Japan My Love - Japanese culture, tv, news, trend, food

"The red and white singing contest" in 2009 got a special guest from UK.
Her name is Susan Boyle.
She suddenly became famous worldwide since she joined the popular audition TV program in UK.
Her name often appears in news headlines here in Japan as well.
She sang "I dreamed a dream" in "The red and white singing contest".
Over 40% of Japanese citizens watch this program on New Year's Eve.
Her beautiful voice attracted the audience in front of the TV.
Susan is getting many offers from Japanese media after she appeared in this national famous TV program.
She's getting popularity also here in Japan!
According to the news, Susan looks forward to visit Japan again.

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I dreamed a dream

There is a young American guy who sensationally made a hit in enka world in Japan.
His name is Jero(Jerome Charles White, Jr.).
He's from Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh.
His father is an African-American and his mother is half-American half-Japanese.
His grandmother is a Japanese, and he's been familiar with enka since childhood.
He tried to practice enka for his grandmother, then he gradually got absorbed in enka himself.
He came to Japan for the first time when he was 15.
He studied abroad in Japan for 3 months while he was in University of Pittsburgh and he decided to become an enka singer at this time.
After graduation in 2003, he came to Japan again and worked as an English teacher in Wakayama prefecture, then he changed his job as a computer engineer in Osaka prefecture.
While he was working, he tried to join singing contests.
In 2005 he won the first prize at Karaoke contest and was recruited as a potential singer by Victor Entertainment, and he passed an audition.
Judges say "He's polite, and sings well whatever song is requested."
He was trained for 2 years, and finally made his debut with his first song "Umiyuki".
In 2008 he joined "The red and white singing contest" which is the national most famous TV program of a year, which proves a participant to be a well-known singer in Japan.

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Uwasa no onna


Umiyuki


Showa Karesusuki (duet)

Enka is Japanese particular genre of music.
Enka singers sing Enka in a particular way with a warble.
They also often wear Japanese traditional clothes called "Kimono" when they sing on a stage.
The lyrics of Enka are most of the time about "tragic love".
It often means extramarital affairs.
Lyrics are often written from a view of woman, mentioning her grudge, regret and lingering affection.
Espcially elder people tend to love this genre of music, but young handsome enka singers appeared recently and enka is getting more popularity.

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(Singer:Sayuri Ishikawa/Song:Amagigoe)