Karaoke is a popular form of entertainment in Japan in which a person sings to a taped (or LD) accompaniment. According to one source (1), karaoke originated in a snack bar in Kobe, where management recorded a tape for use at practice sessions of professional singers. In 1976, an electronics company commenced selling a machine called "karaoke 8", which selected an eight-track cartridge tape containing four tunes. This prototype later developed into laser-disk karaoke, VHD karaoke, CD karaoke, etc. These sorts of equipment became a standard in entertainment establishments popular with salary men.
Many Japanese use karaoke to have a good time and to escape from reality by drinking, singing and dancing with a microphone which would give them a sense of fantasy of becoming a professional singer or just to have outright fun.
There are many karaoke establishments all over the world. You can find them in Japan in many bars and pubs and in American, many Korean establishments have Japanese karaoke hits. In karaoke, you watch a television screen which displays lyrics (depending on what language you are singing too) and you see a video accompanying the song. On some instances they are the original music video with the performers but most of the time they are embarrassing videos with cheesy actors.
Outside of Japan, many people use romanji lyrics to sing Japanese karaoke. Romanji lyrics for Japanese songs (and links to romanji sites) can be found at the Asunaro Karaoke Center at: http://j-ent.asianconnections.com//KARAOKE/
The majority of contemporary Japanese music CD singles include songs that are accompanied with a karaoke version of the song.
Also, Japanese karaoke LD's can be purchased in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and at San Francisco's Japan Town.
Mikado Laser Japan in SF Japan Town carries many karaoke LD's (Pioneer and Teichiku) which are in the $50 range.
Mikado-Laser Japan
Contact Mikado-Laser Japan at 1-(415) 922-9450 and for [FAX]: 1-(415) 922-1682.
Before buying a Japanese karaoke LD, make sure that your LD player has analog and digital capability. Digital plays the song without the voices and analog plays it with the voices. Most LD's come with 10 songs. Collecting Japanese karaoke LD's is not a cheap hobby and I recommend thinking before you start purchasing one. The reason I say this is because once you buy one, more than likely you will buy more and more. Again, just to emphasize a karaoke LD cost around the $50 range. You can buy 4-LD sets for around $200 and 2-LD sets for around $120.
(1) Source: An Introduction to Japanese Society: Popular Culture and Everyday Life.
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