Singers, Opera singers, and socialist thought: The formation of popular culture and political consciousness in the 1920s

Singers, Opera singers, and socialist thought: The formation of popular culture and political consciousness in the 1920s

In the 1920s, enka singers in Japan were not simply street performers, but were a type of "ojime," a type of entertainer who wrote songs and sold books with the lyrics to their songs. They functioned as a medium that combined music and publishing to deliver words directly to the common people, and became important players in spreading political ideas and social criticism.

The presence of Soeda Mute Seminbo was particularly significant, as his songs expressed anger at the plight and inequality of the working people and satirized the expansion of the right to vote and the corruption of parliamentary politics. For the common people who could not read or write well, these songs became an easy-to-understand means of political education, and they naturally spread socialist ideas and demands for democracy. Songs had the power to appeal to emotions rather than logic, and by translating abstract ideologies into expressions that were relevant to daily life, they deepened people's sympathy and understanding.

At the time, Japan was experiencing increasing social unrest due to labor and tenant farmer disputes, while the ideals of freedom and equality were spreading throughout society under the influence of the Taisho Democracy. While newspapers and magazines were the media of choice in urban areas, enka performers were active on street corners, at festivals, and in yose, and were able to reach out to the rural and lower-class urban population. They thus became the link between politics and popular culture and played an indispensable role in the expansion of socialism.

Thus, enka singers, as members of the perfumed society, were closely connected to the lives of the common people, and through their culture raised political awareness and made socialist ideology more accessible. Their voices served as a bridge between the social changes of the 1920s and the wishes of the common people.