As for the origin of kayokyoku (Japanese popular songs, distinguished from J-pop), a leading theory advocated by Otojiro KAWAKAMI is that it originated from enzetsu-ka (literally, speech songs, political satire taking the form of songs) which developed into enka.
日本の歌謡曲（流行歌）の起源については、川上音二郎などの演説歌＝演歌とする説が有力である。