Karaoke Kan in Shinjuku |
So, it was with some relief that late in my Gunma stay, some students and I found a karaoke motel of sorts way out in the boonies. It was just like a real motel...rooms side-by-side with cars parked in front of them where we could sing amongst friends or colleagues for 1-2 hours. It was the start of the transition into karaoke boxes.
And so during my long odyssey in Chiba/Tokyo, students, fellow teachers and I have often centered our social outings in these huge glass-and-steel buildings in places like Shinjuku, Ginza and Ikebukuro. It's almost a shame to call them karaoke boxes since they are far more elaborate than that second word.
Everybody Wang Chung tonight! |
To the right is the lobby of Karaoke Kan down on the ground level. In keeping with the hotel-like atmosphere, it does look like check-in time. Most of the folks going there are the young'uns but the older generation also stops by to keep the kayo kyoku alive.
A typical menu in a karaoke box has lots and lots of fried food. A nutritionist wouldn't be caught dead here although a lot of karaoke veterans could be. Onion rings, karaage fried chicken, okonomiyaki...it's a veritable smorgasbord of excess. After eating this stuff, you'll be dying to sing that languid Anzen Chitai ballad.
"Picard to Engineering" |
I think I mentioned in my karaoke bar days, the song list was about as thick as The Yellow Pages. Well, not anymore in Japan. Now, touchpads are the thing. Just use the plastic stylus to tap to your favourite song or even use one's stubby, greasy (from the karaage) fingers to get that obscure anime tune. One can also control the pitch of the song with the touchpad and perhaps even add vocal effects such as an echo or vocal gender-switching. Fantasize about being that Takarazuka Revue Top Star? Fantasize no more.
Probably the strangest karaoke experience I'd ever had was at The Big Echo in Yurakucho, just north of Ginza. I think a small bunch of us had celebrated a graduation party and we decided on singing a few tunes for a couple of hours. Since it was a Saturday, The Big Echo was nearly booked solid so we ended up on the 7th floor, which was totally dedicated to Hello Kitty! Ironically, the world's most famous mute cat loudly made her presence known all over the walls, floors and doors of the 7th floor. Even the mikes were pasted with her visage. If there were a place to have a psychotic break...
I think the one of the reasons that kayo kyoku still has its place in Japanese society is because of karaoke. Every time a song like "Hatsukoi"or "Cat's Eye"is sung, it is remembered. And because it is remembered, it is sung. Now that I'm back in Toronto, my access to karaoke is pretty much nil since it never really took hold in North America. But then again, my karaoke outings dissipated in my last few years in Japan since a lot of my friends around me at that time would have needed to be zapped by an overpowered cattle prod to be forced into a karaoke box. Mind you, in certain areas of Shinjuku, being zapped by an overpowered cattle prod is actually an alternative activity.
Found this video on YouTube of a group of people around my age enjoying themselves in some karaoke box. Not sure if this is Karaoke Kan or SHIDAX, but the point is that it's a typical scene of folks singing their favorite tunes off-tune while fiddling with the touchpads, eating away at their starches or negotiating with the waitress. Heck, even "My Way"is in there. Watch it the whole way through, if you dare.
The room kinda looks like a briefing room on the new Enterprise.
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