Interviews

1. Interest in Japan stemmed from his mother and grandmother’s stories

2. Learning Japanese traditions by observing his mother and grandmother

3. Embraces his Japanese heritage

4. Never sang Enka outside the family

5. Coming to Japan

6. Dreamed of becoming an Enka singer

7. His clothes are part of his identity

8. Hopes everyone pursues their dreams regardless of race or heritage

9. Trying to convey the meaning of the songs

10. Nikkei Sansei

11. Considers Pittsburg his home, but always wanted to live in Japan

12. Singing the way I sing (Japanese)

13. "Harebutai" (Japanese)

14. Getting on Kohaku (Japanese)

15. The first concert in the United States (Japanese)

(Jerome Charles White Jr.),Jero

(b. 1981) Enka Singer

Trying to convey the meaning of the songs

When I sing…I just feel like a basic—a human being—a lot of the music and a lot of the lyrics are very, very…human, and when I mean by that is they…they possess a lot of feeling and you know, whenever you hear these lyrics and whenever you hear someone sing them, they make you feel a certain way; they can make you feel happy, they can make you feel sad, they can make you remember your past, think about your future, you know, they can make you cry, they can make you smile, it’s just, you know, a lot of things, you know, human feelings that a lot of these songs possess, and whenever I’m on the stage as an artist and as a singer, it’s my job to make sure that those feelings are portrayed correctly and they are, you know, given to the audience in a very meaningful way, as much as possible. And I always, you know, take in all of the lyrics and think about what I’m saying and singing, and I always have an image in my head of those lyrics so that they can, you know…you know, get to the listener’s ears and, you know, make them feel something. And that’s a big thing.

enka hapa identity music racially mixed people

Date: March 30, 2010

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura

Contributed by: Interview by Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum. Courtesy of Japanese American Cultural & Community Center

Interviewee Bio

Jero (Jerome Charles White, Jr.) was born on September 4, 1981, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His African American grandfather met his Japanese grandmother as a U.S. serviceman during World War II. They married and had a daughter, Harumi, and eventually moved to his grandfather’s hometown of Pittsburgh. Jero’s parents divorced when he was young so he was raised with a strong sense of Japanese culture. He was introduced to enka by his grandmother and started to sing enka under her encouragment. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003, he moved to Japan and worked as an English teacher and as a computer engineer, but started to pursue singing professionally after promising his grandmother that one day he would perform at the Kohaku Uta Gassen, the New Year’s Eve musical special that she enjoyed.

Jero’s mix of traditional enka with a youthful, hip hop style has revitalized a singing style that has been slowly dying out by attracting people from all age groups. He won over many hearts after hearing about his promise to his grandmother and was a highlight of the night when he did appear on the Kohaku Uta Gassen in 2008. He won the Best New Artist award in the Japan Record Awards that year. He has gained popularity among Nikkei and performed for sold-out audiences in the U.S. in 2010.

(March 2010)