A collection of classic enka masterpieces about love: songs that depict the nuances of mature romance.

Love Song of SadoHosokawa Takashi

Love Song of Sado

This is a signature song by Takashi Hosokawa, renowned for his overwhelming vocal power honed through folk music.

Released in December 1991 as his 39th single, it won the Oricon Long Seller Award and was performed at the NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen the following year.

The song is set on Sado Island, expressing a deepening longing for a lover across the sea, sung with rich emotion.

Though so close, they remain out of reach—an aching frustration.

You can almost see the protagonist projecting their helpless feelings of love onto the waves crashing against the rugged shore and the birds flying across the sky.

Hosokawa’s own lyricism, brimming with poetic sensibility, blends beautifully with the folk-inspired phrasing inherited from his mentor, moving listeners to the core.

It’s a song that draws you into its bittersweet world—perfect for moments of travel-inspired reverie or nights when you’re thinking of someone far away.

Purple Rain SentimentFuji Ayako

Ayako Fuji “Murasaki Ujō (Purple Rain Sentiment)” Music Video (1 Chorus)

This is one of Aya Koji’s signature songs, in which the quiet sorrow hidden behind a firm resolve—“I will follow you anywhere”—strikes the heart.

The lyrics overlay the fate shared with a loved one onto a rain-drenched scene shrouded in purple, seeping deeply into the listener’s soul.

Even while knowing the love can never be fulfilled, the single-minded determination to see it through carries not only sadness but a dignified beauty.

Released in April 1993, the piece reached No.

8 on the Oricon charts and won the Japan Lyrics Award, becoming one of the defining songs of that year’s music scene.

Her lustrous voice further heightens the distinctly Japanese emotional tone of the song.

Listen to it on a rainy day and you may be drawn into its world, as long-forgotten, bittersweet memories return.

Love BoatKouzai Kaori

Koifune

It beautifully depicts the helpless yearning of a woman who can do nothing but stand before the river of fate with no boat to cross.

The ache of not being able to meet the one she longs for, and the way a forgotten lipstick revives memories of love, seem to be conveyed with searing clarity through Kaori Kozai’s rich, sultry voice.

Released as a single in May 1990, the song is a work by the golden duo of lyricist Ryuichi Satomura and composer Yuh Hijirikawa.

This piece became a cornerstone that led to her first appearance on the Kōhaku Uta Gassen with the 1991 smash hit “Ruren-sō,” making it a pivotal track from the early stage of her career.

When your heart aches from an unforgettable love, this song will gently stay by your side.

Silent SlopeKouzai Kaori

Kaori Kozai – "Silent Slope"

This is a masterpiece by Kaori Kozai, created by an exceptionally illustrious team: music by Koji Tamaki and lyrics by Mitsuhiko Kuse (under the pen name Mutsuki Ichikawa).

Released in March 1993, the song won the 35th Japan Record Award.

The protagonist’s inexpressible, heartrending cry—wanting to go back but unable to, needing neither consolation nor excuses—reaches the listener’s heart through Kozai’s richly emotive vocals.

It’s a song that gently stays by your side when you’re carrying the pain of a hopeless love.

It may even make your chest tighten as memories of past romances come rushing back.

selfish; self-centered; willfulMochizuki Ruka

Ruka Mochizuki “Wagamama” Music Video

This is a song by Ruka Mochizuki, with lyrics and composition by Tetsuya Komuro, bringing a fresh breeze to the enka world.

The bittersweet feelings toward a loved one are portrayed like waves that ebb and flow.

The choice of indirect wording—such as the scene of jumping onto the last train—ironically serves to highlight the protagonist’s sense of helplessness.

Many listeners may find their hearts captured at first listen by this bold, innovative approach.

Not only longtime enka fans, but even those who don’t usually listen to enka, are sure to be drawn into this new sound!

Ura-Namba BluesMizuki Kei

Kei Mizuki “Ura-Namba Blues” Music Video

This is a blues enka by Kei Mizuki that conjures up the bustle and neon of Osaka’s backstreets in Ura-Namba.

Known as a “high-spirited Naniwa girl,” she sings a one-night-only love story.

The lyrics, which even drop the names of modern cocktails, are filled with the regret of not exchanging contact information and the aching feelings of a woman who can’t forget the person she spent just one night with.

If you have an unforgettable love memory, or on a night when you want to sink into a touch of sentimentality, listening to this will surely tighten your chest at the heroine’s endearing earnestness.

Winter Love FlowerHanasaki Yukimi

Winter Love Flower (Fuyurenka)

Set against the frozen winters of the northern provinces, this is Yukimi Hanasaki’s fourth single, a richly emotive song that poignantly gives voice to the longing for a lover she cannot meet.

Vivid scenes—like a train racing through the darkness and a harbor echoing with foghorns—spring to mind, heightening the tragic drama of the love story.

Released in December 2009, the track became a long-running hit, staying on the Oricon charts for 19 weeks.

It was later included on the acclaimed album “Zenkokushū: Fuyukoi-bana / Fuyu no Hotaru.” Through Hanasaki’s powerful vocals, you can feel the protagonist’s steadfast resolve as she likens herself to a flower determined to bloom in the harshest conditions.

It’s a song that may draw you deep into its world on nights when you want to dwell on a helpless, aching love.