Fun Facts About Karaoke

Let’s start with something unusual: Did you know that the word “karaoke” means “empty orchestra”?

This term was originally used when professional singers performed without a live orchestra, singing to the tune of a pre-recorded tape that contained the music.

Origin of Karaoke

It was in the late 1960s when karaoke became available to the general public. Initially, stereos and backing tracks were only found in bars and pubs, and people would sing in front of others with a microphone.

What is karaoke like in Japan?

Nowadays, karaoke is done in private, dedicated rooms. The rooms are small, with a capacity for a maximum of 4-8 people, and they’re usually lit with dim lighting. There is a large screen where you can read the lyrics of the songs, two microphones, and instruments like tambourines and maracas to make music and create a party atmosphere. Generally, you can also order drinks and fast food.

There are several ways to have fun in a karaoke room. The Japanese often go with their friends or after work with colleagues. Typically, people take turns singing, rather than everyone singing at the same time. There are also rooms for children, equipped with a small playground and Legos, where mothers and their kids can have a good time. Recently, it’s become trendy among young people to go to karaoke alone (called Hito-kara), just to go all out singing and relieve stress! Others take advantage of the private, soundproof rooms to practice with musical instruments.

Karaoke is such a popular pastime in Japan that there are over 8,000 karaoke establishments in the country, and the number of users remains stable at around 50 million annually (that’s half of Japan’s population!).

However, the number of karaoke owners significantly decreased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a drop in the number of users (only 26 million compared to 50 million in previous years) led to the closure of many karaoke rooms, a 40% decrease compared to the previous year.

There’s always a wide variety of Japanese songs to choose from, including musical themes and anime songs. Anime songs are fun because they often include animated images that scroll across the screen while you sing. There are also plenty of English songs to choose from.

Japanese Music: A Brief Summary

Japanese music is not very well known in the West, but like other Eastern music, it tends to have a strong sonic component. Paradoxically, we are more likely to be familiar with traditional Japanese music, such as that from Japanese theater, for example, than with the music of contemporary bands.

Just like in other countries, different music genres coexist in Japan. There is classical music, folk music, rock, and ‘modern’ music in general.

Japanese folk music is divided into four main categories:

• Songs sung at work

• Religious songs

• Songs for special events (parties, weddings, etc.)

• Children’s songs

It is usually accompanied by instruments such as the three-stringed lute, the shamisen (a typical Japanese instrument), drums, and other traditional Japanese instruments.

Among modern music, rock is very popular and has been widespread since the 1960s. Since the late 1980s, Japan has seen the rise of Bīshuaru kei (Visual Kei) in popularity. This is a ‘visual style’ that includes multiple music genres and an extravagant yet refined appearance in terms of stage costumes, hairstyles, makeup, and attitude.

A place of honor in the Japanese music scene is undoubtedly held by music created for video games and anime. Among the most famous (and appreciated) video game soundtracks is certainly that of Final Fantasy VI, composed by Nobuo Uematsu in 1994.