Kayōkyoku
/ka.joː.kjo.kɯ/noun
A Japanese genre of commercially popular song, especially associated with the early and mid-20th century.
Did you know?Kayōkyoku was a major prewar and postwar Japanese popular-music category, later becoming closely associated with nostalgic ballads and the development of enka.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Chinese
Chinese
歌謡曲
“A written combination of “song,” “chant,” and “musical composition”; the characters supplied the literary vocabulary later read in Japanese.”
8th Century
Japanese
歌謡 (kayō)
“Song or popular song; 歌 means “song,” while 謡 refers to singing or chanting.”
8th Century
Japanese
曲 (kyoku)
“A musical piece, tune, or composition.”
Early 20th Century
Japanese
歌謡曲 (kayōkyoku)
“A modern Japanese label for commercially distributed popular songs, especially those influenced by Western musical forms.”
Mid-20th Century
Japanese
歌謡曲 (kayōkyoku)
“A dominant category of Japanese popular music, encompassing orchestral songs, ballads, and other mainstream styles.”
Modern English
English
kayōkyoku
“A romanized loanword used in English-language writing about Japanese popular music and music history.”