In this blog, I will present lyrics to popular enka songs and kayōkoku in Japanese, their romanizations, and their English translations. My translations tend to be literal, and if you find them to be too dry, I apologize in advance.
I will also include links to Amazon (US) webpages for readers who wish to purchase the CDs containing recordings to these songs. I would like to thank everyone who does purchase his or her favorite CDs through these links - each purchase made through these links allows me to spend a bit more time on these blogs.
I hope that you find the information presented here useful, and thank you very much for reading my blog!
So what are enka and kayōkyoku? According to the Wikipedia pages on these subjects(English wiki page on enka, Japanese wiki page on enka), not everyone agrees on their definitions, and what they mean seems to have changed over the years.
According to the Japanese wiki page on enka, themes used in modern enka songs often include the sea, sake, tears, women, rain, northern Japan, snow, and parting. Enka lyricists often include these themes in songs that describe the difficult relationships between men and women, particularly women working in the night life district (水商売 mizushōbai) such as cabarets and taverns(居酒屋 izakaya) who fell in love with a man but whose relationships did not work out for various reasons (the man died, the man was married, the man left for another woman, the man lied and wasn't interested in marriage, etc.), bemoaning and cursing their fates.
According to the Japanese wiki page on enka, themes used in modern enka songs often include the sea, sake, tears, women, rain, northern Japan, snow, and parting. Enka lyricists often include these themes in songs that describe the difficult relationships between men and women, particularly women working in the night life district (水商売 mizushōbai) such as cabarets and taverns(居酒屋 izakaya) who fell in love with a man but whose relationships did not work out for various reasons (the man died, the man was married, the man left for another woman, the man lied and wasn't interested in marriage, etc.), bemoaning and cursing their fates.
A little historical background: these modern enka became popular in Japan some time after World War 2. In those days, women, especially those working in the night life district, didn't have too many options to make a living. Japan's infrastructure was in ruins, surviving and possibly broken men returned from war also looking for work, people struggled to figure out what it means to live in a democratic country, and it would still be years before it became commonplace for women to be in the workforce. (Even before the war, it was difficult for a woman to find work. An educated woman might become a teacher or tutor a rich family's children. However, there was a stigma against working women: people believed that only a woman from a poor family would work. Arranged marriages were also the norm at this time. Marrying for love was frowned and looked down upon. Couples who wanted to get together in spite of their elder family members' wishes would be cut off from the family, run away, and/or commit lovers' suicides. This was the time when boys and girls rode on separate cars on trains to get to school. Just staring at someone of an opposite sex was a big no-no, and people would think that he or she was in love for doing this.)
So the reader might be able to imagine, in this kind of an environment, women working in the night life district would be desperate. Without making any judgements, at least some of these women and their male customers got into a relationship, which, for whatever reason, did not work out. The women would be left with very powerful feelings of regret, resentment, and perhaps hatred, which are reflected in these enka songs.
In more recent years, as Japan changed, the scope of enka also changed and expanded to include other themes such as happily married couples, mothers, other family members, life and views on life, journey (usually edo era people on the run), bonds (usually but not necessarily between yakuza members), rōkyoku, theater/dramatic themes, and hometown,though some people still consider these songs to be kayōkyoku or some other classification of songs.
Kayōkyoku are songs which became popular after these enka songs had been in style. Western music from the era influenced these songs, although most kayōkyoku singers sang using Japanese lyrics. Some people include enka songs in the kayōkyoku genre, although other people consider them to be separate. Kayōkyoku songs are considered to be predecessors to the current popular genre of music from Japan, the JPOP.
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