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A few nights ago I attended the graduation dinner of some design students who were friends and students of mine. After the graduation dinner we had a second party. Then after we had consumed plenty of alcohol it was time to go crazy and paint the town read. We went to Karaoke. With enough alcohol Karaoke can be very addictive. What could be more fun then belting out your favorite songs with lots of alcohol.

The word “kara” means empty and “oke” referring to orchestra, “empty orchestra.” The idea being a singer performs with an orchestra that is not really there. If you have never been to a Karaoke bar it is a little bizarre when you first walk into one. A fairly large building houses lots of little small rooms. Each room has cheap, but clean vinyl furniture, a TV set, microphones, several remote controls, stacks of song books, and intercom phone and menus for food and drinks. So you can not only sing at these places, but have drinks and eat. Generally the food is junk and the drinks cheap, but nasty. You look through a song book, program a song, grab a mike and start singing.

Karaoke bars are a much needed recreational and social environment for Japanese considering the amount of daily stress the average Japanese has. At karaoke bars Japanese can let their hair down and go crazy. All is forgiven and forgotten at Karaoke bars with bosses mixing with low ranking staff hamming things up and just having a good time. Japanese who are generally shy and socially challenged don’t mind belting out a few songs in front of an audience or friends. Needless to say you can really have a good time at Karaoke bars. The enthusiasm and gusto Japanese have for karaoke has to be seen to be believed.