Covering Disclosures: Practices of Intimacy, Hierarchy, and Authenticity in a Japanese Popular Music Genre

Abstract This paper analyzes cover songs and other forms of repetition in the Japanese popular music genre enka, a sentimental ballad form. The performance practices in the enka world are not only enterprise driven, but also embedded within cultural values and aesthetics. The paper argues that covering in a Japanese context poses a challenge to Walter Benjamin's concept of aura through kata (patterned form), which derives authenticity over time and by way of repetition. Notes There is a genre of Japanese popular music called natsu‐mero (nostalgic songs), which are strictly re‐releases of old hits—what in the U.S. might be called "oldies." The gendering of the pronoun here is deliberate as a reflection of the predominance of men in the upper echelons of the teaching hierarchy in most arts. This manipulation of the soundscape is not without its critique. In the 1990s, citizens' groups have formed protesting against the individual citizen's lack of control over the soundscape in Japan. DeCoker lists the following six other characteristics: 1) discipline; 2) master–disciple relations; 3) secrets, stages, and the hierarchy of study; 4) established lineages; 5) nonverbal communication; and 6) art as a spiritual quest (1998). Teaching and learning in the enka world exhibit all of the above to some degree. Nihon Hōsō Kyokai (NHK; Japan's Public Broadcasting Corporation) has televised series of enka singing lessons with accompanying instruction books. During my fieldwork period, these were broadcast as 13‐week series in 1991 and 1992, "Karaoke Enka Kashōhō" Parts I and II. In these series, well‐known enka composer Ichikawa Shōsuke instructs amateur students in the singing of enka before a live audience. Some teachers have devised their own system of orthographic representation of specific vocal techniques. These symbols are typically printed next to the song text, so that the student reads words and follows symbols which prescribe particular ways of singing. Peak discusses the de‐emphasis on note‐reading, especially in the early stages of teaching and learning, in the Japanese‐originated Suzuki method of music instruction as following traditional models (357–58). As indicated in note 2 above, I gender the pronoun deliberately to reflect the greater number of female students than male ones in these lower echelons of the teaching and learning hierarchy. However, I contend that the link between form and content in Japan remains more distant than in Euro‐America specifically through the concept of kata. Kata emphasizes the performativity of daily life, and the theatricality of the stage. These exist amidst—not against—an ethos of sincerity. Cross‐gendered performances such as these is common in the enka world. A man may sing a woman's song with lyrics unchanged. This might be akin to Euro‐American audiences of Western classical music more readily and critically judging a new performer by his/her rendition of a well‐known piece, than a less‐familiar one. The well‐known piece comes with a longer list of expectations by virtue of listeners' familiarity. The kimono and the hairdo go hand in hand, forming a visual kata of the "traditional Japanese woman." This process of mouthing the words of a song, or even singing quietly along, as a form of participatory listening is not uncommon in concerts, karaoke, and elsewhere in Japan. These form a kind of empathy with the performing singer. This kind of participation may also be considered a way of supporting, sustaining, and even aiding the performer, especially if they should falter. Here, Ishikawa sings quietly as a form of support for Nagayama. Public singing has a long history in social interaction in Japan (Embree). Typically, social gatherings end up with singing in turns, both as a group and singly. One sings solo as a participatory act, more than a performative one, to show one's membership in the group. Since the 1980s, karaoke has come to supply the accompaniment to this singing. Participating in karaoke, then, may be considered one of the most effective ice‐breakers for a group. The juxtaposition lies in the belief that enka, like other traditional forms of expression, can only be truly sung by Japanese, and this holds especially true for do‐enka. The oft‐told story goes that a professional enka singer performed his own song with one of these machines and scored badly. This karaoke ethos is true for Japan, but not necessarily elsewhere. According to my observations and other accounts of karaoke in Euro‐American contexts, the ethos can be far more individually assertive elsewhere (Mitsui and Hosokawa).