WIT Life #269: Japan Day @ Central Park
Events, Music, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life, Writers 
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
Japan Day @ Central Park celebrated its 8th year this past Sunday, and 50,000 attendees came out on this warm, beautiful day. As it coincided with Mother’s Day, many families enjoyed the events together. In addition to the free food and culture booths, an assortment of performances were featured on the main stage. There was some stellar taiko drumming and an interesting Matrix-like duo, but many in the crowd were waiting excitedly for the crooner Jero, who I wrote about and got to interview when he came to Japan Society two years ago.
This Pittsburgh native began his career singing enka (Japanese traditional ballads) as a youngster with his Japanese grandmother, and his official career started in Japan six years ago. Jero treated the audience to his debut single 海雪 (Umiyuki or Ocean Snow) as well as his newest release, his 9th single entitled 泣き虫クラブ (Nakimushi Kurabu or Crybaby Club). Like most enka, their lyrics spoke of lost love and commiserating with alcohol and they were both crowd-pleasers. Instead of his usual hip-hop style, Jero looked quite dapper in a top hat and navy blue suit.
In other rec
ent Japanese musical news, earlier in the week I had the chance to check out Ryukyu Chimdon Band play at Tokyo Tapas Cafe. They did a soulful rendition of True Colors, as well as a version of New York State of Mind that incorporated some Okinawan into it. Of course the sanshin (an Okinawan musical instrument and precursor of the Japanese shamisen) was a big part of many of the numbers, and the band encouraged audience participation. A fun night was had by all!
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