Ryukoka
Encyclopedia
1914–1927: Origin
In 1914, Sumako MatsuiSumako Matsui
was a Japanese actress and singer. Born as Masako Kobayashi in Matsushiro, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture as the fifth daughter and last of nine children of Tohta Kobayashi, she was adopted by the Hasegawa family in Ueda at the age of six and in 1900 graduated Ueda school...
's song "Katyusha's song
Katyusha's song
The is a Japanese song, which was highly popular in early 20th century Japan. It was composed in the major pentatonic scale by Shinpei Nakayama. It was sung by Matsui Sumako in a dramatization of Tolstoy's Resurrection, put on in 1914 in Tokyo. The song was a huge hit, selling a large number of...
", composed by Shinpei Nakayama
Shinpei Nakayama
was a Japanese songwriter, famous for his many children's songs and popular songs that have become deeply embedded in Japanese popular culture....
, was used as a theme of the rendition Resurrection
Resurrection (novel)
Resurrection , first published in 1899, was the last novel written by Leo Tolstoy. The book is the last of his major long fiction works published in his lifetime . Tolstoy intended the novel as an exposition of injustice of man-made laws and the hypocrisy of institutionalized church...
in Japan. The record of the song sold 20,000 copies. One theory holds that this was the first ryūkōka song, which was made by Hogetsu Shimamura's order: "the tune between Japanese popular folk music and Western music".Original text: "日本の俗謡と西洋歌曲の中間のような旋律" However, street performers called had been popular until record labels such as the Victor Company of Japan
JVC
, usually referred to as JVC, is a Japanese international consumer and professional electronics corporation based in Yokohama, Japan which was founded in 1927...
began to produce songs in the early Shōwa period
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
.
Although Matsui committed suicide after Shimamura's death, Nakayama continued to develop his music. During his career, he composed about 3,000 songs such as the 1921 song "Teru teru bozu
Teru teru bozu
Teru teru bōzu is a little traditional hand-made doll made of white paper or cloth that Japanese farmers began hanging outside of their window by a string. In shape and construction they are essentially identical to ghost dolls, such as those made at Halloween. This amulet is supposed to have...
". Nakayama transferred Japanese traditional music to staff
Staff (music)
In standard Western musical notation, the staff, or stave, is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch—or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments. Appropriate music symbols, depending upon the intended effect,...
-style by main force. His 1921 song was later covered by various singers, but was at first best known for being covered by violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
enka-shi featuring Orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
. The pentatonic scale
Pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...
used in this song was "Minor scale
Minor scale
A minor scale in Western music theory includes any scale that contains, in its tonic triad, at least three essential scale degrees: 1) the tonic , 2) a minor-third, or an interval of a minor third above the tonic, and 3) a perfect-fifth, or an interval of a perfect fifth above the tonic, altogether...
without forth and seventh degree
Degree (music)
In music theory, a scale degree or scale step is the name of a particular note of a scale in relation to the tonic...
". However, the music based on the scale had difficult in presenting chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
and harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
because traditional Japanese music
Traditional Japanese music
Traditional Japanese music is the term used to describe historical Japanese folk music, or traditional music.-Rhythm:One of the characteristics of traditional Japanese music is a sparse rhythm. It also doesn't have regular chords. In Japanese music, one cannot beat time with one's hands because...
didn't adopt equal temperament
Equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning, in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratio. As pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency, this means that the perceived "distance" from every note to its nearest neighbor is the same for...
.
Nakayama's songs were based on Japanese folk music called min'yō
Min'yo
is a genre of traditional Japanese music. The term is a translation of the German word "Volkslied" and has only been in use during the twentieth century...
, but also adopted Western musical style. Therefore, his music was called .
1928–1930: Beginning of popularity
In the early Showa period, the microphoneMicrophone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
was introduced into the popular music of Japan. Teiichi Futamura released his cover version of in 1928. The song was originally composed by Fred Fisher
Fred Fisher
Fred Fisher was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Fisher founded Fred Fisher Music Publishing Company in 1907. He was born as Albert von Breitenbach in Cologne...
. Chiyako Sato
Chiyako Sato
was a Japanese female popular music singer. She was born as Chiyo Sato in Tendō, Yamagata Prefecture.In 1925, Sato made her debut with the song "Aoi Susuki". She met Shinpei Nakayama, who composed her 1928 song "Habu no Minato". It sold 100,000 copies. Her song was used as a tie-in song for the...
's 1928 song , composed by Nakayama, sold 100,000 copies. The song was also sung by singer Yoshie Fujiwara
Yoshie Fujiwara
was a Japanese tenor singer. He took part in 5th and 6th Kōhaku Uta Gassen.He was born in Osaka. His mother Kinu Sakata was geisha, who worked in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. His father Neil B. Reid was Scottish, however, he was not raised by his father. Tokuzaburō Fujiwara adopted him,...
. Chiyako Sato's 1929 song "Tokyo March" sold more than 300,000 copies.
1931–1937: Rising popularity
Some of the country's first major stars were singer Ichiro FujiyamaIchiro Fujiyama
, born as , was a popular Japanese singer and composer, known for his contribution to Japanese popular music called ryūkōka by his Western classical music skills. He was born in Chūō, Tokyo, and graduated from the Tokyo Music School. Although he was regarded as a tenor singer in Japanese popular...
and composer Masao Koga
Masao Koga
was a Japanese composer and guitarist known for creating melodies, and a pioneer of Japanese popular music. He was regarded as a notable figure for establishing the genre enka, though Koga considered that he was a ryūkōka composer...
. Koga attempted to initiate fusion of Western jazz and Japanese dodoitsu
Dodoitsu
Dodoitsu is a form of Japanese poetry developed towards the end of the Edo Period. Often concerning love or work, and usually comical, Dodoitsu poems consist of four lines with the syllabic structure 7-7-7-5 and no rhyme or metre....
. Fujiyama's 1931 song , composed by Koga, became a major hit in Japan. This song created a fusion of Fujiyama's crooning
Crooner
Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...
and Koga's guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
play. Using the vocal technic Mezza Voce with a microphone, Fujiyama sang the song by the deep voice of not Opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
's G minor
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
but D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
. Fujiyama's song sold 600,000 copies. However, Fujiyama was an elite student, who specialized Western classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
in the Tokyo Music School. Ryūkōka songs often dealt with the "Ero Guro Nansensu" things. Since his school regarded ryūkōka as bad form at that time, Fujiyama was once suspended from the school, though Fujiyama was not dismissed from the school because Klaus Pringsheim, Sr.
Klaus Pringsheim, Sr.
Klaus Pringsheim Sr. was a German-born composer, conductor, music-educator, and the twin brother of Katharina "Katia" Pringsheim, who married Thomas Mann in 1905. Pringsheim was the son of mathematician and artist Alfred Pringsheim and his wife Hedwig Dohm Pringsheim, who was an actress in Berlin...
, a professor of the school, opposed the proposal of Fujiyama's expulsion.
This period also saw the popularity of geisha
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
singers such as Ichimaru
Ichimaru
born in Japan, was a popular Japanese recording artist and geisha. Her rivalry with another popular geisha singer Katsutaro Kouta created the "Ichi-Katsu Era" in Japanese popular music history.- Early life :...
and Katsutaro Kouta
Katsutaro Kouta
was a Japanese female geisha and ryūkōka singer. The genre like her songs was called "New-Minyo". The era when she had a high popularity with another popular geisha singer Ichimaru was called the "Katsu-Ichi Era".- Career :...
. Katsutaro became famous when Fujiyama was turned out of ryūkōka. Her song sold 600,000 copies. Katsutaro and Issei Mishima recorded duet song "Tokyo Ondo". The song was composed by Shinpei Nakayama and was released in 1933. The single "Tokyo Ondo" sold 1,200,000 copies.
When Fujiyama sang Western classic lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
songs, those songs were called "kayōkyoku
Kayokyoku
is a Japanese pop music genre, which became a base of modern J-pop. The Japan Times describes kayōkyoku as "standard Japanese pop" or "Showa era pop".Kayōkyoku is Western-style-inspired music of Japan. Music in this genre is extremely varied as a result...
", but the term "kayōkyoku" went on to be used as another name of ryūkōka in NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
. At first, Koga was a good co-worker for Fujiyama but they moved apart from each other because Koga sought "Japanese" music. On the other hand, Yoshie Fujiwara drew a clear line between him and ryūkōka and established the Fujiwara Opera
Fujiwara Opera
The is an opera company located in Tokyo, Japan and is notably that nation's first and oldest professional opera company. It was founded in 1934 by operatic tenor Yoshie Fujiwara...
in 1934, launching the establishment of Japanese Opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. Baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
singer Taro Shoji
Taro Shoji
was a Japanese popular music singer.Shoji was born in Akita, Akita Prefecture. He graduated from the Waseda University. He at first entered the South Manchuria Railway. He made his debut as a recording singer in 1933. He attempted to become a Western classical singer, but finally became a popular...
's 1934 song also became popular, though he did not know Kunisada Chūji
Kunisada Chuji
was a Japanese person in the Edo period.Kunisada Chūji is depicted on 1999 Japanese stamp.- See also :* Kunisada Chūji * Kunisada Chūji * Kunisada Chūji - References :...
, the theme of the song.
Soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
singer Noriko Awaya
Noriko Awaya
was a Japanese female Soprano chanson and popular music singer. She has been dubbed the "Queen of Blues" in Japan.- Life and career :...
also sang ryūkōka, but the Toyo Music School
Tokyo College of Music
was founded as in Kanda, Tokyo in 1907. It is the oldest private music school in Japan.- History :The founder , Yonejirō Suzuki, introduced European classical music into the Empire of Japan....
once annulled her graduation. However, her song became a hit in 1937. The song was composed by jazz composer Ryoichi Hattori
Ryoichi Hattori
was a Japanese pop and jazz composer. Katsuhisa Hattori is his son. He had a great influence on Japanese pop and was awarded the People's Honor Award. Japanese jazz was downtrodden during World War II, but he created a jazz boom in Japan after the war. He composed many songs for various artists...
. She was called "Queen of Blues", though term "blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
" was just a song title.
1937–1945: Influences of war
In 1936, NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
started radio program to compete with ryūkōka, which was under the influence of "Ero Guro Nansensu", but it soon began to air war song
War song
A war song is a musical composition that relates to war, or a society's attitudes towards war. They may be pro-war, anti-war, or simply a description of everyday life during war times....
s around July 1937. The program was renamed to in 1941 and then in 1942. The songs during the war were called . During the war, many musicians were forced to write war songs. Yuji Koseki
Yuji Koseki
was a Japanese ryūkōka, gunka, march, fight song and film score composer. His real name was also Yuji Koseki, but its kanji was 古關 勇治.Koseki entered Nippon Columbia in 1930. He composed Hanshin Tigers' song "Rokko Oroshi" in 1936. His famous military song titled was released in 1937. Famous songs...
composed many war songs and was later criticised as a war collaborator, though he seemed to be touched with remorse. Koseki composed released in 1937. Although the song was a B-side song, it sold 600,000 copies. The 1937 song sold 1,000,000 copies. However, Japanese jazz musicians such as Ryoichi Hattori
Ryoichi Hattori
was a Japanese pop and jazz composer. Katsuhisa Hattori is his son. He had a great influence on Japanese pop and was awarded the People's Honor Award. Japanese jazz was downtrodden during World War II, but he created a jazz boom in Japan after the war. He composed many songs for various artists...
seemed to be vigorless to compose war songs. His son Katsuhisa Hattori claimed that he was not an antinationalist and he technically were hardly not able to compose war songs even if they wanted to make those because Japanese war songs were musically enka
Enka
is a popular Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern enka, however, is a relatively recent musical form which arose in the context of such postwar expressions of modern Japanese nonmaterial nationalism as nihonjinron, while adopting a more...
.
Haruo Oka
born as Tatsuo Sasaki was a Japanese popular music singer.He studied music as enka-shi or a street musician. At that time, he was encouraged by Taro Shoji in Ginza. He signed with King Records in 1938. He debuted with song "Kokkyō no Haru" in 1939. He married with Kiyoko Okuda in 1940...
's debut song was released in 1939. Yoshio Tabata
Yoshio Tabata
is a Japanese ryūkōka and enka singer, songwriter and electric guitarist. He is one of this country's superstars. His debut song was released in 1939. Although his music was amateurish, he became very popular...
also mede his debut with song in 1939. Rōkyoku
Rokyoku
Rōkyoku is a genre of traditional Japanese narrative singing. Generally accompanied by a shamisen, rōkyoku became very popular in Japan during the first half of the 20th century.-Notable performers:...
(naniwa-bushi) was used for enhancing the national prestige.
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, , sung by Noboru Kirishima and Akiko Futaba
Akiko Futaba
was a Japanese popular music singer. As of the end of the World War II, she was one of the most popular female singers in Japan, competing with Hamako Watanabe and Noriko Awaya. In addition, she had taken part in the Kōhaku Uta Gassen 10 times.She was born in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture and...
, became popular as a lyrical song. When the war was nearing an end, the theme included frightful spectacles such as the Battle of Attu
Battle of Attu
The Battle of Attu, which took place from 11-30 May 1943, was fought entirely between forces of the United States and the Empire of Japan on Attu Island off the coast of Alaska. The action, which was part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign during the Pacific War, was the only land battle of World War...
, Guadalcanal Campaign
Guadalcanal campaign
The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II...
and Marshall Islands Campaign
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The campaign was preceded by a raid on Makin Island by U.S...
. Oka went to Ambon Island
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
, but fell ill and soon returned to Japan. Bin Uehara
Bin Uehara
was a Japanese popular music singer and soldier. He was known for using naniwa-bushi's kobushi vocalism in Japanese popular music. He was killed in action during the eastern New Guinea campaign during the Pacific War.-Life:...
, who used kobushi of naniwa-bushi for singing, was killed in the New Guinea campaign
New Guinea campaign
The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...
and Fujiyama was taken prisoner in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Isao Hayashi
was a Japanese popular music and military music singer and composer. He took part in the Japan's famous year-end show Kōhaku Uta Gassen 11 times. One of well-known songs composed by him is the military song , which propaganda vehicles of uyoku dantai have aired in Japan.Hayashi was born in...
, went on to become a theme of Japanese right-wing groups called uyoku dantai
Uyoku dantai
Uyoku dantai are Japanese nationalist right-wing groups.In 1996, the National Police Agency estimated that there are over 1000 right wing groups in Japan with about 100,000 members in total.-Tennō period:...
. Li Xianglan's "Suzhou Nocturne", composed by Hattori, has remained controversial in China, though it was a non-propaganda song. After the war, Taro Shoji
Taro Shoji
was a Japanese popular music singer.Shoji was born in Akita, Akita Prefecture. He graduated from the Waseda University. He at first entered the South Manchuria Railway. He made his debut as a recording singer in 1933. He attempted to become a Western classical singer, but finally became a popular...
, who heard the Gyokuon-hōsō
Gyokuon-hoso
The , lit. "Jewel Voice Broadcast", was the radio broadcast in which Japanese emperor Hirohito read out the , announcing to the Japanese people that the Japanese Government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military at the end of World War II...
in Nagano Prefecture
Nagano Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.- History :Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano...
, was once banned from singing many of his songs because those were regarded as nationalistic. Rōkyoku faded into the wallpaper with the spread of television in the postwar period. In 1946, NHK revived their music program as "Radio Kayō" and it was later reformed as "Minna no Uta
Minna no Uta
, literally Everyone's Songs, is a five minute NHK TV and radio program broadcasting several times daily since 1961. The program is generally used as filler at the end of regular television programs...
", but NHK was disinclined to mention its former history.
1945–1954: Postwar popularity
Michiko Namiki's song , airing in 1945 movie "Soyokaze", became popular. Haruo Oka also released hit songs such as his 1946 song and his 1948 song . Ichiro Fujiyama, who was falsely reported to have been killed in battle, returned to Japan in 1946.
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
in 1944, contributed to advancing Japanese poppusu music after the war. Shizuko Kasagi
Shizuko Kasagi
was a popular Japanese jazz singer and actress.Before World War II, Shizuko was one of the stars of the Japan Girls Opera Company. During the ongoing Occupation of Japan, she became a mega star singing songs influenced by American jazz and boogie woogie...
's 1947 song "Tokyo Boogie-Woogie", composed by Hattori, became popular. Hattori also composed Ichimaru
Ichimaru
born in Japan, was a popular Japanese recording artist and geisha. Her rivalry with another popular geisha singer Katsutaro Kouta created the "Ichi-Katsu Era" in Japanese popular music history.- Early life :...
's 1949 song "Shamisen Boogie-Woogie". Around that time, Hibari Misora
Hibari Misora
was an award-winning Japanese enka singer and actress. and was the first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honour Award, which was awarded posthumously for her notable contributions to the music industry. Misora recorded 1,200 songs, and sold 68 million records. After she died, consumer demand...
became known as an impersonator
Impersonator
An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for someone to be an impersonator, some common ones being as follows:...
of Kasagi. She made her debut with song "Kappa Boogie-Woogie" in 1949. Hattori's composed song , which was sung by Fujiyama, became a major hit in the early post-war years in Japan.
Yuji Koseki composed and . "Nagasaki no Kane", based on Takashi Nagai
Takashi Nagai
was a physician specializing in radiology, a convert to Roman Catholicism, and a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. His subsequent life of prayer and service earned him the affectionate title "saint of Urakami".-Life:...
's book The Bells of Nagasaki
The Bells of Nagasaki
is a 1949 book by Takashi Nagai. It vividly describes his experiences as a survivor of the Atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It was translated into English by William Johnston. The title refers to the bells of Urakami Cathedral, of which Nagai writes:...
, was sung by Fujiyama in 1949. Fujiyama became the final singer of all singers at the 1st Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Kohaku Uta Gassen
, more commonly known as simply Kōhaku, is an annual music show on New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on both television and radio, nationally and internationally by NHK's networks and some overseas broadcasters which bought the program...
with "Nagasaki no Kane" in 1951. Chiemi Eri
Chiemi Eri
, was a Japanese popular singer and actress.Eri was born as Chiemi Kubo on January 11, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. She started her singing career at the age of 14 with her version of "Tennessee Waltz." She sang American songs such as "Jambalaya" & "Come on-a My House". Eri started her career as an...
debuted in 1952 and Izumi Yukimura
Izumi Yukimura
is a Japanese popular singer and actress.Yukimura made her debut with the song in 1953. Her style of singing varied from jazz to rock and roll. She became one of the three most popular female singers in the early postwar Japan, along with Chiemi Eri and Hibari Misora.On her 1974 album Super...
debuted in 1953. Fujiyama moved to NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
in 1954 and returned to his original style―classical music. He went on to become a conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
for "Hotaru no Hikari" at the Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Kohaku Uta Gassen
, more commonly known as simply Kōhaku, is an annual music show on New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on both television and radio, nationally and internationally by NHK's networks and some overseas broadcasters which bought the program...
.
1955–1963: Transformation of music
New singers such as Hibari Misora
Hibari Misora
was an award-winning Japanese enka singer and actress. and was the first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honour Award, which was awarded posthumously for her notable contributions to the music industry. Misora recorded 1,200 songs, and sold 68 million records. After she died, consumer demand...
, Hachiro Kasuga
Hachiro Kasuga
, born as Minoru Watabe, was a Japanese enka singer. He has been dubbed "the first enka singer".Having seen the stage of Ichiro Fujiyama, he attempted to become a popular singer. After he graduated from the Toyo Music School, he joined the Japanese army in 1944, but returned from Taiwan to Japan in...
, Michiya Mihashi
Michiya Mihashi
Michiya Mihashi , born Michiya Kitazawa in Kamiiso, Hokkaidō, was a famous enka singer in postwar Japan...
and Chiyoko Shimakura
Chiyoko Shimakura
is a female enka singer and TV presenter in Japan.She has a long career as a singer - almost 50 years. Despite her long career, Chiyoko remains cute and lovely in her stage work.Chiyoko is considered as "the Goddess of Enka"...
became popular when old singers became unpopular. The period between around 1955 and 1964 saw the popularity of "kayōkyoku
Kayokyoku
is a Japanese pop music genre, which became a base of modern J-pop. The Japan Times describes kayōkyoku as "standard Japanese pop" or "Showa era pop".Kayōkyoku is Western-style-inspired music of Japan. Music in this genre is extremely varied as a result...
". Around that time, Japanese composers went on to establish their own genres such as Toru Funamura and Minoru Endo's "Enka", Tadashi Yoshida's "Mood Kayō", and Hachidai Nakamura
Hachidai Nakamura
was a China-born Japanese songwriter and jazz pianist.- Biography :Hachidai Nakamura was born in Qingdao, China to Japanese parents. He moved to Fukuoka at a young age, where he attended high school, and eventually graduated from Waseda University in Tokyo with a degree in literature...
and Hiroshi Miyagawa's "Jazz". Masao Koga
Masao Koga
was a Japanese composer and guitarist known for creating melodies, and a pioneer of Japanese popular music. He was regarded as a notable figure for establishing the genre enka, though Koga considered that he was a ryūkōka composer...
renounced his pre-war musical style, approaching Hibari Misora.
The song "Otomisan" was made for being sung by Haruo Oka, but was eventually sung by Hachiro Kasuga
Hachiro Kasuga
, born as Minoru Watabe, was a Japanese enka singer. He has been dubbed "the first enka singer".Having seen the stage of Ichiro Fujiyama, he attempted to become a popular singer. After he graduated from the Toyo Music School, he joined the Japanese army in 1944, but returned from Taiwan to Japan in...
and became a major hit in Japan in 1954. The single sold over one million copies. The song was composed by Masanobu Tokuchi, who came from the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
. Kasuga's 1955 song "Wakare no Ipponsugi", composed by Funamura, also became a hit song. Funamura also composed Michiya Mihashi
Michiya Mihashi
Michiya Mihashi , born Michiya Kitazawa in Kamiiso, Hokkaidō, was a famous enka singer in postwar Japan...
's 1955 song "Anoko Ga Naiteru Hatoba". Ryōkyōku singers such as Haruo Minami
Haruo Minami
Haruo Minami was an enka singer in postwar Japan.He was born Bunji Kitazume in Nagaoka, Niigata...
and Hideo Murata
Hideo Murata
was a Japanese rōkyoku and enka singer. He had taken part in the Kōhaku Uta Gassen 27 times.Murata was born as a son of rōkyoku singer and . However, he was immediately adopted by and became his stepfather. His real name was . He studied rōkyoku under one of Kumoemon Tochuken's disciples, Kumo...
joined Japanese popular music. Hachiro Kasuga, Michiya Mihashi and Hideo Murata went on to form their genre later called enka.
Frank Nagai
Frank Nagai was a Japanese singer. Known for an attractive low tone voice. His real name is Kiyoto Nagai .- Life :...
's 1957 song "Yūrakuchō de Aimashō
Yūrakuchō de Aimashō
lit. Lovers in Yūrakuchō aka Let's Meet in Yurakuchô is a 1957 Japanese song and album. It is also a 1958 color Japanese film romance and drama directed by Koji Shima.- Album :...
", composed by Yoshida, also became popular. Around that time, however, Japanese rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
movement began and the Nichigeki Western Carnival was opened in 1958. The concerts were taken part in by future popular singers such as Mickey Curtis
Mickey Curtis
is a Japanese actor, singer, and TV celebrity. He began his entertainment career in 1958 as an actor, and later became a rockabilly singer. In 1967, he became internationally known through his avant-garde rock band "Mickey Curtis & The Samurai". After five years, Mickey disbanded the group and...
and Kyu Sakamoto
Kyu Sakamoto
was a Japanese singer and actor, best known outside of Japan for his international hit song "Sukiyaki", which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies...
. Against Japanese rock and roll movement, Yukio Hashi
Yukio Hashi
is a Japanese Enka singer. He is also an actor. Yukio's real name is , using a different kanji.-External links:*...
shocked Japanese popular music as a young enka singer because singers of the genre were elderly singers such as Hachiro Kasuga and Michiya Mihashi.
Japanese singers such as Kyu Sakamoto, The Peanuts
The Peanuts
is a Japanese vocal group consisting of twin sisters Emi Itō and Yumi Itō . They were born in Tokoname, Aichi, on April 1, 1941; soon after their birth, the family moved to Nagoya....
and Mieko Hirota
Mieko Hirota
is a Japanese popular singer. Her nickname is Mico .Hirota was born in Setagaya, Tokyo. She grew up listening to pops and jazz in places like Tachikawa frequented by Occupation troops. She made her debut in 1961 at age 14...
covered American songs at first, but they began to sing their own song. Sakamoto's 1961 single "Ue o muite arukō
Sukiyaki (song)
The cover version by A Taste of Honey reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also went to number 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart and Soul chart)....
", composed by Nakamura, became a major hit in Japan. On the other hand, Hideo Murata's 1961 single , composed by Toru Funamura, sold over one million copies in Japan. On June 5, 1962, Saburō Kitajima
Saburo Kitajima
is a well-known Japanese enka singer, lyricist and composer.He was born Minoru Ōno , in a little town in Hokkaidō to a fisherman. He was very poor because of the effects of World War II, and he was forced to work while he studied....
made his debut with the single "Bungacha Bushi." Funamura composed Kitajima's 1962 hit song . Hiroshi Miyagawa composed The Peanuts' 1962 song "Furimukanaide." The Peanuts also sang "Mothra
Mothra
is a kaiju, a type of fictional monster who first appeared in the serialized novel The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by Takehiko Fukunaga, Shinichiro Nakamura, and Yoshie Hotta...
's Song". The song was composed by Yuji Koseki.
In 1963, the era of former popular singers such as Hibari Misora
Hibari Misora
was an award-winning Japanese enka singer and actress. and was the first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honour Award, which was awarded posthumously for her notable contributions to the music industry. Misora recorded 1,200 songs, and sold 68 million records. After she died, consumer demand...
, Chiemi Eri
Chiemi Eri
, was a Japanese popular singer and actress.Eri was born as Chiemi Kubo on January 11, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. She started her singing career at the age of 14 with her version of "Tennessee Waltz." She sang American songs such as "Jambalaya" & "Come on-a My House". Eri started her career as an...
, Izumi Yukimura
Izumi Yukimura
is a Japanese popular singer and actress.Yukimura made her debut with the song in 1953. Her style of singing varied from jazz to rock and roll. She became one of the three most popular female singers in the early postwar Japan, along with Chiemi Eri and Hibari Misora.On her 1974 album Super...
, Hachiro Kasuga
Hachiro Kasuga
, born as Minoru Watabe, was a Japanese enka singer. He has been dubbed "the first enka singer".Having seen the stage of Ichiro Fujiyama, he attempted to become a popular singer. After he graduated from the Toyo Music School, he joined the Japanese army in 1944, but returned from Taiwan to Japan in...
, Michiya Mihashi
Michiya Mihashi
Michiya Mihashi , born Michiya Kitazawa in Kamiiso, Hokkaidō, was a famous enka singer in postwar Japan...
and Frank Nagai
Frank Nagai
Frank Nagai was a Japanese singer. Known for an attractive low tone voice. His real name is Kiyoto Nagai .- Life :...
seemed to end and Sakamoto released a Japanese hit song titled "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o". In June 1963, Sakamoto's "Ue o muite arukō" reached the number-one position in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
under its alternative title "Sukiyaki". In 1963, Kitajima's song and Kazuo Funaki
Kazuo Funaki
is a Japanese Enka singer. Kazuo also has a career as a stage actor, a film actor, and a TV actor.His real name is .- TV actor :* Taiga Drama** Ako Roshi** Minamoto no Yoshitsune** Motonari Mori- External links :*...
's song also became popular. Both songs were composed by Minoru Endo. Hashi and Funaki became singers for youth music, making a new genre called .
1963–1966: Enka's independence and collapse
On September 6, 1963, record label Nippon CrownNippon Crown
is a Japanese record label originally established as Crown Records on 6 September 1963. It is a spin-off of Nippon Columbia and is currently owned by karaoke maker Daiichikosho.-Artists:Artists signed to Nippon Crown Music include:* Hanaboy* Kimeru* Metis...
became independent from the Nippon Columbia. Saburō Kitajima
Saburo Kitajima
is a well-known Japanese enka singer, lyricist and composer.He was born Minoru Ōno , in a little town in Hokkaidō to a fisherman. He was very poor because of the effects of World War II, and he was forced to work while he studied....
was its member. Hibari Misora
Hibari Misora
was an award-winning Japanese enka singer and actress. and was the first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honour Award, which was awarded posthumously for her notable contributions to the music industry. Misora recorded 1,200 songs, and sold 68 million records. After she died, consumer demand...
presented a song titled "Kanto Harusame Kasa" when the record label was established. Kitajima took part in the Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time on December 31, 1963. The audience share of the 14th Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Kohaku Uta Gassen
, more commonly known as simply Kōhaku, is an annual music show on New Year's Eve produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and broadcast on both television and radio, nationally and internationally by NHK's networks and some overseas broadcasters which bought the program...
reached 81.4% in 1963. In 1964, Haruo Minami released his cover version of song , composed by Masao Koga
Masao Koga
was a Japanese composer and guitarist known for creating melodies, and a pioneer of Japanese popular music. He was regarded as a notable figure for establishing the genre enka, though Koga considered that he was a ryūkōka composer...
. In 1965, Kitajima released a string of hits such as , and . "Kaerokana" was composed by Hachidai Nakamura
Hachidai Nakamura
was a China-born Japanese songwriter and jazz pianist.- Biography :Hachidai Nakamura was born in Qingdao, China to Japanese parents. He moved to Fukuoka at a young age, where he attended high school, and eventually graduated from Waseda University in Tokyo with a degree in literature...
. Koga composed Hibari's song "Yawara", which won the grand prix award at the Japan Record Award
Japan Record Award
for outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association, is major music awards show held annually in Japan.- Categories :The Japan Record Award are four awards which are not restricted by genre....
in 1965. Koga was also an original composer of Hibari's 1966 cover song . His music, called "Koga melody", became a base of modern enka and he became known as "the father of modern enka".
On the other hand, Hachidai Nakamura also composed the Johnnys
Johnnys
was a Japanese boy band created by Johnny Kitagawa before the formation of the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates.The group was formed in April 1962 and lasted until November 20, 1967. They are considered one of the first of Japan's idol groups. Johnnys is also an abbreviation for "Johnny's...
' 1964 debut single "Wakai Namida." Japanese guitarist Yūzō Kayama
Yuzo Kayama
is a Japanese popular musician and film star, born on 11 April 1937. His father, Ken Uehara, was a film star during the 1930s. Yuzo Kayama became a big star in the 1960s in the Wakadaishō film series....
also produced his 1965 hit song "Kimi to Itsumademo" as a singer. British rock band The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
visited Japan and had a concert at the Nippon Budokan
Nippon Budokan
The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in central Tokyo, Japan.This is the location where many "Live at the Budokan" albums were recorded...
in 1966. With the aim of breaking the traditional style, Group Sounds
Group Sounds
Group Sounds is a genre of Japanese rock music. Inspired by The Beatles, Group Sounds became popular in the mid to late 1960s. Group Sounds initiated fusion of Japanese kayōkyoku music and rock music...
band The Blue Comets' 1966 song , originally released as an English song, was released as a Japanese song. In 1966, folk singer Ryoko Moriyama
Ryoko Moriyama
, is a Japanese folk and jazz singer. Her father is Hisashi Moriyama, a pioneer of Japanese jazz. Her son Naotaro Moriyama is a singer. Her first cousin Hiroshi Kamayatsu is also a musician....
, a daughter of jazz musician Hisashi Moriyama, also released hit song . The Blue Comets' song "Blue Chateau" won the grand prix award at the Japan Record Award in 1967. The Folk Crusaders
The Folk Crusaders
The Folk Crusaders was a Japanese pop music group, popular in Japan in the later half of the 1960s.The band was formed in 1965 by the five university students Kazuhiko Katō, Osamu Kitayama, Yoshio Hiranuma , Mikio Inomura and Maki Ashida , but Ashida and Inomura left the band at an early stage...
' 1967 song "I Only Live Twice" also had a big impact on Japanese popular music. New musical movement called also a string of hits such as Ayumi Ishida's 1968 song "Blue Light Yokohama", composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi.
Group Sounds became unpopular in the late 1960s in Japan. Then, Group Sounds was displaced by "New Rock" in Japanese underground rock music around 1970. Japanese-language rock band Happy End became one of prototypes of modern J-pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
. Mickey Curtis formed rock band "Samurai" in 1969 in U.K. and later scouted the Japanese band "Carol" in which leader was Eikichi Yazawa
Eikichi Yazawa
is an influential Japanese singer-songwriter, and important figure in Japanese popular music.Yoko Yazawa of The Generous is his daughter.-Biography:...
.
Legacy
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
of Japan and was transvalued in 2000s. His tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
was released on October 17, 2007. Various musicians such as Hideaki Tokunaga
Hideaki Tokunaga
is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and actor.Although Tokunaga failed to pass the test of Star Tanjō! in 1982, he debuted as a recording singer in 1986. After he released hit songs such as "Yume o Shinjite" and "Kowarekake no Radio" in 1990, his single "Wednesday Moon" reached No...
(for "Wakare no Blues"), Kazumasa Oda
Kazumasa Oda
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, composer and is also known as the leader of the folk rock band Off Course.As a vocalist and leader of Off Course, Oda wrote many Japanese standard numbers in the 70s and 80s. He and Yasuhiro Suzuki were important composers in the band...
(for "Suzhou Nocturne"), Masaharu Fukuyama
Masaharu Fukuyama
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, actor, radio personality, and photographer from Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture. He is the best-selling male solo artist in Japan. He is a member of entertainment company Amuse, Inc. and is known for his low, deep voice. Among fans, he is...
(for "Tokyo Boogie-woogie") and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
, commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band officially formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene...
(for "Aoi Sanmyaku
Aoi sanmyaku (1949 film)
, literally: The Green Mountains, is a 1949 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Tadashi Imai. Its theme was sung by Ichiro Fujiyama and Mitsue Nara.It is an adaptation of 1949 novel Blue Mountain Range by Yōjirō Ishizaka....
") took part in the album. The tribute album debuted at the number-ten position on the Japanese Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
weekly album charts.
Notable ryūkōka singers
- Chiyako SatoChiyako Satowas a Japanese female popular music singer. She was born as Chiyo Sato in Tendō, Yamagata Prefecture.In 1925, Sato made her debut with the song "Aoi Susuki". She met Shinpei Nakayama, who composed her 1928 song "Habu no Minato". It sold 100,000 copies. Her song was used as a tie-in song for the...
- Ichiro FujiyamaIchiro Fujiyama, born as , was a popular Japanese singer and composer, known for his contribution to Japanese popular music called ryūkōka by his Western classical music skills. He was born in Chūō, Tokyo, and graduated from the Tokyo Music School. Although he was regarded as a tenor singer in Japanese popular...
- Noriko AwayaNoriko Awayawas a Japanese female Soprano chanson and popular music singer. She has been dubbed the "Queen of Blues" in Japan.- Life and career :...
- Taro ShojiTaro Shojiwas a Japanese popular music singer.Shoji was born in Akita, Akita Prefecture. He graduated from the Waseda University. He at first entered the South Manchuria Railway. He made his debut as a recording singer in 1933. He attempted to become a Western classical singer, but finally became a popular...
- Katsutaro KoutaKatsutaro Koutawas a Japanese female geisha and ryūkōka singer. The genre like her songs was called "New-Minyo". The era when she had a high popularity with another popular geisha singer Ichimaru was called the "Katsu-Ichi Era".- Career :...
- IchimaruIchimaruborn in Japan, was a popular Japanese recording artist and geisha. Her rivalry with another popular geisha singer Katsutaro Kouta created the "Ichi-Katsu Era" in Japanese popular music history.- Early life :...
- Isao HayashiIsao Hayashiwas a Japanese popular music and military music singer and composer. He took part in the Japan's famous year-end show Kōhaku Uta Gassen 11 times. One of well-known songs composed by him is the military song , which propaganda vehicles of uyoku dantai have aired in Japan.Hayashi was born in...
- Bin UeharaBin Ueharawas a Japanese popular music singer and soldier. He was known for using naniwa-bushi's kobushi vocalism in Japanese popular music. He was killed in action during the eastern New Guinea campaign during the Pacific War.-Life:...
- Akiko FutabaAkiko Futabawas a Japanese popular music singer. As of the end of the World War II, she was one of the most popular female singers in Japan, competing with Hamako Watanabe and Noriko Awaya. In addition, she had taken part in the Kōhaku Uta Gassen 10 times.She was born in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture and...
- Haruo OkaHaruo Okaborn as Tatsuo Sasaki was a Japanese popular music singer.He studied music as enka-shi or a street musician. At that time, he was encouraged by Taro Shoji in Ginza. He signed with King Records in 1938. He debuted with song "Kokkyō no Haru" in 1939. He married with Kiyoko Okuda in 1940...