January 25, 2010

Sing, Sing a Song!


Karaoke. People either love it or hate it.

Karaoke comes from the two words 'Kara (empty)' and 'Orchestra,' and was originally used when artists would sing without the actual orchestra and instead use a tape or when band members would practice without the vocalist. Then in the 70's, the first karaoke machine was introduced and from then on it's become popular worldwide.

Tokorozawa's Prope Dori, the shopping arcade near the station, has a lot of places to karaoke. Karaoke Kan, in the photo above, is one of the biggest karaoke chains in Japan.



Inside karaoke boxes we use this machine as a remote control to find songs by artist, title, etc. There are over 130 thousand songs to choose from, including songs in English, Chinese, Korean, and Filipino.

People here go karaoke with friends, family, and co-workers. Some even go alone to practice. I have to admit, once you get the hang of it, it really is fun to belt out a couple of tunes!

What's your favorite song to sing?

8 comments:

Tall Gary said...

You do not want to hear me sing. But I wouldn’t mind listening to this.

arabesque said...

yup! we love to sing here!
in fact, while i'm commenting right now, i can hear the small karaoke machine downstairs playing and this guy's voice just sounds terrible! ^0^

fave song i can think of now:
More than words...^0^

Leif Hagen said...

When I was teaching in Japan in 1990, I always had to sing "My way" or "La bamba" at karoke places. Their list of English songs was short!

VP said...

Trying to sing at a karaoke I'll loose friends, family, and even co-workers!

Copenhagen said...

I hate karaoke 'cause i can't sing to safe my life.

Kaori said...

You guys are all so funny! I'm sure you can sing, and it's the enthusiasm that really counts :D

Arabesque, you may have to lead this pack with the singing!

Leif, I think we have a wider variety of english songs now, you'll have to come and see!

Lenola Daily Photo said...

Exploding colors! Great!

Would be cool to see this shotted at night :)

Kaori said...

Lenola Daily Photo, I'll be sure to get a night shot next time :)

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