[Enka First Year] A Collection of Easy-to-Sing Songs by Yoko Nagayama [2026]

music writerKOH-1
Started working as a music writer as a side job while employed at a record shop, and for over 18 years I’ve contributed to music magazines, disc guide books, mooks, and web media. As a writer my main field is Western music, but as a listener for over 35 years, I always try to keep my curiosity alive with the motto “I like what I like.” I have experience playing in bands, where I was a bassist who handled songwriting and composition. Instruments I’ve played include bass, guitar, and piano. I began studying English in my mid-40s and continue to do so today.

Having attended a folk song school and studied the shamisen since childhood, she was preparing to debut as an enka singer after being scouted by an agency, but ultimately made her official debut as an idol due to a change in direction.

Yoko Nagayama has a unique career: after nearly a decade as an idol—during which she produced hit songs—she made a fresh debut as an enka singer at the age of 25.

Her songs are popular choices for karaoke, thanks to her folk-song-honed vocal ability, her versatile style that lets her sing pop songs with ease cultivated during her idol years, and the performance style she established of singing while playing the shamisen as a certified performer of the Tsugaru-jamisen Sawada school.

In this article, we focus specifically on relatively easy-to-sing songs from her enka-singer era.

If you’ve only recently become interested in Nagayama, please take this opportunity to check them out.

[Enka Year One] A Collection of Easy-to-Sing Songs by Yoko Nagayama [2026] (11–20)

Love at Tsugaru Jūsan LakeNagayama Yōko

Yoko Nagayama “Ko i no Tsugaru Jusan-ko” Music Video

Love at Tsugaru Jūsan LakeNagayama Yōko

The single “Koi no Tsugaru Jusanko,” released by Yoko Nagayama in 2014, is a classic local song themed around Tsugaru, as the title suggests, featuring a powerful shamisen melody that is quintessentially Nagayama.

It is based on the ancient tragic love story of the “Meoto-gane (Husband-and-Wife Bells),” passed down at Lake Jusanko in Goshogawara City, and it would be wonderful to sing it with the rich emotion that Nagayama herself brings to it.

While it isn’t exactly easy—given the fundamental enka techniques and the wide, dramatic pitch leaps—it isn’t an overly tricky melody either, so those familiar with singing Nagayama’s enka shouldn’t have major difficulties.

For beginners, the bar is somewhat high, but try tackling it little by little, focusing your practice on the parts that are harder to sing.

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In conclusion

It’s undeniable that songs by enka singers with folk-music roots tend to be difficult overall, but Nagayama’s repertoire includes not only classic, straight-ahead enka, but also more pop-leaning numbers and tracks that fuse shamisen with rock elements, making her music approachable for a wide range of people.

She also has many great songs from her idol era that we didn’t cover this time, so I hope younger listeners in particular will check them out.