Enka - the beautiful Japanese folk/traditional music

Enka music/songs can be emotional - they are raw, they are honest and they are full of sorrow (at times much like our Asli). You would feel them even if you do not understand a single word. One need not to, to be drowned in typically melancholic songs. Having spent months on end in remote parts of Japan in the late 80s/early 90s, listening to these traditional Japanese folk-influenced songs on the telly on cold wintry night (with nothing else to do, to be honest), one could not help but feel the pain of these songs.

And one can easily be captivated by them.

I remember a couple of such songs that I was taken by by then that I had to hum them to the instructors so as to identify them and, with their help, brought back a couple of cassettes for me to enjoy back in KL.

Beyond the Amagi Gap (Amagi-Goe) is one such powerful song. Aah, and now it is fully translated into English, never mind that the translation leaves much to be desired.

Love Sayuri Ishikawa's engaging performance and the setting is so beautiful.

But the lyrics?

"Stains from mating?", "I would rather kill you than see you love somebody else?" Hahaha, fortunately our writers are not that adventurous!  ;)

Aah, just read the lyric while listening to the wonderful voice of Sayuri Ishikawa and of course her engaging performance.

For the translated version, please go here. They would not allow me to embed it here. I love it when she sings "Darling, over your shoulder, the mountain is burning" while the background is a simulated mountain burning.

Magnificent!