Of Karaoke

So I went karaoking for the first time the other day, and let me just say, it was really exciting. Our trip began with us taking off by train down to Hakubaicho to find ourselves a classic karaoke place. Once we got there, we just wandered the streets until one appeared. In neon lights. You can tell its popular with the youth because there were a good hundred bikes outside.

So we walk inside, step up to the counter, and ask to buy a room. Unlike in the States, you buy individual rooms here for a set period of time. That way the only people you inflict your voice upon is your close friends. (I don't know about the rest of you, but that's a good thing in my opinion.) So, for 980 yen each (approximately $10), we got a room for 3 hours. Awesome.

Surprisingly, we got carded. I can honestly say this is the first time I've been carded my entire time in Japan. You never get carded. It's kind of wonderful. Either people actually believe my age, or no one cares. Either way, I'm happy.

So, after paying our humble fee, we got a box with the controller (which is really a miniature computer with a display of all of the songs) and 2 microphones.  We walked into the room and stopped. This was no normal karaoke place. The room was huge; it easily could have fit 20 people. The seats were really just cushions and pillows, and love seats covered in leopard print. I'm not kidding. You can't make this stuff up. Where were we? Oh yeah, leopard print. So we have this room full of leopard print seats and we're shocked. We walk in, all excited, and start to choose songs. A few are normal, you know, the recent hits on the radio. There are plenty of songs in English and Japanese. And then, then, we find a blast from the past. Spice Girls. And then, Backstreet Boys. And then, Queen. You name it, it was there. the song book was easily as big as a phone book, if not bigger.

And that's how it went, for 3 hours. It was amazing, and we all left happy.

On another note, tensions between China and Japan are increasing again. It seems Chinese ships are near the Senkaku Islands, and so Japan is submitting a formal complaint. Protests seem to be happening in China as well over Japan's continued claims to the island. To be honest, I can't really tell you the Japanese opinion on this. I don't know if there have been any protests here against China or not. I'll continue to keep you updated.

Michelle