Rōkyoku

A scene of recitation in a hall

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.

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