A few of you may have heard of him before, but in case you're wondering who he is exactly, Jero is the first African-American enka singer in Japanese history. Influenced by his Japanese grandmother, he spent his whole life studying Japanese and learning the art of enka so that one day he could move there to pursue his dream of becoming a singer. Sure enough, after arriving in Japan and entering the NHK Nodo Jiman competition--one of the longest running programs on NHK television--he blew everyone away.

What's more, he has fans of all ages. Some video taped interviews included many elderly in Japan who felt that he's perhaps the best enka singer they've ever heard. That's pretty impressive given the xenophobic nature of many Japanese, especially the older generations. This week, he began his first tour in Japan, playing a rather large 21 song set for a crowd of about 2,000. The week before, he was in Kobe City, performing his newest single "Tsume Ato," for over 4,500. It went on sale last Wednesday.

From what I understand, the sets he's playing on his tour are a bit different than the classical enka concerts you'd normally see, so I'm really curious as to what he changed in his performances.  Maybe they'll do a TV special, or release a DVD or something. If so, I'm going to have to check it out, if for any reason, just to see why he's considered so special. Have any of you heard any enka before? If so, did you enjoy it?