Rà Âkyoku (; also historically called naniwa-bushi, ) is a genre of traditional Japanese narrative singing. This genre is performed by a singer accompanied by a shamisen, rà Âkyoku became very popular in Japan during the first half of the 20th century.
In modern Japanese slang, is sometimes used to mean "a sob story", since the songs were often about sad subjects. The stories were commonly about folktales and myths with themes of loyalty and human emotion. It shares roots with older narratives such as jà Âruri, sekkyà Â-bushi and kowaka emerged alongside kà Âdan and rakugo as dominant narrative arts during its peak popularity.
There are two types of naniwa-bushi: Kanto-bushi which was found mostly in east Tokyo and Kansai-bushi, derived from ukare-bushi from West Osaka.
In a rà Âkyoku performance, the rà Âkyokushi (singer) will deliver the narrative singing in the centre of the stage, with a blend of sung sections (fushi) and spoken word (tanka).https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/c030226/ The kyokushi (shamisen player) accompanies the singer and plays along. The will try to captivate and engage with the audience.
Rà Âkyoku originated from the streets of Tokyo during the early Meiji period. It later evolved into popular entertainment which was watched by various social classes. By the end of the Meiji period, Rà Âkyoku was gaining attention across Japan and becoming a part of the nations culture. During the Edo period, performers were part of socially marginalized groups called the eta-hinin (ç©¢å¤ÂéÂÂ人), or "lowborn people."
During the late Edo period a hierarchy of performances was formed:
By 1947, (singers) were among the top entertainers in industry. It is estimated that there were about 3,000 performers at its peak. However, the popularity of rà Âkyoku began to decline during the postwar era and was overshadowed by Western entertainment.
By the 1930s Rà Âkyoku was entering its peak and was one of the most popular genres in Japan. Many Rà Âkyoku films were produced during this period that incorporated storytelling like popular film Konjiki Yasha (éÂÂè²å¤ÂÃ¥ÂÂ) written by Ozaki Kà Âyà  and directed by Hiroshi Shimizu. Rà Âkyoku was broadcast the radio all over Japan and started to become more popular among the lower and middle class.