Shinichiro Kurokuma -- Konnyaku Yaro（こんにゃく野郎）

 

Let me be clear...I've known about konnyaku, or konjac as it's alternately spelled (that spelling reminds me of an old 1970s TV detective), since I was a baby. It didn't appear all that much in our daily menu but I always saw it on New Year's Day when my mother prepared it as part of the osechi goodies. It's rubbery and chewy, and I'm not going to run toward it in glee but at the same time, I wouldn't sniff at it either. It fits the middle tier of my foods that I will eat with no problems.

I was surprised though when I was watching a recent episode of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本のうた） and encountered a "new" enka singer Shinichiro Kurokuma（黒川真一朗）, although his career began in 1999. I'd never seen him before but he came up with a cute little enka ditty titled "Konnyaku Yaro" (Darn Konjac) which is his 18th and most recent single from July 2024. Written by Osamu Arishima*（有島司）and composed by Hideo Mizumori（水森英夫）, it's a light-hearted song (the video makes that abundantly clear) about the gray and rubbery foodstuff being all too self-aware of his reputation and letting any epithets thrown his way smoothly slide off his exterior while appreciating the like that he does get. I wish I had nearly that level of self-confidence.

Kurokuma was born Toshiie Shizuhata（賤機利家）in Shizuoka City in 1972. As a high school student, he won a local karaoke contest after which he went straight to work in a hotel. However, he won a prize at the 1st Annual Hiroshi Itsuki Song Contest and was soon scouted. He underwent lessons with composer Toshiaki Arai（新井利昌）before becoming an apprentice under the aforementioned Mizumori's wing. The singer took on the new name of Kurokuma in 2003 and all of his songs save one have been composed by Mizumori.

*The first name has a number of readings so I took the first listed reading of "Osamu" and placed it in. If anyone can confirm or correct it, I would appreciate it.