last English version of her single
DOUBLE back in 2003. However, due to the internet leak "KEY OF HEART" a month early, the sales may be affected. It has however, debuted at Rank # 4 on ORICON, and thus far, has dropped to #6.
According to a Japanese BBS [
2], BoA will be releasing a new single at end of October, although this has yet to be confirmed.
She has a contract with
Avex Trax until 2007.
BoA has recently made her debut in the film industry as
dubbing actress for the voice of
"Heather" the
Opossum in the Korean version of
Over the Hedge, also her b-side track
"People say...." was used as the ending theme for the film. It has been recently stated that BoA will push back a 6th Korean album in order for her to prepare her debut in the Chinese market. BoA released a new song on the
"'06 SUMMER SMTOWN" album entitled
"TOUCH".
She has a contract with
SM Entertainment until 2012.
BoA also appeared in the Korean Music Festival held in the
Sydney Opera House on
June 21,
2004 and in the Volvo "
Hallyu" Concert in
Universal City, California (outside of
Los Angeles) on
June 11,
2005. Most recently, she performed her song
NO.1 before world leaders at the 2005
APEC conference in
Busan,
South Korea.
Chinese activity
BoA is planning on entering the Chinese market sometime in 2006 (most likely in the summer after her fourth Japanese live tour). She has released several overseas versions of her albums in
Taiwan and
China already so she is reasonably well known in both countries (e.g
Girls on Top hit #1 in
Taiwan in September 2005). She has already made appearance overseas this year through
Levi's advertisements with
Edison Chen.
Entrance into the U.S. market
An official SM representative, states in an interview, "BoA has no plans in the near future to establish a presence in the US Market for several reasons"; however, she has once been quoted saying she wanted to enter the U.S. market before she turns 20.
On the 17th of May 2006, she attended the 59th Cannes Film Festival where she stood on the red carpet with the original cast for
Over the Hedge. She was the first Korean artist to go to such an event. Of the many compliments BoA received on this occasion, the repeated statements
Bruce Willis made about BoA's captivating beauty opened up many foreign eyes to the music of Asia.
BoA's My Name music video became first premiere music video for opening of
MTV K channel in US.
|
BoA promoting South Korean FIFA team. |
BoA has appeared on numerous magazine covers and some commercials, including KOSE, MISSHA, Lipton, Ting, Pantech & Curitel, Elite, Lotte, Maybelline, Wired XYZ, Levi's, Nike, and Skechers.
|
BoA dubbing at the Korean studio for "Over the Hedge" |
BoA made her debut in the film industry as a
dubbing actress for the voice of Heather the
Opossum in the Korean and Japanese versions of
Over the Hedge, which was released on
May 31,
2006 in Korea. It is rumoured that after this initial foray onto the
"big screen" that BoA will star in a drama later this year.
It was rumored in
2002 that BoA might play
Cho Chang in "
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" but in the end the role went to Scottish actress
Katie Leung.
In 2005, BoA was given the main lead as Shin Chae Gyung in the rags to riches drama,
Goong (Palace), but due to her busy schedule, the role was passed on to former
Baby V.O.X member,
Yoon Eun Hye.
On
June 28,
2006 it was informed that BoA might star in her first movie role alongside Chinese superstars,
Jay Chou and
Yao Ming, in the highly anticipated film,
Slam Dunk (Guan Lan), due out
March,
2007.[
3]
On
July 3,
2006 By Korean Media, revealed that she has received casting calls from
Hollywood's major studio.
After a chain of rumors and speculation, SM Entertainment has confirmed that BoA has refused the offer to star as the heroine in the upcoming Taiwanese film, 'Slam Dunk'. "In order to participate in the filming, BoA would have to dedicate at least three months, and with her extremely busy schedule both in Korea and Japan, such a dedication is virtually impossible at the moment," explained a source at SM Entertainment, "therefore, BoA regrettably had no choice but to refuse the offer."
Although this news might disappoint fans who anticipated a new chapter in BoA's career as an actress, there are still many opportunities and possibilities for her to begin acting later this year. According to a source at SM, BoA has presently received more than ten casting offers from various places. These offers are not exclusive to Korean dramas and Korean films, but also include Hollywood productions. It is quite likely that BoA's first step as an actress will be in Korea, where there is no language barrier, and from there, move onto an international stage.
*
Over the HedgeKorean DVDs
* History of BoA 2000–2002
Japanese DVDs
* 8 films and More – 85,938 copies
* FIRST LIVE TOUR 2003 -VALENTI- – 56,261 copies
* LIVE TOUR 2004 LOVE & HONESTY – 46,795 copies
* ARENA TOUR 2005 BEST OF SOUL – 52,831 copies
| Years | Awards | | 2000 |
*Wins Rookie of the Year award at MTV's music video festival
*Wins Rookie of the Year award at the annual music contest of KMTV |
|---|
| 2001 |
*MTV Taiwan New Sound prize |
|---|
| 2002 |
*Wins the Grand Prize at the SBS pop music contest
*Becomes one of the 10 best singers on MBC TV
*Wins the grand prize at Japan Record Grand Awards
*Participates in NHK Best Singers contest in Japan
*Daesang and Best Choreography at M-net Music Video Festival
*Daesang at Seoul Gayo Awards
*Daesang at SBS Gayo Awards
*Artist of the year at KMTV Music Awards
*Album of the year at Japan Record Awards |
|---|
| 2003 |
*Becomes one of the 10 Best Singers on MBC TV
*Wins the grand prize at the Proud Korean Awards
*Wins the main awards at the Gold Disc Grand Awards in Japan
*Participates in NHK Best Singers contest in Japan
*Bonsang and Artist of year at KMTV Music Awards
*Album of the year at Japan Golden Disk Awards
*Best dance award at Japan Record Awards
*Prize at Best Hits Song Festival 2003 |
|---|
| 2004 |
*Wins the Grand Prize at the SBS pop music contest
*Wins Favorite Korean Artist and Most Influential Asian Artist awards at the MTV Asia Awards (MAA)
*Wins the main award at the Gold Disc Grand Awards in Japan
*Participates in NHK Best Singers contest in Japan
*Best Hallyu (Korean Wave) Star Award
*Daesang at M.Net 2004 Music Video Festival
*Bonsang at MBC Gayo Awards
*Best Asian Star prize at Pepsi Top Chinese Music Awards
*Best Album prize at Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan.
*Best Dance award at Japan Record Awards
*Golden artist at Best Hits Song Festival 2004 |
|---|
| 2005 |
*Wins Best Korean Artist at the World Music Awards
*Wins Best Female Artist at the M.net music video festival
*Wins the most stars (6) at the "130 Million Choose Best Artist" Competition in Japan
*Participates in NHK Best Singers contest in Japan (Breaks record as the only foreign artist to ever attend four years in a row)
*No. 1 in HIT FM Asia Music Chart
*Best Hallyu (Korean Wave) Star Award
*Prize at Best Hits Song Festival 2005
*BonSang Award |
|---|
| 2006 |
*Best Jewelry Wearing Teenager (Japan) |
|---|
*
List of Koreans*
Contemporary culture of South Korea*
List of Korea-related topics*
K-pop*
J-pop*
List of Japan-related topics*
Japanese Culture*
Japanese music*
AVEX Records*
SM Entertainment*
BoA official website (Korean)*
BoA official website (Japanese)*
BoA 5th avex anniversary Special site (Japanese)*
BoA Official website (Chinese) *
BoAjjang, a popular BoA fansite and forum (English)*
BoA-Nation, another popular BoA fansite and forum (English)*
JBFC, BoA fan site in Taiwan (Chinese)
