![]() My repertoire is only decent, but I like what I can do. I also picked up a few other songs here and there, listening to friends and town employees sing while on the JET Program, and recently I’ve been doing カラオケ勉強会 ( karaoke benkyō kai, karaoke “study meetings”) with coworkers in Chicago. ![]() I went home with an Ishihara Yujiro CD and an Uchiyamada Hiroshi and the Cool Five CD, and I listened to them over and over, especially once I got my first iPod in 2006 when I was on the JET Program. Gradually, over the course of two months, a few of the songs made their way into our heads, and at our farewell dinner I performed 長崎は今日も雨だった ( Nagasaki wa kyō mo ame datta, Nagasaki Was Rainy Again Today). I have very distinct memories of two of them performing 旅姿三人男 ( Tabi sugata sannin otoko, Three Men in Traveling Clothes). We sang American songs, drank beer, ate 柿ピー ( kaki pii, peanuts and crackers), and listened to them sing Japanese songs. ![]() Several members of the Rotary Club were responsible for organizing our activities, and they would take us out at night to all manner of snack bars across the city. I don’t remember the first time I learned the word 演歌 ( enka), but it was likely the summer of 2002 when I was on a Rotary internship in Okayama. I’m in the Japan Times this week with one of my favorite Bilingual articles in a long time: “ Enka gives lessons in Japan’s unattainable love.” Check out the posts here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. This article was first published on my website How to Japanese.
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