A young female pop star, dressed in a white suit and stilettos, lying provocatively on a flat bed, is lowered towards the stage from a mock spacecraft. Her east-Asian features are disguised by a blonde wig dashed with pink. The 16,000-strong audience at Osaka Castle rise to their feet and applaud as she starts singing a tender ballad in Japanese. It could be any of Japan's galaxy of youthful songstresses who churn out crowd-pleasing J-pop, the name given to Japanese pop music. The only detail that sets apart BoA - real name Kwon Bo-a - is that she is Korean.

BoA was the first Korean pop star to break into the Japanese market when she released her first single there as a 13-year-old, four years ago. Since then, she has become one of the country's most popular singers, selling more than five million albums. Her fame has spread across the region, earning her the title of "Asia's most influential artist" at the past two MTV Asian music awards.