13.7.06

Famous Westerners in Japan

Just something thats entered my mind of late & I was hoping that somebody randomly visiting my site might be able to help me lengthen my list.

...Let me start from the beginning..!

Basically there are a few famous Westerners in Japan, who are mainly only famous in Japan. Mainly they are Westerners who have been born there, or are half Japanese. Below is my **VERY SHORT** list. I know some other people too, but I cant put names to faces. :(

I know there must be lots of famous Koreans in Japan, I can name many famous Korean singers who sing in Japan, but I'm more interested in seeing how many famous Westerners there are - surely my list can be extended?

My list:
Crystal Kay
Eiji Wentz
Becky

Patrick Harlan ("Pakkun")
Bobby Orogon
Panzetta Girolamo


Crystal Kay is of African-American and Korean descent, and was born and bred in Japan. She is fluent in both English and Japanese. She doesnt speak Korean, however. She is a popular singer in Japan, and mainly always sings in Japanese. On her latest album, "Call me Miss.." , however, her song "KIRAKUNI" is sung entirely in English, except for the chorus words 'Kirakuni'. I find this great - as usually Japanese songs are entirely sung in Japanese with a few random English words in the chorus. So this song, is the opposite^^. A first? My favourite song of hers and most probably her song successful song, is 'KOI NI OCHITARA.' An R'n'B / Jpop singer who adds some spice to the Japanese music scene.


Eiji Wentz is of German-American and Japanese descent. He, like Crystal Kay was born and bred in Japan. Unlike Crystal Kay, he is famous for his lack of English ability. He is apparantley 'the only member of his family who cannot speak English.' A child model, he is now more famous for being one half of the Jpop group 'WaT'. (With Teppei Koike). He also co-presents the popular Japanese reality TV show 'Ainori'.




Becky, as she is known in Japan, is a British female born to British parents in Japan. At the age of 20 (coming-of-age in Japan), she gave up her dual British-Japanese passport to become a Japanese citizen. I dont know much about Becky, unfortunatley, but I know that she is popular in Japan because of her bright and cheery personality and for her 'cuteness'. She recently released her own range of clothing. She has released songs and appeared on many Japanese variety TV shows.




Patrick Harlan was born in Colorado, USA. He moved to Japan in an attempt to try and pay off his student loans in 1993 after finishing University. At first, he taught English in Fukuoka and dabbled in acting and modeling, but his real talent shined through when he met Yoshida Makoto, a comedian. Teaming up, they formed a Manzai duo called 'Pack'n Mack'n. He hasnt looked back since. He now also co-hosts the popular NHK TV programme 'Eigo de shabera night' (which I know him from) and is a DJ on J-Wave radio.



Bobby Orogon was born in Nigeria and moved to Japan to work as an assistant in a trading company that his father owned. Although a martial artist, he is more famous in Japan as a 'comedian'. Japanese people find foreigners who have difficulty in speaking Japanese funny, and Bobby Orogon plays on this, regularly getting words such as genius (天才) and pervert (変態) confused. He is famous for pouting his lips and bulging his eyes out in a goliiwog style. In Western countries, I think his style of humor would be self-degrading and/or offensive, but works well in Japan. Recently he has been accused of assulting the president of R&A Promotions, the entertainment company he belongs to. This is something he strongly denies, but through the investigation, some of the other lies he has told has been found out. I hope he can make it through this rough-patch, he was a joy to watch in Japan.



Panzetta Girolamo was born in Napoli, Italy. I unfortunatley dont know much about him, and nor can I find anything of use on the internet. All I know is that he co-hosts a Italian language learning programme in Japan. I think he has some connections with Italian cooking too.

3 件のコメント:

匿名 さんのコメント...

theres a few non-japanese in sumo wrestling - the one that instantly comes to mind is the mongolian - ASASHORYU. Or the famous Hawaiian born Musashimaru.

匿名 さんのコメント...

http://www.pliink.com/mt/marxy/archives/000665.html

this is a quite recent article about the gaijin talent in Japan.

karekora さんのコメント...

YAY :) thanks for that site, it was just what I was looking for :)

I'll add on all the new names soon