| TENNOJI KOEN |
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15 DECEMBER 2003 - OSAKA'S CROONER CARTS LEFT SINGING THE BLUES
A government crackdown involving hundreds of riot police, barricades and the brutal demolition of businesses that had operated for decades is hardly something to sing about, especially when all the action was aimed at operators of karaoke stalls. Osaka's Tennoji Park had been famous for years because of the people who used to set up makeshift humpies where people could come and belt out one of their favorite tunes for just a couple of coins at almost any hour of the day. But the karaoke stall operators were ordered earlier this year to vacate the park.
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When most didn't, the Osaka Municipal Government and its stormtroopers burst in and swept the singers away. 'A business I'd run for 20 years was demolished in an instant', one of the stall operators tells Weekly Playboy. Osaka ostensibly ordered the stall operators to stop operating because they wanted to repair the decrepit paths in the park. But the stall operators, balked, understandable considering some of them had been working there for decades and they had built up a considerable reputation for themselves. As one group of officials set up barricades around the shacks, both sides exchanged shouted insults and the demolition crew moved in, removing all trace of the stalls within a couple of hours. 'Without the karaoke stalls, this place is now no different to any other park. There's no reason to come here anymore', a regular park visitor moans to Weekly Playboy. 'What's wrong with karaoke?'
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