Conference Agenda

Japanese enka has long been regarded as a quintessentially national genre, emblematic of Japanese sentiment and identity. In contrast, Korean tŭrotŭ has been the subject of debate within postcolonial Korean society, often criticized for its perceived dependence on enka. Korean scholars have questioned whether tŭrotŭ derives primarily from enka or from indigenous Korean traditions—a debate that reflects efforts to decolonize music history. However, such nation-bound framings often reinforce a one-directional narrative of Japanese cultural influence on colonial Korea, thereby obscuring the complex transnational origins of both genres and overlooking the role of Korean performers in shaping Japan’s postwar popular music industry.

Building on Yano’s (2003) observation that the presence of Korean artists in the enka industry complicates the idea of enka as a purely Japanese genre, this paper argues that both enka and tŭrotŭ emerged through mutual influence and transnational entanglements, rather than a one-directional flow from Japan to Korea. One such figure is Sugawara Suzuko (1927–), a major postwar enka star known as the “Queen of Elegy Enka.” Sugawara’s 1951 recording of “Renrakusen no Uta (Farewell, Ferry)” —originally released in colonial Korea in 1937 by Chang Sejŏng—exemplifies the cross-border transmission of longing and colonial memory. Chang’s original song laments the Kanpu Ferry Line, which carried Koreans to the Japanese mainland under imperial rule. While the ferry symbolized hope and connection for Japanese citizens, for Koreans it represented forced migration and profound loss. What does it mean for a colonial-era Korean song to have been re-recorded in 1950s Japan? This re-recording became a popular hit precisely as enka was being redefined as a national genre, distinct from the broader prewar category of ryūkōka (popular music).

Drawing on archival research and musical analysis, this paper extends Dower’s (1999) notion of “imperial democracy” into the musical domain, arguing that enka’s postwar nationalization operated through sonic practices—such as re-recording, affective vocality, and genre reclassification—that selectively erased imperial memory while recoding it as Japanese nostalgia. Ultimately, this paper challenges nation-centered historiographies and repositions enka and t’ŭrot’ŭ as inter-Asian cultural productions shaped through circulation and shared affective regimes (Rao 2023).