Most places charge admission per person per 30 minutes, with a one-hour minimum. Then you need to work out how long you want to rent a room. Otherwise, the first step is to tell the staff the size of your party. Some chains may require a nominal membership, which someone in the group will have to sign up for, so make sure at least one person has an ID. Reservations aren't required, though occasionally you may have to wait for a room to open up. You enter a karaoke box as you do a hotel, heading first to the counter in the lobby. How best to get around in Japan: bullet train, bus or plane? How do I book a karaoke box? Smaller cities often have one near the main train station, and it just might be the only after-dark entertainment option around. All major cities have them, in entertainment districts or around major train stations.

A typical karaoke box has multiple floors with dozens of rooms of varying sizes. In Japan, karaoke is usually sung in private rooms with friends, at establishments called karaoke boxes. These soundproof rooms fitted with a karaoke machine, TV and even flashing lights emerged in the late 1980s to early 1990s, taking the karaoke machine out of smoky bars and making it a family-friendly activity for any time of day.Ī karaoke bar near the Kita-Senju train station in Northern Tokyo © ssiltane / Getty Images What's the karaoke scene like in Japan today? Nowadays karaoke boxes are the go-to place for many in Japan looking for an hour or two of entertainment. However, towards the tail end of the 1960s, the practice was adapted for the public, and amateur singers could now belt out tunes on a microphone hooked up to an amp at their favorite bars. In its early days, karaoke was used exclusively by professional performers. In other words, “karaoke” meant that a singer would perform to a recorded backing track, negating the need for an orchestra. Though the word choice may strike modern audiences as odd, in the early decades of the 1900s when backing music to singers’ performances were usually played live by a band or an orchestra, “karaoke” gave the impression of a lone singer and empty seats where the other musicians should be. Where did karaoke come from?įor those who understand Japanese, the word 'karaoke' itself may give you a clue as to its origins: it’s a portmanteau of two words: kara (the Japanese word for 'empty'), and orchestra. It doesn't matter if you're a good singer or not, as long as you've got heart. Trends come and go but karaoke (pronounced ka-ra-ohkay) has been a fixture of Japan's culture for decades.

Round one karaoke song list