from Game1980 on Flickr
Visiting Japan? Of the many things to do when visiting Japan, karaoke invariably makes the top ten. It is popular, that is for sure. It is not a peculiar aspect of Japanese tastes that are taken out of context, I have Japanese friends and it is a popular choice to go to karaoke. But wait, what is “karaoke”? You definitely have your own ideas of what karaoke is, but let me tell you what karaoke is to me, a college exchange student living in Japan.
Karaoke: although there are a few different kinds of karaoke places, at the most popular ones, you get your own room. At a cheaper place, the room is small, with enough room to cram 6-8 friends in on two bench seats around a table. At the end of the table is a normal television on its own table with a bunch of sound and karaoke equipment under it. You can change some equalizer and sound settings here to satisfy your tastes here. On the table is the touch-screen computer-thing that you use to search the huge song catalog and select songs to sing. There are a ton of Japanese songs, and, surprisingly, also a ton of American songs, too (Japan loves American media). There are also a few dictionary-sized song catalogs if you prefer to look through the a book. If you need a picture (which usually helps), searh flickr or google for “small karaoke room” and glance through the results.
A smaller place that specializes in karaoke might have 20-30 rooms, so after you check in at the front counter, you are given a microphone, a room number, and maybe some other stuff. After you get your room number, you wander the corridors of thumping karaoke rooms looking for the one that matches up. The party begins.
It costs in the ballpark of 600-1000 yen per hour during the day, depending on the place. I prefer to do the much more cost-effective all-nighter plan, which is around 1500 yen for 11pm-5am. This may seem daunting to some, but I couldn’t imagine getting enough karaoke in if we only did 2-3 hours during the day. Some of your friends may drop dead when 2-3am rolls around, but keep the party rolling, because when a good song comes up, they will pop up to make sure it is sung right.
Most karaoke places also offer some nourishment to their customers, such as free ice cream, free (weak) soup, or a 100 yen all-you-can-drink drink bar, with coffee, tea, soda, or maybe slushees available. We always do the drink bar, because caffeine is needed to fuel an all-night karaoke rave party. Another option that is available at some karaoke places is a two-hour all-you-can-drink alcohol bar as well. That costs an extra 3000-3500 for two hours, so its price deters us from partaking every time.
Tip: Choose some songs that everybody knows, such as YMCA, The Beatles, or Backstreet Boys to ensure that everybody has a good time.
Tip: Don’t monopolize the room by selfishly picking 7 songs that only you know in a row, or even in the same hour.
Tip: Try entertain your audience. Stand up, do some dance moves, love your song, maybe even take your pants off. Memories are made in a karaoke room.
