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Japan's karaoke crooners are choosing to go it alone in unprecedented numbers, according to Shukan Post (8/3).

The flagging karaoke industry in Japan is getting a much-needed shot in the arm from hitokara -- literally "karaoke alone" -- where people go into the small rooms and warble away by themselves.

"We've had 12,000 more hitokara customers than we had compared to the same month last year," Hanae Watanabe, a sales staff member from major karaoke operator Criax Co., tells Shukan Post. "Hitokara customers are of various ages, but the main clients are in their 20s to 40s, with men and women making up about equal numbers."

Karaoke no Tetsujin's Toyohiko Katahira agrees that hitokara is proving a boon.

"I'd say about half our daytime weekday customers are hitokara," he says. "People used to think hitokara was a bit creepy, but that image has totally vanished now."

Many karaoke operators are conducting all sorts of campaigns to attract hitokara fans. Uta no Hiroba, one of the country's biggest karaoke box operators, is offering 20 percent discounts to hitokara fans who register as its members and has already attracted 350,000 newly enrolled aficionados.

Karaoke started skyrocketing in popularity in the early '90s and reached its zenith in 1996 when there were 160,000 outlets across Japan, according to the All-Japan Karaoke Industrialist Association. Ever since, the industry has been slowly declining. For many karaoke operators, weekdays see them sitting on loads of empty rooms. They're welcoming hitokara fans with open arms. And the fans are pretty happy, too - at least most of the time.

"Well, it can be a bit embarrassing when someone peeps into the room or one of the workers brings you your drink and you're alone," a 26-year-old woman into hitokara tells Shukan Post. "But I really love being able to practice by singing the same song over and over again until I get it right and not having to worry about anybody else."

A 19-year-old male hitokara singer is similarly hooked.

"I do hitokara two to three times a week," he says. "I can practice alone so that I don't stuff up my songs or get nervous when I do go to karaoke with my buddies."

Not everybody is upbeat about the hitokara boom, though, with some scholars arguing it has a sinister side.

"There are many people, particularly young people, who now feel tremendous stress, or even fear, when it comes to dealing with other people," Saitama Institute of Technology's Yoshikazu Yuma tells Shukan Post. "People who go karaoke with their friends get stressed out by having to act in a bright and lively manner. Rather than go through all that pain, more people feel that going to karaoke alone is a much better way to relieve stress and gain more relaxation." (By Ryann Connell)

July 25, 2007

credit-mainichi news

[chiongster]

"I do hitokara two to three times a week," he says. "I can practice alone so that I don't stuff up my songs or get nervous when I do go to karaoke with my buddies."

Karaoke outing suppose to be fun, but sometime it get in the nerve of someone if he/she out of tune. Guessing this trend is coming.