Aimi Tanaka made her debut in 2021 as an enka singer while still a university student.
Even after graduating, she continues to thrive, gaining popularity with a modern take on enka that incorporates a wide range of expressive styles to expand the genre’s boundaries.
One of her biggest draws is her exceptionally strong vocal ability—highly praised by her mentor, Takashi Hosokawa.
Among female enka singers, her foundational vocal technique is top-tier, and as a result, her songs are on a completely different level of difficulty.
Many people may find it hard to add her songs to their repertoire.
So this time, we’ve selected some of Aimi Tanaka’s tracks that are especially easy to sing.
- [Treasure of Powerful Enka] Takashi Hosokawa’s Easy-to-Sing Songs
- [Enka] Songs that are easy to sing even for those who are tone-deaf [Female singers edition]
- The Most Idol-Like Star in the Enka World: Easy-to-Sing Songs by Kiyoshi Hikawa
- [For Women] Masterpiece Enka Songs with a High Degree of Difficulty
- [For Beginners] Recommended Enka Classics for Karaoke — Women Singers Edition
- [Enka] Songs That Are Easy to Sing Even for the Tone-Deaf [Male Singer Edition]
- Queen of Enka: A roundup of Aki Yashiro’s easy-to-sing songs
- Enka songs that are easy for men to sing: a roundup of tracks to try at karaoke
- [For Women] A roundup of enka songs that can score high in karaoke
- [The Pinnacle of Modern Enka] Shimazu Aya’s Easy-to-Sing Songs
- [Queen of Enka] A Collection of Easy-to-Sing Songs by Sayuri Ishikawa [2026]
- Songs by Yoshimi Tendo, the songstress born in Osaka, that are easy to sing
- [Japan’s Best Vocalist] Fukuda Kohei’s Easy-to-Sing Karaoke Songs
Takashi Hosokawa’s Beloved Disciple: Aimi Tanaka’s Easy-to-Sing Songs (1–10)
TATSUYATanaka Aimi
The song “TATSUYA” is not an exaggeration to say it catapulted Aimi Tanaka’s career.
It became a nationwide hit, so anyone well-versed in enka or kayōkyoku has likely heard it at least once.
Despite its powerful melody, the vocal line itself is arranged quite simply.
The phrases aren’t difficult, but if you want to capture Aimi Tanaka’s vibe, the challenge lies in the vocal production.
If you want to get closer to the original, try aiming for a higher chest voice while keeping your larynx lowered—a technique known as low larynx positioning.
a pittanceTanaka Aimi
Speaking of Aimi Tanaka, she’s known as having one of the richest, most full-bodied voices among female enka singers.
Her song “Suzume no Namida” embodies the depth of her voice.
From the A verse to the B verse, the melody sits in the low range, and the chorus brings in mid-high to high notes.
The sections leading up to the chorus are sung with a resonant, overtone-rich timbre.
The high notes in the chorus lean toward mix voice, so you need to be careful not to flip.
Overall, it’s an easy, classic kayōkyoku-style piece without kobushi or other ornamentation, so as long as you’re not worried about your vocal range, you should be able to sing it without issue.
From Kyoto to HakataTanaka Aimi
Kyoto kara Hakata made is a memorable piece with a full-fledged enka style suffused with melancholy.
Among Aimi Tanaka’s songs, this one especially emphasizes the low register, with the A melody sustaining low tones that make use of overtones.
The overall range isn’t very wide, so it’s by no means a difficult song; however, if you want to bring out its charm to the fullest, align the key around the A melody rather than the chorus.
Mixing in as much breath as if your lungs were being squeezed makes it easier to acquire overtones, so why not practice that technique while working on this song?
Don’t scold me.Tanaka Aimi
A rare work for Aimi Tanaka that’s arranged in a classic enka style, “Shikara-naide.” The melody feels like orthodox enka from the ’60s–’70s, but in fact the song contains no difficult kobushi (melismatic ornamentation) at all.
The basics stick to a single note, with at most a two-note change, and even those changes don’t move at the brisk speed typical of folk songs.
As an enka number, it’s undoubtedly among the easiest to sing.
The vocal range is fairly narrow as well, but since high notes appear several times on the “i” vowel, be careful not to let your tone become too thin.
GossipTanaka Aimi
While Aimi Tanaka has strong vocal skills, she tends to sing songs with a kayōkyoku flavor.
“Uwasabanashi” is one such piece, characterized by a sound that sits right between enka and kayōkyoku.
The vocal range is about average, but there’s a sustained note in the upper mid-register at the end of the chorus.
It’s not a phrase that’s particularly challenging in terms of vocal production, but it can sound a bit thin, so be sure to lower your larynx and aim for a fuller, thicker tone.
Osaka LonelinessTanaka Aimi
Aimi Tanaka’s classic “Osaka Loneliness,” which was also used as the ending theme for the Osaka local TV show “Yasutomo no Itatte Shinken Desu,” is a kayōkyoku (Japanese pop) song rather than enka.
Its appeal lies in the brassy sound often heard in songs by Takajin Yashiki and Emiko Uenuma.
The vocal line is simple with a fair amount of rests, but there’s a spot near the end of the chorus where you sustain a long tone on the “n” sound.
Since the song is meant to be sung with strong volume throughout, instead of humming a pure “n,” it’s recommended to pronounce it closer to “u” while keeping the “n” quality.
Younger brother,Tanaka Aimi
A classic song with an impressive transition from an enka-style opening to a more kayōkyoku-like development, ‘Otōto yo.’ The vocal range in this piece is relatively narrow, and the melody follows a typical kayōkyoku line, so the overall difficulty isn’t very high.
However, there are phrases that begin on the backbeat here and there.
This is especially prominent in the second verse, and grasping the backbeat is notoriously difficult for Japanese singers, so that part requires special attention.
The song still works perfectly well if you sing on the downbeats, so if you find the backbeat hard to catch, it’s fine to focus only on the main beats when you sing.