Will karaoke substitute more traditional entertainments in Japan?

Added: 12/20/2005

The Japanese like parties and entertainment, they do not feel embarrassed to sing or dance in front of the others, and since ancient times, each party has been accompanied by someone's singing or dancing. If a singer goes out of tune, it makes a Japanese party livelier and arouses laughter. In fact, the Japanese like singing and it is unnatural for many of them only to listen to those, who sing. This is the background for the karaoke appearance and popularity.

Karaoke, known and popular today in the whole world, has been one of the most favorite forms of entertainment in East Asia since 1980s, whereas the industry of karaoke started in the early 1970s. At first, the Japanese recognized karaoke as a fad that lacks a live atmosphere of a real performance. They also considered it expensive, although the karaoke price was the same as the fare for two typical lunches. However, as the Japanese learned the innovation more attentively, karaoke started its rapid extension as an amusing entertainment.

Perhaps, everyone likes singing, even the one, who has neither voice nor ear for music, while sometimes many people dream of being either a music or a movie star. In the course of time, we start realizing whether we have a talent for singing or not, and for the absence of which the dream will remain a dream. Due to that reason, karaoke has gained so much popularity, since it allows everybody and everyone to sing along like a music star, and once being a nightclub entertainment mainly, karaoke today is a popular entertainment that many families can afford to have in their homes.

A modern karaoke machine is an audio mixer with a microphone input, built-in with CD+G, Video CD, Laser Disc, or DVD players. CD+G players use a special track, called a sub-code to encode the lyrics and pictures, displayed on the screen, while the other formats natively display both: audio and video. In some countries, karaoke with video lyrics display capabilities is called KTV.
Most karaoke machines have a technology that electronically changes the pitch of music so that amateur singers can sing along to any music source by choosing a key that is appropriate for their vocal range, while maintaining the original tempo of the song. Nevertheless, karaoke is not limited with CD and DVD players either. There are karaoke video CDs, karaoke on mobile phones and karaoke on computers and Internet. In the past only pop-song karaoke machines were available, today we have practically every-genre karaoke.

Although karaoke is a popular and captivating entertainment among the Japanese, there is one more activity that they like even more. This is pachinko, a mixture between a slot machine and a pinball. Approximately a quarter of the Japanese population, which is between forty-fifty million people, play pachinko at least occasionally, and more than thirty million are avid players. For many players pachinko is a chance to win on a considerably small "investment", but professional players regard pachinko as the game, actually yielding serious sums. If you want to play pachinko in Japan, it will not be difficult to find a pachinko parlor. There is at least one parlor near each train station, looking like a small casino with neon signs and flashing lights.

Since changing attitudes and lifestyles seem to avert people from pachinko to more amusing entertainments, karaoke inclusive, this gambling is so well established that it seems to firmly stand its ground as one of Japanese favorite leisure occupations for many years to come.

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