Rōkyoku

Rōkyoku (浪曲; also called naniwa-bushi, 浪花節) is a genre of traditional Japanese narrative singing. Generally accompanied by a shamisen, rōkyoku became very popular in Japan during the first half of the 20th century.

A scene of recitation in a hall

In modern Japanese slang, "naniwabushi" is sometimes used to mean "a sob story", since the songs were often about sad subjects.

Notable performers

• Takeharu Kunimoto
• Kumoemon Tochuken
• Yoshida Naramaru
• Haruo Minami
• Hideo Murata
• Ichirō Satsuki