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search For other meanings, see Enka (disambiguation).  Enka
(演歌?) 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 traditional
musical style in its vocalism than ryūkōka music, popular during
the prewar years.[1]  Modern enka, as developed in the postwar
era, is a form of sentimental ballad music. Some of the first
modern enka singers were Hachiro Kasuga, Michiya Mihashi, and
Hideo Murata.[2] The revival of enka in its modern form is said
to date from 1969, when Keiko Fuji made her debut. The most
famous male enka singer is Kiyoshi Hikawa.  The term[edit]  The
term enka was first used to refer to political texts set to
music which were sung and distributed by opposition activists
belonging to the Freedom and Peo