Enka

The term Enka (演歌) was originally used to refer political protest songs from the late 19th
century; however, from the 1960s onwards, it has referred to Japanese popular music in a
minor key, sung with no accompaniment, in a "melisma" style (where a single syllable of
text is sung while moving between several different notes in succession). In Japanese,
this vocal style is known as "kobushi". To put it more simply, it means that the pitch of
the singer's voice fluctuates irregularly; this compares with vibrato, which vibrates in a
perfectly regular cycle. Although the kobushi technique is most widely associated with
enka, is not limited to enka, as it can also be heard in the Italian song "Santa Lucia."