This This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Jamaica and Japan. In October, Japan’s ambassador to Jamaica, Yasuhiro Atsumi, recognized the impact of reggae in his country with two events in St Andrew.

They took place on October 19 and 20 at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and at her official residence.

Both were attended by singer Yami Bolo, who has performed in Japan many times.

Yami Bolo met up with Japanese singer Miyazawa “Miya” Kazufumi at the Edna Manley College show, where they performed love is dangeroushis song that sold more than a million copies in Japan in 1994.

It was their first meeting in 30 years.

The Yui Yui Sisters, a six-member group from Japan, also performed at the Edna Manley College event.

“Japan is a special place for me, because I know I can sell a million copies. It gives me confidence that if I can do it there, I can do it everywhere,” Yami Bolo told the
Jamaica Observer.

The artist, originally from Greenwich Farm in Kingston, said he first visited Japan in 1987 for Japan Pitfest, along with Augustus Pablo, White Mice and Junior Delgado. He returned several times to perform at JapanSplash, one of the most important reggae festivals of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Yami Bolo’s last performance in Japan was in 2010.

Also attending the event at Ambassador Atsumi’s residence were artist and show promoter Tony Rebel, another regular visitor to Japan, and government senator Thomas Tavares Finson. Yami Bolo gave them copies of his book, Yami Bolo: poems and songs The Cosmo garrison.

Following Bob Marley’s tour of the country in 1979, the Japanese reggae market opened up during the 1980s. It became a fertile region for artists such as Augustus Pablo, Sly and Robbie, Sugar Minott, Freddie McGregor and musicians such as Earl “Chinna” Smith.

Japanese music producers, sound system operators, and dancers also traveled to Jamaica to record artists and compete in sound clashes and dance contests.

-Howard Campbell