Enka-style popular song

…In 1933, he won a contest sponsored by the Jiji Shimpo newspaper and joined King Records. In February 1934, he released Akagi no Komoriuta (Lullaby of Akagi) through Polydor, a new record company, and it became a big hit. This song was the theme song for Shochiku's period film of the same name, and it had a yakuza as the main character. The first verse of the song was four lines, with the word "cry" used once in each line (lyrics by Sato Sounosuke, music by Takeoka Nobuyuki). It emphasized a sense of loneliness and sadness that was uniquely Japanese, something that had never been seen in popular songs before, and it became the forerunner of the so-called enka-style popular song. After that, Tokairin continued to release hits along the Japanese-style period music route, such as Tabigasa Dochu and Nozaki Kouta, but when he sang on stage, he wore light makeup, a tailcoat, and stood perfectly still, and he became famous for his proper manners. …

*Some of the terminology used in reference to "enka-style pop songs" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…1933年《時事新報》主催のコンクールに入賞し，キングレコードに入社したが，34年2月，新興のレコード会社ポリドールから《赤城の子守唄》を出したところ大ヒットとなった。この曲は松竹の同名時代劇映画の主題歌で，やくざを主人公とし，1番の歌詞が4行から成るその各行に1回ずつ〈泣く〉という語が使われる(佐藤惣之助作詞，竹岡信幸作曲)という，それまでの歌謡曲にもなかったほど日本的な孤独感，悲愴感を強調したもので，いわゆる演歌調歌謡曲の嚆矢となった。その後も東海林は《旅笠道中》《野崎小唄》など日本情緒の時代物路線に沿ってヒットを出したが，舞台で歌うときの彼は薄化粧に燕尾服，直立不動の姿勢を保ち，折目正しさで有名になった。…

※「演歌調歌謡曲」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報