Sarbjit Singh Chadha (; born 17 June 1952 in New Delhi,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) is an Indian singer, who is the first non-Japanese ''

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, pop ...

'' singer. He earned popularity via the Japanese television program ''Kinyō 10 Ji: Uwasa no Channel''.

Career

Early beginnings

In 1968 aged 15 years old, Chadha was nominated by his father to undertake training for three years in Fukuoka, Japan in orange farming under a
OISCA International
programme. Chadha initially learned to speak Japanese by listening to Japanese songs, developing his fluency by singing at parties. Japan's ''enka'' genre had a profound impact on Chadha. His friends encouraged him to become a professional singer. Chadha took guidance in ''enka'' from his singing guru, Saburo Kitajima. Chadha has noted that it was the similarity of ''enka'' songs such as Kitajima's "Hakodate No Hito" (函館の人) with the songs that he used to sing during his childhood in India that resonated with him the most. Chadha has expressed his love for ''enka'' "because

t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...

full of feeling...similar to ghazals". Given the unfamiliarity of the Japanese public with turban-wearing Sikhs, Chadha initially had to perform as a comedian for a year in a national variety programme, Kinyo 10 Ji: Uwasa no Channel. It was through this, broadcast every Friday night at 10pm, that Chadha acquainted himself with the nation. On his second trip to Japan, Chadha was given an opportunity to record his debut ''enka'' song in 1975, the single , selling 180,000 copies.

Career in Japan

Given difficulties posed by Japan's visa restrictions at the time which required foreigners to return to their home nation and apply for a new visa every six months, Chadha returned to India. However, with the support of his supporters in Japan, Chadha returned to Japan in 1980, starting a business and continuing his passion for singing ''enka''. After 30 years, Chadha released a greatest-hits album titled "Chadha Densetsu" (チャダ伝説, The Legend of Chadha) under JVC.

Career beyond Japan

Chadha has performed ''enka'' in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Chennai, and is regarded as a cultural bridge between India and Japan. In 2011 to express solidarity with Japan after the Tohoku tsunami, Chadha performed a concert. Chadha has translated many of the ''enka'' songs that he has sung into Hindi.

Discography

*Omokage no On'na (面影の女) – single (25 August,1975) *Nagashi Komori-uta (流し子守唄) – single (1976) *Koinyobo (恋女房) – album (29 April, 1976) *Enka Gokoro (演歌ごころ) – album (20 December, 1976) *Ishinomaki Burusu (石巻ブルース) – single (1977) * – album (17 December, 2008) *Odoro Maha Chadha (踊るマハチャダ) – compilation (19 November, 2008)

References