Enka Music

Hmmm i'v never heard Enka and i know nothing about it could someone point me in a good direction to listern to some please ?

I don't like Enka because of the vibrato (in Japanese, "kobushi"). It's mostly for middle aged or older people here, but we sometimes sing one at karaoke for a good laugh.

Kill Bill

Enka is like American country and western songs in both tempo and themes. You need to acquire a taste for it--It's hard to like at first hearing but you might get used to it. I like to hear it occasionally (like country and western)...

for example, here's the song from the ending credits of Kill Bill, vol 1 (the vid clip is Lady Snowblood, which Kill Bill is loosely based on).

I agree with Ocean. The way Enka is perceived in Japan is somewhat similar to that of C&W in USA. I used to hate Enka when I was younger but now that I am older, I GET it.

Like C&W music, where you have your Shania Twains, Gretchen Wilsons and Kenny Chestneys stuffed together in the same bin with your Johnny Cashes, Emmylou Harrises and even Bill Monroes, each Enka singer has a different degree of "Enka-ness" in them.

If you are a newcomer to the wonderful world of Enka, I suggest you start with the traditional, old skool singers from the olden days. That was before they started using synthesizers, rock guitars and western dance rhythms to make it more modern.

I should also add that one can detect a touch of Enka in a lot of today's J-Pop/J-Rock if they listen carefully. The lines between those genres are surprisingly thin and sometimes even intertwined.

To me, it's all 窶ｰﾃ娯?背窶ｹﾃ (Kayoukyoku / Popular music). ﾂ

I love enka. Big fan.

Kitajima Saburo and Yoshi Ikuzo are my main faves, but I also adore Sakamoto Fuyumi. Mmm.


Tony

The New Enka

With apologies to Ashikaga, here's the new enka.
He's hit in Japan and has a really great voice.
[youtube]7gPqvhCEZ40&feature=related[/youtube]

i thought enka was sad songs about past, like "meinichi" by meiko kaji in her 'zenkyoku shou' album. it is also very good.

The osaka no onna song from 窶懌?｡窶價窶堙絶?堙??堙 makes me think at the time when I participated in a Japanese speaking contest. One girl tried to sing it, but it was not nearly as good as the original Even though I do encourage people to sing and listen to more Enka!