A Final Karaoke

2nd November, 2003 - We only had a few days left, so T-chan and I got in one last Karaoke session at one of the local places. You would be hard pressed to know that this was a Karaoke centre looking at the interior design - but it's actually unusual to see something that looks normal in Karaoke. This local place was done in a cutesy motif. Unlike in the West (or at least in Australia), Karaoke in Japan is most often sung in small private booths - rather than in open pubs. You can book it by yourself - or more typically a group of friends. It's dirt cheap - maybe 1,000 yen for 2-3 hours. Depends on the deal (and if you want drinks/food)


The systems in 2003 were not overly sophisticated... LCD/Plasma screens weren't that universal as they are today. Looking at this I have to laugh a little. Even back at this time there was a good range of English songs - plus T-chan still had some idea about the "new" songs. You may need to ask for an "English" system however.

Food and drinks is one of the great things about Karaoke... ok - you won't get quality cuisine, but there's a good variety and always plenty of drinks to wash it all down with. Of course - the rooms smell of cigarette smoke... but that wasn't a problem for us back then.

And sometimes it helps to have some handy non-language specific signs... or is that instructions? After all that beer and food - this is a good place to be able to find.

Ahhhh - T-chan and I really love our Karaoke.