~~Karaoke~~うたいましょう

Karaoke room (Picture taken with my camera by a worker at karaoke)

Drinking at Karaoke 

               Many foreigners travel to Tokyo and one of the nightlife activities they want to experience is karaoke. The question one may ask is what exactly happens at karaoke. Well it can depend on the group that you are with but what usually happens is when walking into the karaoke “bar” you approach the counter and sign up for at least one hour of karaoke then choose whether you would like nomihoudai which means all you can drink with alcohol or without. The cashier hands you a little clipboard with the time you are allowed to stay at the karaoke bar. After that, take an elevator (because stairs are the absolute last resort in Japanese society) to the floor your room is on. The rooms are usually cramped but if you have a larger group, they will assign you an appropriate sized room. From then you can begin your karaoke experience of nonstop singalong with delicious appetizers and drink bar. During the afternoon is cheaper about 500-800 yen an hour, possibly less, while in the evening, after five or six p.m. the prices rise to about 600-1000 yen per hour. All night karaoke is also a very enjoyable experience where after 11 p.m, a group can get nomihoudai and karaoke till five in the morning for at least 3000 yen. That is most certainly a bargain.

                Karaoke is useful in a city where there isn’t a lot of private space to let loose or to enjoy music. It is a fun nighttime experience that teenagers who are not yet of drinking age. But it also is important and not considered especially embarrassing to sing in front of friends. In America, many people are shy to perform in front of others while in Japan it is a favorite activity to go with friends and sing a few favorites for everyone to hear. Japanese workers and students are some of the hardest working in the world so it is simply a way to destress and feel free to go a little crazy for some catchy music.