Departments
Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
KARAOKE
カラオケ
karaoke
As a cultural phenomenon, karaoke has spread well beyond Japan’s borders. There is hardly a country on earth where the practice of singing to professionally recorded background instrumental tracks is completely unknown.
Nevertheless, Japan is still the world capital of karaoke. The activity is often a key element of the after-hours social life of salaried workers. Just about every bar in Japan seems to have a karaoke machine. Many Japanese also have karaoke machines in their homes.
Karaoke instrumental recordings are available for every imaginable sort of music, and karaoke has become a lucrative secondary market for recording companies. Whatever sort of music you happen to like—rap, disco, rock-n-roll, or even country-western—you will be sure to find an ample number of karaoke recordings available in the genre. Traditional Japanese musical genres, such as enka 演歌,are also favorites.