Enka
Enka (演歌) is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern enka, however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ryūkōka music, popular during the prewar years.[1]
For other uses, see Enka (disambiguation).Modern enka, as developed in the postwar era, is a form of sentimental ballad music. Some of the first modern enka singers were Hachiro Kasuga, Michiya Mihashi, and Hideo Murata.[2] The revival of enka in its modern form is said to date from 1969, when Keiko Fuji made her debut. The most famous male enka singers are Shinichi Mori and Kiyoshi Hikawa.
Etymology[edit]
The term enka was first used to refer to political texts set to music which were sung and distributed by opposition activists belonging to the Freedom and People's Rights Movement during the Meiji period (1868–1912) as a means of bypassing government curbs on speeches of political dissent – and in this sense the word is derived from "enzetsu no uta" (演説の歌), meaning "speech song."
Another theory holds that modern enka means "enjiru uta" (演じる歌), meaning "performance song."[3][4]
The genre called enka is also said to be an expedient classification for record labels as well as J-pop. For example, Harumi Miyako, who has been usually considered as an enka singer, said "I don't think that I sing 'enka'" and "In fact, there was no such term as 'enka' when I debuted."[5][fn 1]
Musical style[edit]
Modern enka's mainstream scale is called Yonanuki Tan-Onkai (ヨナ抜き短音階) or "Minor Scale without Four and Seven (fa and te)," and is a modified version of Yonanuki Chō-Onkai (ヨナ抜き長音階) or "Major Scale without Four and Seven (Fa and Si)," which came from an older Japanese scale, the "Ryo Scale" (呂音階, Ryo Onkai).[6] One of the earliest Japanese songs that was said to have partly used it is Rentarō Taki's "Kōjō no Tsuki," which was called shōka (唱歌, "school song") in the Meiji period.[7][8] The seventh- scale degree is not used in "Kōjō no Tsuki", a song of B minor.[8]
The music, based on the pentatonic scale, has some resemblance to blues.[9] Enka lyrics are usually written similarly around the themes of love and loss, loneliness, enduring hardships, and persevering in the face of difficulties, even suicide or death. Although enka is a genre of kayōkyoku, it is considered to be more expressive and emotional, though there is no clear consensus on the matter.[3][10]
Archetypal enka singers employ a style of melisma—where a single syllable of text is sung while moving between several different notes in succession—known as kobushi.[9][11] Kobushi occurs when the pitch of the singer's voice fluctuates irregularly within one scale degree: This compares with vibrato, which vibrates in a regular cycle.[12] The kobushi technique is not limited to enka, as can be heard in the Italian song "Santa Lucia."[12] In the late 1930s and early '40s, the music of composer Masao Koga began to resemble Buddhist shomyo-chanting possibly because his record label asked him to produce music.[13] Although Koga became a composer whose work is considered seminal to the creation of the genre, present-day enka is different from Koga's primary music because the singing styles of many postwar singers were different from the kobushi of Koga's musical note.[14] Modern enka singer Takeshi Kitayama himself admitted in 2006, "I was even confused because [Koga's] musical note was different from that of an old singer."[14][fn 2]
Enka suggests a traditional, idealized, or romanticized aspect of Japanese culture and attitudes. Enka singers, predominantly women, usually perform in a kimono or in evening dress. Male enka performers tend to wear formal dress, or in some performances, traditional Japanese attire. Nods to traditional Japanese music are common in enka. The melodies of enka are fundamentally Western harmonies, and electronic instruments are used, such as synthesizers and electric lead guitar with plenty of distortion, but its musical instruments also include traditional Japanese instruments such as the shakuhachi and the shamisen.[15]
International popularity[edit]
Enka has had a strong influence on music in Taiwan, which was once a Japanese colony.[52]
The first non-Japanese singer of enka was Sarbjit Singh Chadha from India. His enka album was released in 1975 and became a success in Japan, selling 150,000 copies. He went back to India a few years later, but returned to Japan in 2008.[53]
In 2002, Yolanda Tasico became the first Filipino enka singer, going to Japan with her singles "Shiawase ni Narō," "Nagai Aida," and many others.
In the United States, while enka remains popular among a section of the (typically older) Japanese-American population, enka has many fans among non-Japanese. There are some enka orchestras and performers active in the country, such as the San Jose Chidori Band, which occasionally performs at O-Bon festivals in the summer.
Further reading[edit]
Yano, Christine R. Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song. Harvard University Asia Center: 2003.