The Resource for all things Enka
Hello! Welcome to Enkaopedia, the website I started due to the dearth of Enka-related stuff on the Web. If you're reading this right now, you're probably:
1) a fan of Japanese Enka music who, through sheer grit and determination, managed to sift through the millions of webpages out there and end up here, a website that will (hopefully!) answer your questions about this fantastic genre of music.
2) You're just plain bored and decided to randomly click on one of Yahoo!'s music categories.
3) You're one of my friends - doubtless I must have bugged you to visit this page! Welcome! :)
4) You're just curious about this music, which you probably heard in some Japanese restaurant or NHK TV program and decided to give it a try.
Anyway, it doesn't really matter - the fact is you're here, and it's my duty as webmaster to provide you with information about this genre of music.
What is Enka?
For those of you who don't know (and I'm sure there are lots of you), Enka is a type of Japanese music which became popular after World War II. Some people say that Enka originated when politicians in the 19th century hired singers to sing songs during their political campaigns. Anyway, this music really became popular after the war, probably because of its meaningful lyrics and great melodies - most Enka songs are sad, so people who have gone through hardship (e.g. war) can relate to it.
Nowadays, Enka is popular amongst the older generation (read: age 40 and above). Young Japanese don't like this music because it's too depressing, I suppose. I don't know - I'm not Japanese, so I've got no right to speculate about that! :) However, I COMPLETELY AND ABSOLUTELY DISAGREE with the ABSURD NOTION that Enka is only for old fogies. I am proud to say that I am 14 years old, and I love Enka. No, I'm not weird. No, I do not suffer from an ageing disease. I love the Backstreet Boys, Westlife and pop music in general, but I still enjoy listening to Enka music. And come on. If I, a non-Japanese and a teenager, can like Enka - surely you can to.
Now, all the info on this website might not be correct or up-to-date, because there is practically zero info about Enka in English on the Net. There are a few, like Barbara's Enka Site, which are extremely good. Most of the info on this website comes from stuff I got while crawling the Japanese section of the World Wide Web armed only with an online translator (Thank you, Altavista!) So, the translation might be incorrect, or I might interpret the meaning wrongly or something. But I have done my best, and here it is!