Karaoke: a great uniter

A Japanese, Taiwanese and American walk into a karaoke bar…

And Swedes, Thais, Nigerians, Brazilians, Malaysians, Germans, Koreans, and many others join too!

When I worked for a university in Hawaii, I was responsible for the admission of students from Asia and Africa, and one of the most rewarding (and fun) aspects of my job was to welcome our new international students to campus and to Hawaii. Although there were orientation sessions to help students enroll in their classes and navigate the expectations of university life, I was always more focused on helping the students adjust to their new home. Knowing that making friends is key to adjustment, and understanding that music is an international language, I loved to organize “non-official” orientation events at one of my favorite places in Honolulu– GS Studios, a karaoke lounge with 16 rooms of music-making opportunities and yes, FUN.

Now it’s probably not a surprise that Hawaii has a strong karaoke market given the large number of descendents from Japan–where karaoke (“empty orchestra”) was born– as well as from Korea and the Philippines where karaoke is arguably as popular. It’s also not a surprise to anyone who knows me well that I LOVE karaoke! Since I was a kid I’ve always loved singing, and when I moved to Japan to teach English, I quickly learned that magic can happen in karaoke bars. As I initially struggled to speak any sort of intelligible Japanese and couldn’t communicate well with my colleagues, I discovered that singing with them helped bring us together. And while there weren’t a whole lot of English songs available (I’m sure I sang “Love Me Tender” hundreds of times that first year), the gathering of colleagues in a small room allowed us to get closer and let loose a little bit (or a lot), the latter of which is why I think karaoke really thrived in Japan in the first place. It’s a place where you can literally sing your heart out, and whether your voice is good or terrible or somewhere in-between, there’s always a second or third microphone and even tambourines and maracas around for everyone to join in and even get up and dance if so inspired.

Before I head my story back to Hawaii and all the places I lived since, I have to share a story of when a fellow teacher asked me to sing at his wedding reception. After an especially nice evening of karaoke at our favorite place in town, my colleague asked if I could sing his favorite song at his wedding reception, and of course I immediately agreed. He explained that I would be asked to come on stage and that there would be a karaoke machine for me to sing from so I wouldn’t have to memorize the lyrics. He also explained that my performance would occur just as he and his wife would re-enter the reception hall decked out in their Western wedding tuxedo and dress.

Now I could write an entire post about that day alone as it was the first Japanese wedding reception I’d attended, and among the many surprises was the wedding cake that was presented in a dazzling display of lights and dry ice. As I would learn, the multi-tiered cake was actually entirely fake except for the one piece that the wedding couple cut and shared! Don’t worry, we did all get cake after the meal. 🙂 What I will also never forget is being told it was my time to sing, and as I quickly went up on stage and looked out at everyone in the large hall through all the blinding lights, I saw the bride and groom walk into the room, my cue to start singing the groom’s requested song, Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” I knew the song so well and never thought about the lyrics until that moment when I cleared my throat and started singing that first line…

“And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain…”

😲😅😂😂

I’m fairly certain that I was the only one in the hall who appreciated the irony of singing this song at a wedding, but I made it through without laughing and channeled Ol’ Blue Eyes the best I could.

This brings me back to why I believe karaoke is a great uniter. In Hawaii, new students from all over the world who were eager to make new friends bonded over collaborations of songs in different languages and the chance to sing and dance to songs EVERYONE knew (YMCA!) In a small city in Nepal, colleagues and friends got together at a guesthouse and belted out tune after tune with as much laughter as song, and the night would end with all of us hand over shoulder singing a group rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” In Egypt, our English conversation club, colleagues and friends met at a lovely hidden gem called Han Blues and took turns singing classic tunes in Arabic and English, always bringing big smiles to everyone in the room.

Karaoke has even brought the Wahl and Furukawa families closer together as my wife’s parents and my parents sang duets together when my folks visited Kawagoe in 2012. It was a night I’ll never forget. And most recently we sang with my brother-in-law and his family at a beautiful seaside resort and ended up creating some pretty incredible covers of the big hits from the movie “The Greatest Showman.”

I’m not sure that Mr. Daisuke Inoue would have imagined karaoke’s global reach when he invented the first karaoke machine in 1971, but I’m very happy to be spreading this wonderful invention of connection wherever I go.