One of the things I appreciated about the late Anthony Bourdain was his desire and ability
to immerse himself into the culture of any city or country that he visited. He talked politics with the locals, ate with the locals, and had fun with the locals. We were both inspired by this way of experiencing international travel, and we attempt to do this on our trips, at least the food and the nightlife parts! When we recently visited Japan, we researched some of the activities and places that Japanese enjoy, particularly during after work hours.
I have always like the idea of karaoke, because it seemed like it would be fun to be a pretend performer of some of my favorite songs. But doing it in front of a crowd seemed intimidating to me.
The guide for one of our Tokyo food tours suggested that the group go to a karaoke spot to be a part of this popular Japanese entertainment. Unfortunately, no one took the bait except for Rich and me. Our guide took us to a local spot, and we were surprised to find that the Japanese do not dare do karaoke in a public spot. Japanese rent a private booth, where they can perform alone, or with a few close friends. These booths are housed in a buildings all over the city, and there are multiple booths on a particular floor. One can rent a booth per hour, or longer. As in karaoke spots everywhere, there are numerous songs to choose from. One can choose anything from the Rolling Stones to Beyonce to Bruno Mars, depending on what your preferred genre might be. Fortunately, you can choose English lyrics, even in Japan!
We learned that karaoke is a stress reliever for many Japanese people. They work hard and often put in long hours at work, and many will spend their leisure time in a karaoke booth. Some even spend the night!
I must say that I totally loved karaoke in Japan, and wanted to continue the experience during the rest of the trip.One night I was craving karaoke, and suggested that we go after dinner. Rich commented that it would be too difficult to find a place without extensive research, and he was tired. I told him that I would bet him that if we walked a block or two, we would find a karaoke spot. Sure enough, we saw one within a minute!
So Rich and I continued our karaoke performing in Kyoto and Osaka. Rich, who was hesitant about karaoke at first, ended up having a good time, and was a good sport with a karaoke-crazed wife. We attempted quite a few songs, including hits by the Rolling Stones, Eagles, Michael Jackson, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I had read that the Japanese are really into their karaoke and had practiced several songs before the trip. I insisted that Rich video my performances. When we returned, I played my version of Michael Jackson's "Shake Your Body Down To the Ground", including dance moves. I showed the video to a friend, who laughed hysterically during the entire video. There goes my dreams of performing to a crowd in Asheville. I think the Japanese have the right idea about private karaoke booths!
Keeping our tradition of doing Latin dancing in every country that we visit, we ventured into the world of Latin dancing in Japan. Although Latin clubs were not as numerous in Tokyo as I had imagined, the ones we found were lively and crowded! And the dancers, as in other Asian countries we have been to, were very skilled Latin dancers.
We ended up dancing in Latin clubs twice in Tokyo and twice in Kyoto. We had so much fun in all places, and would have danced in Osaka if we had had more time. It was obvious to me that dancing is another way that the Japanese have fun after a long work day. And I might add that the local dancers were very friendly and welcoming to us in each place.
As usual, I gained some understanding of a country's culture and personality by participating in the locals' hangouts and activities. In the spirit of Anthony Bourdain, we also experienced culinary delights by eating where the locals eat! That will be another blog post!!
