Enka

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Enka ( Japanese 演 歌 ) is a genre of music that is almost exclusively produced in Japan and is popular.

Just as German-language popular hits are based on elements from traditional folk music , Japanese hits strictly adhere to the pentatonic scale , which is also the basis of traditional Japanese folk music . When performing live, female singers usually wear a traditional kimono . Enka are often performed by a single singer , but a number of enka titles are also duets.

Enka texts are often about loneliness, but the longing for places in one's own country that are perceived as exotic is a frequent motif. For example, Kushiro , the most remote and coldest city in Japan, appears in many enka as a motif for loneliness and exoticism. The Japanese proverb "enka wa sake to namida to onna to otoko" ( 演 歌 は 酒 と 涙 と 女 と 男 ) means something like "Enka is sake, tears, woman and man" ( there is a song of the same name by Eigo Kawashima ) .

Enka are the favorite pieces of music of the older Japanese and are preferably sung as karaoke in Sunakku (a kind of Japanese pub ) . J-rock and J-pop are more dominant among younger Japanese people .

Recently, however, there have been several genre transgressions in both directions. A contribution to this made z. B. the pop singer Kiyoshi Hikawa 2003 with his song Hakone Hachiri no Hanjirō ( 箱根 八里 の 半 次郎 ). Musically and melodically, this song is clearly a traditional hit, but has a funny and slang lyrics. Also Keisuke Kuwata and his band Southern All Stars make music that combine many elements of Enka and rock music.

history

Enka is a special music genre that has enjoyed great popularity in Japan, its colonies of Chosen and Taiwan, but also in Southeast Asia and China since the 1920s . The Trot was derived from this in Chosen . The enka sounds had their peak in the 1950s and 1960s. Enka have their origins in the Meiji period around 1880. When the first political parties were founded, their leaders were not allowed to speak openly. So they brought their political program into lyrical form and engaged singers who then spread it. The lyrical style was borrowed from the traditional waka poem.

Well-known singers

literature

  • Christine Reiko Yano: Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song . Harvard University Press 2002, ISBN 0-674-00845-6

Web links

Commons : Enka  - collection of images, videos and audio files