{"id":9097,"date":"2016-04-25T16:25:31","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T07:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/?p=9097"},"modified":"2020-06-03T19:13:48","modified_gmt":"2020-06-03T10:13:48","slug":"karaoke-guide-how-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/karaoke-guide-how-to\/","title":{"rendered":"How to do Japanese Karaoke ?!"},"content":{"rendered":"
Karaoke allows one to be quiet all day, and uproarious at the midnight hour. The word, a contraction of kara (empty) and oke (okesutora, or orchestra), is anything but once filled with lively souls. In a compartmentalized excess of nightlife, karaoke provides a single place for outpouring all those pent-up feelings and desires to sing and dance. But how?<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tokyo’s nightlife calls as you\u2019ve rushed the ramen shops and toured the old town, but your wallet has thinned. Price is hardly a problem concerning karaoke, when you can spend little yen for a couple hour\u2019s visit.\u00a0 Free time \u2013 an option that allows a set rate for, usually, either of two fat time blocks \u2013 is the most economic option. These long hours give you countless songs with an abundance of time for properly enjoying karaoke, without fretting over your final countdown.<\/p>\n At the counter, usually presiding over a plaza, like at Tokyo\u2019s ubiquitous Karaoke Ban, you\u2019ll be presented with a timetable and a price guide.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to point and choose with a finger, but there is more than one sheet to wag a finger at. At some karaoke locations, such as Rainbow<\/a>, it\u2019s mandatory so spend an additional fee on either all-you-can-drink soft drinks or alcohol. This fee is a sort of surcharge, but trust that it serves a perfect complement and cost-efficiency to prevent an unfortunate frying vocal cords by night’s end.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In many cases around Tokyo, this mandatory drink fee is at least five hundred extra yen. It is possible dropping coins for a single drink. At karaoke locations where this is a common option, like Karaoke Ban Ban, you\u2019ll be presented with a pictured menu.\u00a0 Though a single drink may be a less appealing option, don\u2019t necessarily consider the deal off. Karaoke Ban Ban can total at 1600 Yen for a night of free time (try the location by Tokyo’s Waseda University), including both the time cost and the mandatory drink – cheaper than most nightlife.<\/p>\n If you choose to limit yourself on time, you can enjoy a sweet heartfelt wailing over a half-an-hour for as low as 90 Yen. One Tokyo location limits singing to one hour. At more conventional chains, two- or three-hour blocks are common. Just be wary that as you are forgetting yourself completely in song, you\u2019ll be warned of your final ten minutes by phone. If you choose not to heed the call, every additional half-hour costs an extra fee; the cost becomes less economic than free time.<\/p>\n No matter the cost plan, you will be paying after your last song when you return to the reception desk. Before entering the assigned room, you\u2019ll still need to thumb through your wallet for a little identification.\u00a0 Filling out a sheet with name and information, you\u2019ll receive a member card. Completing this, you\u2019ll be given a receipt clipping a clipboard for a later monetary transaction. Top your all-you-can-drink glass, then head over to your room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n You\u2019ll be greeted by a cycling video of karaoke news, cheery voiced hosts interviewing singers with the latest singles and music videos. If you\u2019re also greeted by a particularly strong, smoky haze (certain chains allow smoking inside the karaoke booths, others inside their lounges), you can quickly make for reception and request a room change.\u00a0 Cord phones connect every room directly to the reception, if you prefer this convenience. Once comfortable, grab the song selecting device, sit on the slick sofa, then dim the lights in your private penthouse for the night.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Unlike the paper song catalogues of the karaoke back home in the USA, Japanese karaoke always has a video screen device. It\u2019s often a touch screen device, occasionally outfitted with a stylus.\u00a0 Typical of Japan, the devices are also often in Japanese.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While these touch screen devices are universal, whichever one you use might change with the karaoke system your room comes equipped with. On this karaoke screen, one button lists the Japanese for \u201csong search.” \u00a0Select such a button \u2013 in this case the darker orange, upon the screen’s left. Among the boxes clustered around the next page is a song language option. Selecting this, you can choose from typically English, Chinese, or Korean language songs. Search and scroll until you decide upon a request (in this case, the button will be available at the screen’s bottom right corner).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A search in your language of choice will also direct you away from the full pool of music you can draw from. Sometimes, you can only find that certain forgotten eighties English hit by searching in the latin alphabet under the general Japanese search.\u00a0 The Japanese search is not so overwhelming. With this device, following the first orange button, the orange square designates musician search while the green designates song search. An endlessly useful tip is that \u201c\u66f2\u201d will always mean song, while\u201d\u6b4c\u624b\u201d indicates singer\/musician.\u00a0 On the following page, select the yellow button \u201c\u82f1\u6570\u201d (meaning English characters and numbers), then your search is good as complete.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As song browsing can be at odds with your carousing, it\u2019s also helpful to know how to touch up your search or cancel a song. To return a page, click any button marked \u201c\u3082\u3069\u308b.\u201d With this system, it\u2019s the lonely green button at the bottom left.\u00a0 In universal emergency red, the song cancellation button is the most fun to press. Marked red with the characters \u201c\u6f14\u594f\u4e2d\u6b62,\u201d it is most conveniently located at the volume control screen to the front of the room.\u00a0 Take care, as this will cancel the current song, and has caused the chagrin of many party members.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n