enka; traditional Japanese popular ballad
A genre of sentimental Japanese popular music characterized by a distinctive vocal style and often melancholic themes.
My grandmother loves enka and often sings it at karaoke.
A famous enka singer performed a new song on the year-end music show.
Only when written 艶歌
Historical use referring to a troubadour or wandering minstrel, now largely obsolete and tied to the 艶歌 spelling.
The spelling 艶歌 was once used to refer to a troubadour.
My grandfather always sings enka at karaoke.
My mother likes listening to enka while driving.
Enka was playing inside the izakaya.
歌謡曲 is a broad umbrella term for Japanese popular songs of the Showa era, while 演歌 refers specifically to the melancholic, vocal-technique-heavy ballad genre.
Standard modern spelling for the Japanese popular ballad genre.
Historical spelling associated with the older troubadour sense; rarely used in modern Japanese.
Originally derived from 演説歌 (speech-song) in the Meiji era, used for political satire. Later evolved into the sentimental ballad genre known today.