Little more than four weeks have passed since I arrived in Japan, and already I've discovered a new hobby: karaoke.  I have been to two widely different places for this entertainment so far, both inside Hirakata city.  One was the senior citizens karaoke bar referenced in my second post, and the other is a much more contemporary place, known as the Big Wave, around Makino station.  The website for that place is here: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/k942303/

One can walk around in most neighborhoods and see several karaoke bars.  In the area around Kansai Gaidai University, I have spotted at least two:  エミ and 愛愛.  But what does it mean that there are so many places to enjoy this pastime?  Where did karaoke begin? 

According to this article http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/inoue1.html, Daisuke Inoue created the first karaoke machines and leased them to different parlors, during the early 1970s.  Although the habit was expensive at first, as 500 yen could easily pay for two meals, it soon became popular and spread to the rest of Asia, and now to practically the rest of the world.  Profits from karaoke equal more than 10 billion dollars a year!  A good quote from this article reads:

"It also seems apt that this quintessentially Japanese product, made by a man strolling to the beat of his own private drum-kit, has touched a chord worldwide. Signs for "karaoke nights" now appear outside mom-and-pop stalls in Third World villages and on the glittery billboard of the Hollywood Park Casino in California. Global icons practice it in films like My Best Friend's Wedding, and steelworkers howl away in English towns, where "carry-okie" sounds like a cousin of "cash 'n' carry." Religious figures have been heard to say that karaoke is as essential to the soul as tai chi, and 53 million Japanese alone have inflicted their voices on the world. Even in a city like Phnom Penh you can sing everything from O Sole Mio to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." 

Karaoke is more than just a place, I have found, to practice singing.  Relatively few people practice what is called hitokara (ヒトカラ) that is, singing karaoke alone.  It is a place to relax and party with friends, a place to enjoy eating and drinking, and a place to enjoy a different, lively atmosphere.  Karaoke bars specialize in their clientele; the senior citizens bar and the Big Wave are obviously catering to different audiences, as can be seen from the picture below.  For an example of the other bar, see my previous post.



The Big Wave

Some online retailers even specialize in karaoke products and machines, such as www.karaoke.com!  And a sister video game to Dance Dance Revolution has hit the States:



Karaoke has a worldwide appeal, but it began in Japan, a bare thirty some years ago.  To have reached so many places in such a short span of time probably makes karaoke the biggest cultural export besides...sushi!

Tags: daisuke inoue, karaoke
Current Mood: curious