A number of years ago, Japan gave America 桜の木 (Cherry blossom trees) as a symbol of friendship.
They’re planted in Washington DC.
桜 (Cherry blossoms) are very popular in Japan. They are a symbol of Spring in Japan.
Japanese love them not only for their beauty…but also their fragility. They only stay in bloom for a week or so…and then gently fall to the ground like a beautiful pink snowfall. They’re like a symbol of the beauty and shortness of life.
Every Spring, Japanese people sit under the 桜の木 (Cherry blossom trees) to have a picnic together and enjoy the view.
It’s called 「花見」 (Hanami)…or “Cherry Blossom Viewing”.
I was surprised that America has Japanese-style 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) festivals every Spring in Washington DC under the 桜の木 (Cherry blossom trees) from Japan.
Are these festivals popular in America like they are in Japan? Have you ever been?
At this year’s 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) festival in Washington DC on March 28, Jero will be performing.
Jero is a 27-year old Enka singer.
Enka is a traditional Japanese blues type music that is popular mostly with older Japanese people.
So, it’s surprising that Jero is a young Enka singer. But more surprising is that he’s a black American. And he sings Enka while dressed in hip-hop fashion (Enka singers usually wear 着物 (kimono).
ジェロ (Jero)
I wrote a post about Jero before. Click here to read it.
Tokyo Five 
I am growing to love Enka music myself as a 71 year old Afro- American man.
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Oh, really? Where did you hear enka for the first time?
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As I wrote in the post above, Washington DC’s Cherry Blossom Festival was on March 28.
It was yesterday.
They showed it on the TV news this morning here in Tokyo. It looked like a Japanese 桜祭り (Cherry Blossom Festival)…except with much less Japanese people. 😉
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Wow! I thought I was the only person who knew about Jero in the US!
My campus is covered in cherry trees, too. One for every year the school has been open. But we don’t have hanami.
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I have never seen 桜の木 (Cherry Blossom trees) in America.
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I like Jero because he looks modest and talks very politely. He is more amiable than any other young hip-hop Japanese singer for me.
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Yeah, he seems like a nice guy.
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Cherry blossom time is the busiest time for tourists coming to DC. Packed trains and streets around the prime viewing areas (e.g. Jefferson Memorial).
I like enka (I think country-western is a closer analogy to the cultural space it occupies in Japan than blues). Will try to see Jero. It’s free, and right near where I work. It will depend on whether my wife has some other plans.
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>I like enka
Really? Do you listen to Enka?
>I think country-western is a closer analogy
I can see why you’d say that. But, personally, I think “Japanese Blues” describes Enka accurately.
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>Really? Do you listen to Enka?
Yup. I have CDs I got in the 80s and 90s when I lived in Japan or was traveling there regularly.
It’s hard to access from abroad because iTunes and other online music stores don’t sell much enka (there is some J-Pop on there). I’d have to go to Fort Lee or some other large Japanese store and buy CDs without listening to them.
So I don’t have any Jero CDs yet.
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Tom Arrison…
Have you ever sung an Enka song at カラオケ (Karaoke)?
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Yup. I used to have a reportoire. Niinuma Kenji, Horiuchi, etc.
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I don’t sing カラオケ (Karaoke)…I’m not a good singer at all.
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I don’t like enka, but I think Jero is really cool. I think more famous people like him in Japan will change how people perceive foreigners over here.
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Enka’s hard to appreciate if you’re not Japanese. (Jero is 1/4 Japanese).
There are alot more foreigners here now than when I first arrived…for good or bad, we are each giving Japanese people an impression of foreigners.
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