Favorite Japanese Music-- Hikawa Kiyoshi Brings ENKA to a New Generation

I never cared much for so-called Enka music favored by older Japanese (it's mainly extremely sentimental ballads that musically resemble traditional Japanese music) for the first several years after coming to Japan.

Until I heard boyishly handsome (and very *young*) Kiyoshi sing what is now considered his signature piece "Kiyoshi no Zundoko Bushi", a sort of samba-fied enka piece with a fun beat but which still shows off his very strong voice.

Every time I go to my in-laws, my mother-in-law and I always run to the tv and shush everybody when he's on:-))  My husband just sits there rolling his eyes at us ("what has he got dat I ain't got?!")--but one of these days she and I are totally getting tickets and going to a concert together...

If you've never heard any regular Enka before, here he is singing a typical piece called "Banda no Chuutarou" and wearing traditional men's kimono.  Note that it's sung in a pentatonic-type scale (the "Yonanuki Tan-Onkai", or Minor Scale without Four and Seven) and uses a *lot* of melisma called "kobushi" where a single syllable is sung moving between several different notes in succession in a sort of controlled uncontrol not unlike some blues and modern rap artists (Boyz to Men did it really well).




 Here he is singing the "Zundoko Bushi" that first caught my ear (with a collage of photos--check his style;-))



Kinda catchy, isn't it?  Here's a live version of Zundoko Bushi where he's wearing an absolutely hilarious outfit (OMG--I want those pants!)

And here he is singing the traditional Soran Bushi song in a not-so-traditional suit:



So--are you hooked, or have you had enough?;-))  Let me know in the comments!

Mata asobou, ne!