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: History Of Karaoke :
WORD ORIGIN :
The Japanese word "karaoke" is now listed not
only in Japanese dictionaries but also in the latest edition of The Oxford
English Dictionary published in England, one of the most distinguished and
formal English dictionaries, proving the word has become common throughout
the world.
Karaoke is a typical form of entertainment for
Japanese business people; they drop into a bar with colleagues after work,
have a drink, and enjoy singing popular songs to the accompaniment of karaoke.
Karaoke has been entertaining people ever since its invention 20 years ago,
and has become firmly established in Japanese society, going far beyond just
a temporary boom.
BORN IN KOBE :
Karaoke is a Japanese abbreviated compound word:
"kara" comes from "karappo" meaning empty, and "oke" is the abbreviation
of "okesutura," or orchestra.
Usually, a recorded popular song consists of
vocals and accompaniment. Music tapes in which only the accompaniment is
recorded were named "karaoke."
It is now widely recognized that the use of
karaoke started at a snack bar in Kobe City. It is said that when a strolling
guitarist could not come to perform at the bar due to illness or other reasons,
the owner of the bar prepared tapes of accompaniment recordings, and vocalists
enjoyed singing to the tapes. Even though it is only legend, this might have
been the beginning of karaoke, and since then, karaoke has been commercialized
and has become popular all over Japan.
NEW TRENDS COME FROM THE WEST OF JAPAN
:
There is a saying in Japan that "New trends
come from the West of Japan." Japan's first supermarket and sauna were
established in the Kansai area, and Kansai has successively created unique
businesses and products such an instant noodles or automated ticket gates.
Especially among the cities in the Kansai area, Kobe features an original
urban atmosphere.
There is another saying that "Fashion comes
from Kobe." It is said that the fashion of young women is recognized first
in Kobe and becomes popular in Tokyo later, so fashion magazines have to
keep an eye on the women in Kobe.
Since Kobe Port was opened to international
trade in 1868, on the eve of the Meiji Restoration, Kobe has been leading
the way towards international exchange, and many foreigners have come to
live in Kobe. Western-style residences in which foreigners used to live are
located in Kitano-cho, where a jazz festival is held every year, showing
Kobe to be a mecca for jazz fans. In addition, many foreigners participate
in the "Kobe Festival," known for its parade enlivened with samba rhythms
and dance. Such musical leanings may lie behind the birth of
karaoke.
THE BACKGROUND OF KARAOKE'S POPULARITY
:
The Japanese like parties. From ancient times,
a party become enlivened when someone started singing and the others kept
time with hand-clapping, making the atmosphere more cheerful. It has never
mattered whether the person sings well or not. Even if he sings out of tune,
it can spark laughter and make the party more lively.
Having such a custom, the Japanese are generous
when they listen to other people sing, and can easily sing in front of others
without feeling reluctance. This also seems to be one of the reasons that
karaoke has been largely accepted in Japanese society.
Karaoke was born in a night amusement quarter
at the end of the high economic growth period. Until then, customers used
to listen to popular songs via wire broadcasting, request favorite songs
by telephone, and the wire broadcasting company put the songs on the air.
Such a system continued for quite a while.
However, it might be unnatural for many Japanese
who like singing to only listen to other people sing.
It was then that karaoke appeared on the scene.
Holding a microphone and singing a song to the accompaniment of an "orchestra,"
you can feel like a professional singer. If other customers give you a big
hand, you feel all the happier. Karaoke has thus stimulated people's desire
to sing. For corporate soldiers living in a stressful society, there is no
other entertainment that can make them feel so refreshed. Consequently, karaoke
immediately spread from Kansai all over Japan.
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS AND THE KARAOKE BOX
:
Though karaoke was at first an entertainment
mainly for business people, it has grown to be a nationwide amusement, thanks
to technological development and a new business called the "karaoke box."
Originally in the form of tape of a popular
song's accompaniment, karaoke evolved to the compact disk, which can locate
the beginning of a song immediately. This development also made possible
the enhancement of video scenes to create an atmosphere suitable to each
song, displayed on a TV monitor along with the words.
Using technological innovations such as the
video disk, laser disk, and CD graphics, karaoke has grown to be a major
entertainment industry. Family-use karaoke sets have also become popular,
making the amusement formerly limited to night spots possible in the
home.
However, there is an obstacle to this end of
the business: since most Japanese houses stand close each other and are still
built of wood, with poor soundproofing, it would be very annoying of the
neighbors to sing into a microphone at night.
Seizing upon the opportunity created by this
problem, entrepreneurs created the karaoke box, a roadside facility containing
closed-door insulated rooms for singing. They are advertised as a place where
you can sing to your heart's content. The first karaoke box appeared in 1984
in a rice field in the countryside of Okayama Prefecture, just west of the
Kansai area. It was built from a converted freight car.
Since then, karaoke boxes have been built on
unoccupied grounds all over Japan, and in urban areas, karaoke rooms, which
consist of compartments made by partitioning and soundproofing rooms in a
building, were introduced and set up one after another.
As these facilities were established mainly
to provide places to enjoy singing, they became widely popular among all
sectors of the population -- female office workers, housewives, college students,
and even high school students.
KARAOKE'S UNEXPECTED EFFECT :
Since karaoke boxes are closed-door facilities,
they became an object of public concern as potential havens for misdeeds
among young people. On the other hand, however, since not a few families
enjoy singing together in karaoke boxes, the karaoke box also plays a role
as a place for family communication through singing. This is important at
a time when generation gaps and family breakups are a nationwide
concern.
How, the karaoke boom has spread abroad, enjoyed
not only in Korea and China but also in Southeast Asia, the U.S., and Europe.
Since karaoke displays the words and scenes of a song on a monitor, it has
also been attracting the attention of countries trying to improve their literacy
rate, as a good educational tool.
It is likely that karaoke, the entertainment
industry born in a small night spot in Kansai, will continue to make further
strides in both technological development and popularity.
It is said that since the popularization of
records, radio, and TV, people have become passive receivers of entertainment.
The advent of karaoke might help correct this phenomenon and make a great
contribution to the history of musical entertainment.
