[6] Famous kayōkyoku artists include Hiroko Yakushimaru, Kyu Sakamoto, the Peanuts, the Tigers, Candies, Pink Lady, Seiko Matsuda, Junko Sakurada, the Checkers and Onyanko Club.
The music draws on being able to relate to listeners and tries to voice the feelings that they keep bottled in due to social appearances.
An NHK survey conducted in 1982 revealed that around 80% of males over thirty years of age sang kayōkyoku songs through karaoke machines.
[9] However, many songs popular during this era became lost due to the association with painful memories involving World War II.
[11] In Showa 30s, Frank Nagai, inspired by jazz, sang new songs called "Mood Kayō" (ムード歌謡).
Around the same time, yakuza manager Kazuo Taoka reorganized the concert touring industry by treating the performers as professionals.
[14] in terms of imported foreign talent, Kayōkyoku from this period is also believed to have been influenced by Chinese immigrant jazz musicians who had fled Shanghai during the communist takeover, as well as, with the American soldiers who were occupying Japan at that time.
Some of the most famous kayōkyoku musicians of this era include songwriter Rokusuke Ei and singer Kyu Sakamoto.
[17] In the 1970s, Hiromi Go (who belonged to Johnny & Associates at that time), Hideki Saijo and Goro Noguchi were called "New Gosanke".
Saori Minami, Mari Amachi and Rumiko Koyanagi were called "Shin Sannin Musume" (lit.
Momoe Yamaguchi, Junko Sakurada and Masako Mori were called "Hana no Chūsan Torio" (lit.
[20] Maekawa claimed that an example of true enka singers was Saburō Kitajima, who could use a lot of kobushi (a kind of vocalism) for singing.
For example, Kiyoshi Maekawa's song "Himawari", produced by pop singer Masaharu Fukuyama, was regarded as enka for no special reason.