was a popular 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:...

 recitalist in Meiji Japan

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

. His immense popularity helped rōkyoku break into the mainstream. At his height, he performed tales of the Forty-seven ronin

Forty-seven Ronin

The revenge of the , also known as the Forty-seven Samurai, the Akō vendetta, or the took place in Japan at the start of the 18th century...

 to sell-out crowds at some of the biggest theatres in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 and Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. These performances also roused nationalist

Japanese nationalism

encompasses a broad range of ideas and sentiments harbored by the Japanese people over the last two centuries regarding their native country, its cultural nature, political form and historical destiny...

 sentiment during Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

.

Tōchūken's style of reciting left a lasting impression on rōkyoku, and indirectly also on 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...

, especially the music of 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...

.