Enka Music Guide: A Brief History of Enka Music

The modern enka genre is a type of Japanese popular music that uses pentatonic scales and kobushi, a melismatic vocal technique. Enka songs tend toward sentimental ballads that recall ryūkōka music, a traditional Japanese music form popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Modern enka music stems from the post-World War II era as Japan sought to reclaim a sense of positive national identity.

• Pre-war precursors: Enka's roots extend back toward traditional Japanese music. Japan's Meiji period (1868 to 1912) featured political songs known as enka. The Taishō period of 1912 through 1926 saw the rise of violin enka, so named due to the incorporation of the violin. Singer Haruo Oka's 1939 hit, "Kokkyō no Haru" ("Spring at the Border"), was arguably the last major enka song to gain popularity before the second world war.
• The first modern enka singers: Following the end of World War II, the enka genre transformed. In 1949, Hibari Misora debuted with "Kappa boogie-woogie." Her career started in jazz, but over the ensuing decades, she became best known as an enka singer. In 1955, singer Hachiro Kasuga released "Wakare no Ippon-sugi" ("Farewell One Cedar"); today, it is often credited as the first modern enka song, which makes Kasuga the first modern enka singer.
• "Wakare no Ippon-sugi" takes on a life of its own: "Wakare no Ippon-sugi" continued on after Kasuga's 1955 recording. The tune, which was penned by Toru Funamura and partially inspired by Argentine tango, would go on to be recorded by Japanese stars such as Hibari Misora, Hiroshi Itsuki, Saburō Kitajima, Michiya Mihashi, Keiko Fuji, Hideo Murata, and Takashi Hosokawa.
• An era of popularity: Modern enka music began a run of national popularity in the 1960s as enka singers Keiko Fuji and Kiyoshi Hikawa scored notable hits. Singers known for other genres—like Hibari Misora, Michiya Mihashi, and Haruo Minami—turned to enka to ride its wave of popularity. Many of these artists had been known for another post-war style called rōkyoku, which had gradually fallen out of favor. Kyu Sakamoto, a Japanese rockabilly singer, rebranded as a Japanese enka singer on the 1961 New Year's Eve television special Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
• A music genre creates new stars: The enka hits continued to shake up Tokyo and Japan at large in the late 1960s and 1970s. New stars included Hibari Misora, Saburō Kitajima, Sachiko Kobayashi, Harumi Miyako, Keiko Fuji, and Shinichi Mori. Popular songs of the era included "Kita no Yado kara" and "Onna no Michi." Meanwhile, "Kōkotsu no Blues" ("Ecstasy Blues") and "Minatomachi Blues" ("Port Town Blues") helped define the enka-blues fusion genre.
• Decline in the 1990s: The massive success enka enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s slowly declined in ensuing decades. While some artists like Takashi Hosokawa, Sanae Jōnouchi, Fuyumi Sakamoto Hibari Misora, and Ayako Fuji found success, many other artists lost relevance. Hits of the era include Yasushi Akimoto's "Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni" and Keiko Fuji's "Keiko no Yume wa Yoru Hiraku."
• Fusion genres: Enko still enjoys niche popularity in Japan. Its melismatic vibrato vocal technique and its pentatonic scales merge nicely with other genres, from the traditional kayōkyoku to hip-hop and J-pop. While the days of kimono-clad singers performing sentimental ballads on stage may be waning, the tradition lives on in karaoke bars and in fusion recordings that incorporate other genres.

Modern enka music produced many Japanese stars in the second half of the twentieth century.

1. 1. Hibari Misora (1937–1989): Celebrated as the "Queen of Enka," Misora is a star of Japan's Shōwa period. She won top honors at the 1965 Japan Record Award in Tokyo for her recording of "Yawara" by Masao Koga.
2. 2. Shinichi Mori (1947–present): In 1969, Mori's "Minatomachi Blues" topped Japan's Oricon singles chart for five consecutive weeks. He pioneered the enka-blues fusion genre.
3. 3. Keiko Fuji (1951–2013): Fuji scored her first major hit at the age of eighteen with 1969's "Onna no Tameiki" ("Woman's Sigh"). She followed that up with the 1970 album Shinjuku no Onna/'Enka no Hoshi' Fuji Keiko no Subete (Woman in Shinjuku/'Star of Enka' All of Keiko Fuji), which topped the Oricon album charts for a record twenty consecutive weeks. That same year, her song "Keiko no Yume wa Yoru Hiraku" won the top prize at the Japan Music Awards.
4. 4. Shiro Miya (1943–2012): Shiro Miya and the band Pinkara Trio's "Onna no Michi" is the top-selling enka single in the history of the Oricon charts. The lyrics are melancholy and sentimental, as they describe a woman betrayed by the one man she truly loved.
5. 5. Sayuri Ishikawa (1958–present): Known for songs like "Amagi-goe" and "Tsugaru Kaikyo-Fuyugeshiki," Ishikawa is one of Japan's leading contemporary enka singers. Japanese baseball star Ichiro Suzuki chose "Amagi-goe" as his walk-up music during his Seattle Mariners career.

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