Icciv's notes in Japan

Goto Party Success!!!

It was decided amongst those cleaning my house last night that the party this weekend had been successful. On Saturday, as 19 people squeezed into my little 2 up 2 down house, I felt slightly anxious whether everyone would fit! There was just enough room for us all to get together upstairs and play charades! Which was infact the only game we played as there were too many people and too much alcohol for anything else. It went down a treat though, with lots of shouting, calls for janken, and interesting acting. The food was great (may I recommend Hokka Hokka Tei food platters, cheap and yum!) and there was plenty for everyone! We moved on to Karaoke at around 9.30, and stayed there till the morning. Some great songs, and amusing antics made the night really great fun.

Karaoke has become a stable part of any big evening in Japan. One thing I've realised about it during my time here, is that certain rules do apply. In my mind, there are three types of karaoke; group, Japanese and solo and each have their own etiquette to be followed.

1. Group Karaoke

Group karaoke is the type most people encounter, and is a big part in bonding groups in Tokyo, block and prefectual orientations. When you first arrive in Japan, group karaoke really has no rules. Everyone is new to it and polite enough to listen to whatever anyone wants to sing. Though even at this stage we finished up with good group music, 'Hey Jude', singing and rocking with our arms round one anothers shoulders.

Pretty soon though Karaoke isn't new, it's something everyone does every other week when they go out drinking. By this stage, everyone is a karaoke regular, and thus group karaoke gets new rules. The rules are simple enough, though I have to admit they took me a while to get the hang of them;

1. Don't sing too many slow songs...people get bored, depressed and spend time asking for the book to choose a more uplifting track. (I made this mistake in the early karaoke days but singing 'Bridge over troubled water' and looking around to many bored faces.)

2. Even worse, don't sing a slow song that nobody knows! This leads to great boredom and disatisfaction with the song list. The more songs that come up that everyone can sing the less people feel they haven't had a go.

3. Singing Solo, never expect it to actually happen! People are there to join in, not to observe. You aren't there to perform to people, everyone wants to sing along together. You're at karaoke, who wants to be quiet?

4. The best songs are ones everyone knows, and more so the songs that were popular maybe ten years ago. On Saturday, a highlight for myself was Take That 'I want you back', old favourites always go down well, whether slow or fast.

5. Give everyone a chance to belt a number out!

These rules appear simple enough, but in reality they are possibly harder to abide by. I, myself, am certainly a rule breaker, especially when drink is involved. When I first arrived in Japan, karaoke was pretty new to me, and I approached it in a different way. As a person who loves singing and has seen karaoke in Britain, I saw singing as performing. I would look for a song I could sing well, perform well, and then give it a go. I have now learnt this is poor karaoke etiquette and slightly vain, and now I avoid the token power ballads I would sing before and opt for more...entertaining songs. Saying this, I still agreed when Andy insisted 'Karma Police' was the best song to sing next. It had got to that point in the night when your favourite song is the only song to sing! Also, there is always going to be a couple of people who are simply bored with karaoke as a whole now, and will probably moan about every song that comes on the screen though not go home! I think on the whole though I've got to grips with the rules of karaoke, though everytime before we embark on a group karaoke evening I tell myself 'How about you sing a little less this evening'!

2. Japanese Karaoke

This form of Karaoke is mainly after an enkai (works party) when everyone (again drunk) heads to the nearest snack bar or karaoke place. These rules are far simpler than group karaoke rules;

1. Sing everything requested to sing.

2 Sing a Japanese song, or attempt to recognise or sing part of a Japanese song.

3. Request Japanese co-workers to sing your favourite Japanese songs (this isn't really a rule, more of something I do).

4. Sing duets.

5. Listen to everyones song.

6. Only sing English songs people know.

I love karaoke after an enkai, it's garanteed fun and lots of singing. I have regular songs now. With Uonome Chugakko I always do 'A whole new world' with my JTE and 'Bridge over Troubled water' (thankfully popular with the Japanese) with the music teacher. I always get the art teacher to sing 'Ocean' by B'z (in return for me singing 'Hotel california') and we all sing this Japanese song together (well..I can sing the chorus). With Kita-Uonome Shogakko I taught them 5,6,7,8 and ever since we have to sing it twice! I haven't had an enkai in a while, though after the 12 I had last year I was a little relieved. Hopefully they will start up again soon.

3. Solo Karaoke

When I say solo karaoke...I don't mean going alone. Solo karaoke really refers to going to karaoke with one, maybe 2 people, and singing everything YOU want to sing. When Catherine first mentioned going to Karaoke in a small group, or even alone, I laughed at the idea. I thought see was karaoke crazy! 'It's no fun without lots of us' I said. I was wrong. Karaoke in a small group is great, it's the best way! Me and Melissa have been a couple of times now, and still stayed 2 hours. You can sing all the songs you want, sing your best, perform a tune. There is no one waiting for their song, feeling bored when you sing that slow number no one knows. When I go to karaoke with Melissa we listen to each other and sing together and have fun. There are no rules except sing anything you want. My favourite type of karaoke.

So, heres my karaoke summary, which type do you prefer?

posted by Icciv @ 8:31 am