The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Karaoke

In the language of its birthplace, kara means empty and oke is the English-turned-Japanese abbreviation of orchestra. The concept being that you have no back-up band to cover up your superstar voice ... or complete lack of singing skills.

I had witnessed live karaoke in the United States and could not believe how people would so fearlessly take the stage and let loose, often times being booed by their ungracious audience. Being a “hazukashii,“ or shy person, I could never go to a bar and sing in front of a crowd of strangers. So, the first time my Japanese friends had the karaoke urge, I was anything but thrilled. I expected to see what I had seen back home: a lone singer in front of a group of bar hounds humiliating themselves. Instead, I followed my new pals into my first real karaoke box, a small, sound-proof, private room that you share with no one but your friends.

All Japanese karaoke boxes or bars have the basics: a menu, a sizeable couch, a monitor, and the karaoke machine. Other than that, the sky’s the limit. Some karaoke places have elegant, comfortable rooms, and most are themed. I’ve been in Elvis-themed rooms, spray-painted graffiti rooms, and my favorite-the cave room with Styrofoam walls painted to look just like a cool and refreshing cave.

But getting back down to business—the dreaded singing part. What finally made me comfortable enough to take the mic for the first time was not being pressured to go first or to have to do a solo act.

So, I chose what I thought I could manage to sing without sounding like a stray cat. The first tune I busted out, along with a friend who really can sing, was The Supremes’ Stop in the Name of Love, a silly choice because we soon realized that we only knew the chorus and the dance.

Anyway, it broke the ice, and after that I hammed it up with Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and got into the true karaoke spirit: Dare to sing, and badly!

If the support of your buddies is not enough to pressure you into taking the stage, remember, karaoke bars are just that—bars. From your wacky karaoke pad, you can order all kinds of drinks, and if you’re lucky, you’ll find a place that is nomihoudai, all you can drink. If drinks are limited, I recommend a Japanese spirit called chuhai, mixed with the juice of your choice, or a soda such as Ebisu. Having a chuhai close at hand will give you the courage to pull it off. So go ahead, sing your heart out, no one back home will ever find out.