Kayōkyoku (歌謡曲; lit. "Pop Tune") is a type of Japanese pop music that helped create modern J-pop. The Japan Times calls kayōkyoku "standard Japanese pop" or "Shōwa-era pop."

Kayōkyoku mixes Western and Japanese musical styles, making the music very different in many ways. However, when used more specifically, kayōkyoku does not include J-pop or enka.

Unlike J-pop singers such as Keisuke Kuwata from Southern All Stars, kayōkyoku singers usually use traditional Japanese language instead of stylized English pronunciations. An exception is singer Momoe Yamaguchi's song "Rock 'n' Roll Widow."

Unlike enka, kayōkyoku does not focus on showing strong emotions through singing.

Well-known kayōkyoku artists include Hiroko Yakushimaru, Kyu Sakamoto, the Peanuts, the Tigers, Candies, Pink Lady, Seiko Matsuda, Junko Sakurada, the Checkers, and Onyanko Club.

Characteristics

Kayōkyoku music has simple melodies that are easy to follow and play along to. The lyrics of kayōkyoku are simple and try to connect with everyday Japanese people. Kayōkyoku singers often appear cute and friendly to make listeners feel comfortable. Their appearance and behavior are often decided by production companies. The main goal of kayōkyoku songs is to create emotional feelings. The music focuses on helping listeners express feelings they keep hidden because of social rules. Kayōkyoku became popular because of the karaoke boom in the 1970s. Karaoke often involves copying both the song and the singer’s image shown in the lyrics. The simple rhythm and lyrics of kayōkyoku made these songs popular for singing at karaoke. A survey by NHK in 1982 found that about 80% of men over thirty years old sang kayōkyoku songs using karaoke machines.

History

The term kayōkyoku originally described Western classical "lied" music in Japan. However, around 1927, NHK radio began using kayōkyoku as another name for ryūkōka. This usage became common during the late 1930s (1935–1944). Many popular songs from this time were later forgotten because they were linked to painful memories of World War II.

Although kayōkyoku is connected to ryūkōka, it is also a distinct musical genre. For example, Kenji Yamamoto stated that ryūkōka was popular in the 1940s (Showa 20s) and kayōkyoku became popular in the 1950s (Showa 30s).

In the 1950s, Frank Nagai created new songs called "Mood Kayō," inspired by jazz and Latin music. During Japan’s post-war economic growth, "Mood Kayō" became a widely loved genre. At the same time, modern enka (a traditional-style music genre) and rock and roll began influencing Japanese musicians, such as Kyu Sakamoto.

In 1949, Hibari Misora, who was 12 years old, recorded her first song, "Kappa Boogie Woogie." In the 1950s, Hibari Misora, Chiemi Eri, and Izumi Yukimura were known as the "Sannin Musume" (Three Girls). Hachiro Kasuga, Michiya Mihashi, and Hideo Murata were called the "three crows." In the early 1960s, Kyu Sakamoto and the Peanuts became famous. Shinichi Mori and Linda Yamamoto both began their careers in 1966. In the late 1960s, Group Sounds became popular. Teruhiko Saigo, Yukio Hashi, and Kazuo Funaki were called "Gosanke" in the 1960s. Keiko Fuji debuted in 1969, and her music style, called enka, resembled traditional Japanese music. In 1969, Osamu Minagawa, a child singer, became the youngest person to top the Oricon single charts with his song "Kuroneko no Tango."

During the 1950s and 1960s, many kayōkyoku performers gained experience by performing on U.S. military bases in Japan. Around the same time, yakuza manager Kazuo Taoka helped professionalize the concert touring industry.

In terms of foreign influences, kayōkyoku from this period was shaped by Chinese immigrant jazz musicians who fled Shanghai after the Communist takeover in 1949. At that time, the Communist government in China banned popular music and replaced it with revolutionary music. Some Shanghainese musicians moved to Hong Kong, while others settled in Japan. There, they worked with American soldiers to introduce new music styles to Japan.

Some of the most famous kayōkyoku musicians from this era include songwriter Rokusuke Ei and singer Kyu Sakamoto. Their 1961 song "Sukiyaki" became a global hit and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In the 1970s, Hiromi Go (then with Johnny & Associates), Hideki Saijo, and Goro Noguchi were called the "New Gosanke." Saori Minami, Mari Amachi, and Rumiko Koyanagi were known as the "Shin Sannin Musume" (New Three Girls). Akiko Wada, who came from "Jazz Cafe," also gained popularity. Momoe Yamaguchi, Junko Sakurada, and Masako Mori were called the "Hana no Chūsan Torio" (Flower Junior High School Three Grade Trio). Yū Aku became one of the most famous lyricists of kayōkyoku. He wrote Finger 5’s 1973 song "Kojin Jugyō" and female duo Pink Lady’s 1976 debut song "Pepper Keibu."

In the 1980s, female idols like Seiko Matsuda, Yukiko Okada, and Akina Nakamori became popular. Johnny’s male solo singer Masahiko Kondō also gained fame, and his song "Orokamono" won the 29th Japan Record Awards Grand Prix in 1987. The kayōkyoku genre became the foundation for another genre, J-pop. In the 1980s, some Japanese idols separated from kayōkyoku and joined rock musicians. The band Onyanko Club, popular in the late 1980s, represented a transition between kayōkyoku and J-pop. Although J-pop later became a separate genre, some claimed it was a subgenre of kayōkyoku.

In the 1980s, kayōkyoku music outside of idol music was often called enka. After Hibari Misora died in 1989, the kayōkyoku genre largely disappeared, and many kayōkyoku singers were considered enka singers, even if their music styles remained unchanged. However, Shinichi Mori and Kiyoshi Maekawa still identified as kayōkyoku singers. Maekawa argued that true enka singers, like Saburō Kitajima, used a vocal technique called kobushi. This caused confusion, as some songs, like Kiyoshi Maekawa’s "Himawari" (produced