Jero: Enka’s Black Ship?
Some in the Japanese media are starting to use the term “black ship” [kurofune] to refer to African American enka singer Jero. The term, which is historically associated with the fleet of warships Commodore Perry used to open Japan to the West in the 1850′s, has since come into use as a label for foreign celebrities who break into the Japanese entertainment scene. In this case, Jero is being called the “black ship of the enka world!”
Does this mean that Jero will be having the same impact on enka music that Perry’s voyage had on Japan as a whole? Probably not, but Jero-related articles and videos have recently been pretty popular on Japanese news portals and blogs. He also appeared on a morning show last week for a live performance:
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