カラオケ from Japanese kara, “empty” or “void”, and Åkesutora, “orchestra”
I thought I’d touch upon a little activity I have become quite fond of here in the Japan. That activity is called カラオケ. Memorize these symbols carefully friends, for if you ever visit Japan, it will serve as an oasis of entertainment and life-long memories (as well as a cheap place to sleep!!). These symbols are the katakana for KA RA OH KE.
Karaoke is a completely different experience in Japan than from what I know back home. In Canada at least, we’re used to a karaoke machine in the corner of a bar or pub or at a wedding, etc. singers at random then preform for whatever crowd happens to occupy the large space that the machine occupies. It is definitely fun, but all together different than my experiences in Japan.
[Half of the Osaka Training Group - from left to right: Frank, Jed, Renzo and Myself. This was our last night together as a group and we absolutely made the best of it! For more, see the ‘more photos of Aaron’ section on the facebook]
When one goes out karaoke’ing for the evening, it is typically with a group of 3 to 10+ persons. Like going out on the town back home, the group will typically first go to eat. In Japan, my favourite of the evening eating establishments is the Izakaya (of which deserves an entire post on its own, so more later) which is something like a Pub that we’d be used to back home. After the eating and a decent amount of ‘priming’, so to speak, the group will then advance to a Karaoke establishment. Karaoke bars are much like restaurants, some are large corprate chains, some are sketchy hole-in the wall spots. Both of which can be either good or bad. In my experience, the chain ‘Big Echo’ has always been an excellent time.
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These establishments vary of course, but typically are equipped with a series of 3 x 6m rooms, some even have 2 or 3 floors of these rooms. They are numbered like hotel rooms, and what you find inside is a large U-shaped booth-like table (restaurant style), where the occupants sit around facing one another, and pointed toward the opposite end of the room which houses the all-important Karaoke machine. Prices on drinks and songs vary, but at Big Echo you book by the hour, and in those few hours, it is ‘all-you-can-drink’. This, I feel, is the greatest ‘bang for the buck’ if you will. Also, an important thing to note is that in some karaoke bars there is a price to stay ‘all night’, if you are in a bind for a place to stay, seriously consider camping out in a karaoke room! (more on living in japan on the cheap later in a later entry…)
A note about the K-machine itself, it is essentially a large television with what looks like a VCR and a large amplifier for the two connected microphones. From which, you control the level of the singer’s voices and the actual song playing. The reverb is absolutely cranked up, which makes for not only a richer and ‘bigger’ experience, but a hilarious one. The songs are selected by a table-top remote, of which is constantly being passed between the occupants, vigorously.
I was so impressed with the selection. Not only do they have almost all major North American pop-songs dating from now until the 70’s, but they also have all kinds of awkwardly horrible 80’s music, and awesome alternative music from the 90’s. This selection, at first daunting, has really gotten me thinking about how to have the best possible experience, which brings me to the delicate art…
My first song was “Where is My Mind” by the Pixies, and one would think that the point of the whole karaoke experience would be to show off your ‘Indie Cred‘. A kind of answering to the question “What’s the most unknown song from the 80’s to the present that is legitimately awesome, and you happen to know all the words to?” This would then impress your friends, show them that you are musically inclined and that you have a ‘hip’ and ‘with it’ understanding of what music is.
This initial inclination is entirely false. The art of karaoke has absolutely nothing to do with actual ’skill’ or ‘knowledge’ of music.
I more than quickly discovered the plethora of horrific 80’s music. By horrific, I mean awkward and passionate power ballads. Some of which are not always bad songs, but it is the amount of enthusiasm that you put into said song that will make it awkward and passionate. After the Pixies, and a brief stint with “Heartbeats” by The Knife, I gathered my wits and made my selections for what is now my On-going “JÅ«hachiban”, which is the equivalent to a ‘Top 40′ back home, except instead of 40, it’s 18 (Ju-hachi) songs that you love to whip out at any karaoke outing. So far these are my ’standards’, so to speak:
“The Power of Love” - Huey Lewis and the News
“Don’t Stop Believing” - Journey
“I Wanna Know What Love Is” - Foreigner (CURRENT FAVE!)
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” - Bonnie Tyler
“Dancing in the Dark” - Bruce Springsteen
“Psycho Killer” - Talking Heads
“Dare to Be Stupid” - Weird Al Yankovic
“Friday I’m In Love” - The Cure
“Love Will Tear Us Apart” - Joy Devision
This is merely a tentative list, it’s not even the standard 18 that every credible (okay, well, the few that i know anyway,) Japanese person has in their karaoke arsenal. It will grow, and transform and I shall keep you all updated on this extremely crucial new aspect to my life.
The point is that karaoke in Japan is a much more social experience, it’s more about the small group that you are outing with, instead of an audience of complete strangers that you might sing to. It’s a bit of a bonding experience and so far I have never had a bad time. The only complaint I have is that I haven’t found Solidarity Forever….
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