In a country like Japan where only about 1.3 percent of its population is made up of non-nationals and noted for “discriminating” against foreigners, every person of Black descent will undoubtedly struggle to survive.
But a Black guy who finds himself in Japan has defied all odds to become one of the top rising comedy stars in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.
30-year-old Ike Nwala is a Nigerian-American who appears on TV almost every day.
Just like all Japanese stars, Ike Nwala receives equal attention and treatment from fans and people he meets in his career as a comedian.
As a member of popular comedy troupes, he performs live shows, does commercials and appears on variety shows as well.
He recounts how his status as a Black makes him exceptional and how he eventually became a survivor among Japanese comedians.
According to him, when he first started, it was little difficult but was encouraged to do more when he realised people were paying extra attention to him.
He explains, “I wasn’t famous at first but there were times when I realised that people were paying more attention to me.”
“Probably the first time I did my imitation of the announcement at Tokyo Disney Sea on TV that really caught on. The next day, it got uploaded onto twitter, the video of it. It got retweeted 200,000 times. So after that when I get on the train, people would point at me and say, ‘Oh it’s the Tokyo Disney Sea guy!’ and I’m like, yes, pleased to meet you. I am the Tokyo Disney guy. Pretty weird introduction, right?” he narrates.
Even though life in Japan is a challenge especially to Blacks, Ike believes that Japanese are not racists as the world perceive them to be.
“… You sit down in a train and there’s open seat next to you but people don’t sit down. I don’t think Japanese people are racists. I think they just don’t know,” he recounts.
