Blaine's latest...

... is a delightful WaPo Style story about a young African-American singer, Jero, who grew up in Pittsburgh and is now making it big in Japan by singing "enka," which Blaine describes as "syrupy ballads -- in perfect Japanese -- about lost love."

The story has some charming Blaine-ish writing. Like this description of enka's content: "Suicide is nearly always a viable option in its ballads of unrequited love, hopeless love, cheating love and relentless rain." Before Jero, he writes, enka "had the unhip odor of Elvis ballads in his years of white jumpsuits and belly fat."

As always, Blaine wraps the specifics of his subject matter into a social context that tells you something rich about the Japanese (or any culture he's writing about.) Don't forget to check out his photos, too!