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Calendars Featuring Actor Bae Yong-joon Become Best Sellers in Japan

The popularity of hallyu stars in Japan was reaffirmed by the brisk sales of new year's calendars featuring the actors. In Japan, sales of new year's calendars serves as an indicator of the popularity of pop stars.

According to the Internet version of The Mainichi Shimbun on Dec. 29, hallyu stars, such as actors Bae Yong-joon, Lee Byung-hun and kwon Sang-woo, and actresses Choi Ji-woo and Lee Young-ae, are still enjoying great popularity, as they grabbed top spots in the sales ranking of 2006 calendars featuring pop stars in Japan.

In the comprehensive sales ranking of 2006 calendars at "BIGLOBE Store," a Website shopping mall run by the Japanese portal site "BIGLOBE," Bae topped the list, followed by Lee Byung-hun, who took the second and third spots with a wall and desk calendar, respectively.

Kwon and Choi grabbed the fourth and fifth spots, respectively. Kwon took the seventh spot in the sales ranking of desk calendars, followed by Lee Young-ae, who ranked eighth. A calendar featuring the TV drama "Winter Sonata" ranked 10th. Overall, calendars featuring hallyu stars or programs took eight of the top ten spots.

In the case of Bae's calendar which topped the list, the calendar is attracting high popularity as it features captured video images from the film "April Snow," a huge hit in Japan. Bae's calendar has become such a best seller that it has far outdistanced the second-ranking calendar by nearly twice the sales revenue.

Meanwhile, "non-hallyu stars" who joined the top 10 list include Japanese pop star Masaki Ito (sixth) and charismatic tennis star Maria Sharapova (ninth).

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