As the writer of this blog, I would like you the reader to conjure up a visual of me dressed up like Johnny Carson (U.S. TV comedian/host of Late Night Shows) in his role as Carnac the Magnificent. Wearing a huge turban on my head and holding a sealed envelope to my forehead I would say with mesmerizing wisdom: "Karaoke, Janis Joplin and Me." The question would be "Gaijin, what can you do to embarrass yourself in this country?"
Karaoke, pronounced like car-ah-oh-kay in Japanese, is like a national sport in Japan. It requires a lot of courage to stand up in front of other people, hold onto a mike and sing! It's now quite popular here, but, of course, like all other things that travel into other cultures across oceans, it is a bit morphed.
My first experience with karaoke came at the second party, meaning not a party a few days after another party, but the nijikai, which means party following the enkai, first party of the evening. This enkai was our first office party about two and a half months after we arrived in Kaseda, and was officially to welcome Brian, my Irish counterpart in our school system, and me into the office work force.
We started with an insane amount of food in a local restaurant and moved to a nearby karaoke for our first experience with singing amongst co-workers. We soon found that these parties are paid through deductions from the salaries, so a fund is always ready to fund them. (We were exempt and we did not have to contribute, just attend.) The two office ladies went out and purchased large bottles of beer and shochu, a Kagoshima spirit made from sweet potatoes that was a less expensive alternative to expensive sake. It has a distinctly unpleasant odor and is often mixed into hot water to drink, just like sake. (Now, shochu is highly sought after throughout Japan.)
The karaoke was on the second floor above a store, and had several private rooms that could be booked for groups. Most of the karaoke that I would attend was held in these private rooms so one was always with the people in their own group, which is better for overcoming shyness and possibly making a fool of yourself. Food and drinks could be ordered but some establishments allowed you to bring your own.
Karaoke it turns out is something you really love and you participate fully, or you love to listen and observe, or you do not enjoy it, period. I came to love watching the others sing, and found it was a great way to learn Japanese writing with hiragana and kanji written on the screen.
Though Brian and I were both music lovers, I don't think either of us fancied ourselves as singers. Even my older son, as a young child, would ask me, "Please don't sing," when he was sick. I confine my singing voice to the car, driving solo or in my home when I am alone.
At that first karaoke, our plan was to observe and quietly refrain from attracting any attention, lest they decide to insist we sing, too. Well, that worked for awhile. During observations, we found the human side of our co-workers. It peeked out occasionally at the office, especially if they had any English. Our supervisors always smiled kindly, tried to include us in jokes, but often busily bowed, smiled a greeting and went to work.
But at karaoke, I found most had favorite songs that they would sing with good to awesome voices. I found I loved to hear our shocho, the head of our local board of education office, sing his favorites. He had a wonderfully tender voice. It didn't match his efficient, somewhat stern work face. I was getting a look at the personalities of these people I had seen for the past several weeks, and I found likeable, fun-loving, real people. I liked these parties.
But my first experience to sing in front of others was almost traumatizing. At least I didn't have to go solo; Brian and I were a team when times got tough. We were now confronted with choosing a song from pages of Japanese titles, (this choice would have been impossible), or a short list of songs in English that was so out-dated we were not familiar with the music.
Now, if you can sing and carry a tune, and the words are spelled out for you on a screen, it should not be that difficult. But we were facing all kinds of deficiencies and totally out of our comfort zones. Our Japanese co-workers strongly suggested we try "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Right, go ahead, what could be so difficult? You know the song, right?
Well, yes, we had both heard it, but not recently. Try singing it right now? Can you sing beyond the title? The song was written when I was four years old. And poor Brian, it was way before his time. It's probably not sung that much in Ireland, unless he still belts it out occasionally in a nostalgic moment after lots of Guinness! But we tried it out and were applauded for our efforts, if nothing else.
The next three photos may or may not be something out of the ordinary in Japan. For most parties, spouses and families were not included. But in our countrified area, far from the bright lights of Tokyo, we sometimes partied in our Shocho's home, and the wives did much of the hard work of the preparations. Then they came along for karaoke. These were the absolute best parties. I found that our office was made up of people that had known each other for a very long time. They laughed, ate,sang, partied, and worked together, and they gave support to each other in times of grief. I was proud to be in their midst.
We soon learned that it is best to practice a couple of songs, even the oldest ones, to prepare to sing at later events. Eventually, we would find other places in town with somewhat updated music lists, and the city had even more. We moved up to the Beatles and the Carpenters. Eventually I found several tunes I could work with and I remember that Brian found a favorite in "Dancing Queen." Most ALTs seemed to do all right with "Hotel California" and I heard it almost every time I went. The Carpenters' songs were really loved by the Japanese, as were songs by Frank Sinatra, like "My Way". Their music was not too fast and the words were sung clearly. These were still not songs from the 80's and 90's but we were at least into the 60's and 70's.
My favorites were "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", and when I got lucky, if they had "Me and Bobby McGee" I would sing that. It was like a theme song; I had come to Japan with nothing left to lose. I could almost belt it out with some confidence. In fact, I just found this on the Internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POjrpDSVkE4 - if you want to try it. Oh, Internet, you would have made life so much easier 20 years ago.
I will long remember when our shocho recognized some of the meaning in the song. He was reading along with the words on the screen, and he visibly sighed when he understood the words up there, "I would trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday, to be holding Bobby's body next to mine...." (Those are just lyrics after all, not really trading off any of MY tomorrows!)
After those first experiences, I was probably going to karaoke once a month, with teachers at different schools, my office, or with Japanese friends and adult students. A couple of times I even went with other ALTs. It became truly enjoyable. My voice didn't improve, but that was never the point. It was about having a good time.
For many of us ALTs it was also something more. Music is a universal language. We found this was a good way to communicate cross-culturally so we learned a few songs in Japanese. We were encouraged to learn an easy Japanese song, that was somewhat popular here in the US in the 60's, the "Sukiyaki" song. Do you know it? I didn't, but it was pleasant and easy to sing. A teacher found a paper copy with the hiragana printing(Japanese syllable writing) that I could practice on my own. Soon I could sing that when we went out with the office people, and they were pleased I had tried.
In late October I was invited to a Japanese wedding. They had karaoke there and I heard a really beautiful Japanese song that is often sung at weddings, called "Kanpai." The song was written by Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, who just happened to be a singer/writer from Kagoshima, so he was beloved by the locals and this song was his biggest hit..
For some reason I loved this song and still do. I went back to the teacher who had found the "Sukiyaki" song for me to see if he could find this one. Understanding the song was considerably more difficult, he went above and beyond my request. I soon had a cassette, (oh, yes, the old days), with several of Nagabuchi's best songs, and the paper copy so that I could practice "Kanpai." And I did, every night; and for weeks I went to sleep with that cassette playing while I drifted off to sleep.
Practicing the song paid off, in huge ways. For example, I never had to sing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" again. But more importantly when I first sang it as a surprise for my office, they were completely stunned at my efforts. There was visible approval that I had taken on the task, and that I clearly loved some of their music. I will always love Nagabuchi's songs and especially "Kanpai". I had a pianist play it at a bar before I left Kagoshima for good in '98. I sobbed through it, and it can still bring tears to my eyes when I try to sing it.
Once I went on a karaoke date with the kindest guy I ever met. I was just getting to know him, and he told me he could sing love songs in English. I found that terribly romantic, silly me. He started out with Disney's "When You Wish Upon a Star." You know, that actually is a romantic song, but not if you watched it along with Jiminy Cricket singing the "Encyclopedia" song every Sunday evening since you were six years old. (By the way, do you still have to sing along with Jiminy to spell "encyclopedia" or is it just me?)
When my younger son came to visit me in Japan much further into my stay, he did one heck of a job on "Great Balls of Fire", but we got into trouble when we tried an Elvis duet. Just into the first chorus of "Are You Lonely Tonight," he looked at me in horror, and said, "Wait, there's a speaking part in this song!" Not to worry, Mr. Kindest Guy I Ever Met stepped in and did an excellent rendition of Elvis speaking with just a hint of Japanese accent.
Another teacher who came from Okinawa sang the Boom's hit, "ShimaUta," "The Island Song." It was all in Japanese but I could see tropical flowers, the sand and the warm blue waters when he sang on the video background. Some of my best friends, Wei, Shawn, and Brigid lived on wonderful islands. I always think of them when I think of that song, and will do a future blog on my visit to Brigid and "her" island, Amami Oshima. Amami looked just like the background on the video of the song, which I have noted for you at the end of the blog if you want to check it out.
Now when I listen to music there are many songs that remind me of those parties. Looking back now, I can see Rochelle's face as she sang a popular song from a favorite Japanese soap opera, "Haruyo Koi." I can see Mrs. Ono do a near professional job of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in English. I can see Takehiro singing Elton John's "Your Song," Nobuchan singing the Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody" and Nancy singing Madonna's "Material Girl." Mr. Kindest Guy I Ever Met is still singing love songs, in Japanese, English and Spanish, like Besame Mucho. As for myself, I have retained a great fondness for "Me and Bobby McGee."
Here are some very good links to most of the Japanese songs mentioned above. Sorry that they don't appear so you just click on it; you will have to copy and paste. I would urge you to try a couple, especially if you never went to karaoke or Japan, because they show the beautiful scenery of Japan in some of the backgrounds, just like they look for real, and on the karaoke videos. It's wonderfully natsukashi, nostalgic, for those who have been to Japan.
Here's the link to "Kanpai":
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AitSOdKUe5mtHdLu_rgZ3gSbvZx4?p=japanese+song%2C+Kampai&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-901&fp=1&soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma choose the 4th video box with the cherry blossoms to get the good scenery backgrounds.
And here's a link for a loose translation to the song: http://www.lyricsforsong.net/lyrics/tsuyoshi-nagabuchi-kanpai-english-lyrics_kqijqo.html
"The Island Song":
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AitSOdKUe5mtHdLu_rgZ3gSbvZx4?p=the+boom+shimauta&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-901&fp=1
choose the second video box and see the Japanese writing for the karaoke song.
translation
http://www.animelyrics.com/jpop/theboom/shimauta.htm
"Haruyo Koi"
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2on33_haru-yo-koi_music
I could not find a decent translation for this one.
Remember, I would love to have you leave a comment, perhaps your favorite song title???
Karaoke, pronounced like car-ah-oh-kay in Japanese, is like a national sport in Japan. It requires a lot of courage to stand up in front of other people, hold onto a mike and sing! It's now quite popular here, but, of course, like all other things that travel into other cultures across oceans, it is a bit morphed.
My first experience with karaoke came at the second party, meaning not a party a few days after another party, but the nijikai, which means party following the enkai, first party of the evening. This enkai was our first office party about two and a half months after we arrived in Kaseda, and was officially to welcome Brian, my Irish counterpart in our school system, and me into the office work force.
We started with an insane amount of food in a local restaurant and moved to a nearby karaoke for our first experience with singing amongst co-workers. We soon found that these parties are paid through deductions from the salaries, so a fund is always ready to fund them. (We were exempt and we did not have to contribute, just attend.) The two office ladies went out and purchased large bottles of beer and shochu, a Kagoshima spirit made from sweet potatoes that was a less expensive alternative to expensive sake. It has a distinctly unpleasant odor and is often mixed into hot water to drink, just like sake. (Now, shochu is highly sought after throughout Japan.)
 |
| Iwamoto San, Brian, I and another office worker in front of large Nabe, ceramic cookpots for seafood, veggies and tofu to cook while we eat. There were four of us for one bowl. |
 |
| Exotic mangosteen from hotter climes in Asia, this time party was at the Chinese restaurant. |
 |
| Fujita San, our Shocho, the man with the Golden Voice, enjoying the food, and also the spirits. The bottles hold both beer and shochu. Also note that these parties show us all having a good time seated on the floor! |
Karaoke it turns out is something you really love and you participate fully, or you love to listen and observe, or you do not enjoy it, period. I came to love watching the others sing, and found it was a great way to learn Japanese writing with hiragana and kanji written on the screen.
Though Brian and I were both music lovers, I don't think either of us fancied ourselves as singers. Even my older son, as a young child, would ask me, "Please don't sing," when he was sick. I confine my singing voice to the car, driving solo or in my home when I am alone.
At that first karaoke, our plan was to observe and quietly refrain from attracting any attention, lest they decide to insist we sing, too. Well, that worked for awhile. During observations, we found the human side of our co-workers. It peeked out occasionally at the office, especially if they had any English. Our supervisors always smiled kindly, tried to include us in jokes, but often busily bowed, smiled a greeting and went to work.
 |
| Kaseda San and I waiting for the karaoke to begin. |
But at karaoke, I found most had favorite songs that they would sing with good to awesome voices. I found I loved to hear our shocho, the head of our local board of education office, sing his favorites. He had a wonderfully tender voice. It didn't match his efficient, somewhat stern work face. I was getting a look at the personalities of these people I had seen for the past several weeks, and I found likeable, fun-loving, real people. I liked these parties.
But my first experience to sing in front of others was almost traumatizing. At least I didn't have to go solo; Brian and I were a team when times got tough. We were now confronted with choosing a song from pages of Japanese titles, (this choice would have been impossible), or a short list of songs in English that was so out-dated we were not familiar with the music.
Now, if you can sing and carry a tune, and the words are spelled out for you on a screen, it should not be that difficult. But we were facing all kinds of deficiencies and totally out of our comfort zones. Our Japanese co-workers strongly suggested we try "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Right, go ahead, what could be so difficult? You know the song, right?
Well, yes, we had both heard it, but not recently. Try singing it right now? Can you sing beyond the title? The song was written when I was four years old. And poor Brian, it was way before his time. It's probably not sung that much in Ireland, unless he still belts it out occasionally in a nostalgic moment after lots of Guinness! But we tried it out and were applauded for our efforts, if nothing else.
The next three photos may or may not be something out of the ordinary in Japan. For most parties, spouses and families were not included. But in our countrified area, far from the bright lights of Tokyo, we sometimes partied in our Shocho's home, and the wives did much of the hard work of the preparations. Then they came along for karaoke. These were the absolute best parties. I found that our office was made up of people that had known each other for a very long time. They laughed, ate,sang, partied, and worked together, and they gave support to each other in times of grief. I was proud to be in their midst.
 |
| Mr. and Mrs. Fuchida |
 |
| The Ishizonos ( Ishizono San was our immediate supervisor and was always so concerned over our well-being.) |
 |
| The Kasedas |
 |
| Rosie, (Ireland), Mark (England), and I listen as Brian (Ireland) croons a tune, most likely "Dancing Queen". |
My favorites were "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", and when I got lucky, if they had "Me and Bobby McGee" I would sing that. It was like a theme song; I had come to Japan with nothing left to lose. I could almost belt it out with some confidence. In fact, I just found this on the Internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POjrpDSVkE4 - if you want to try it. Oh, Internet, you would have made life so much easier 20 years ago.
I will long remember when our shocho recognized some of the meaning in the song. He was reading along with the words on the screen, and he visibly sighed when he understood the words up there, "I would trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday, to be holding Bobby's body next to mine...." (Those are just lyrics after all, not really trading off any of MY tomorrows!)
After those first experiences, I was probably going to karaoke once a month, with teachers at different schools, my office, or with Japanese friends and adult students. A couple of times I even went with other ALTs. It became truly enjoyable. My voice didn't improve, but that was never the point. It was about having a good time.
For many of us ALTs it was also something more. Music is a universal language. We found this was a good way to communicate cross-culturally so we learned a few songs in Japanese. We were encouraged to learn an easy Japanese song, that was somewhat popular here in the US in the 60's, the "Sukiyaki" song. Do you know it? I didn't, but it was pleasant and easy to sing. A teacher found a paper copy with the hiragana printing(Japanese syllable writing) that I could practice on my own. Soon I could sing that when we went out with the office people, and they were pleased I had tried.
In late October I was invited to a Japanese wedding. They had karaoke there and I heard a really beautiful Japanese song that is often sung at weddings, called "Kanpai." The song was written by Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, who just happened to be a singer/writer from Kagoshima, so he was beloved by the locals and this song was his biggest hit..
For some reason I loved this song and still do. I went back to the teacher who had found the "Sukiyaki" song for me to see if he could find this one. Understanding the song was considerably more difficult, he went above and beyond my request. I soon had a cassette, (oh, yes, the old days), with several of Nagabuchi's best songs, and the paper copy so that I could practice "Kanpai." And I did, every night; and for weeks I went to sleep with that cassette playing while I drifted off to sleep.
Practicing the song paid off, in huge ways. For example, I never had to sing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" again. But more importantly when I first sang it as a surprise for my office, they were completely stunned at my efforts. There was visible approval that I had taken on the task, and that I clearly loved some of their music. I will always love Nagabuchi's songs and especially "Kanpai". I had a pianist play it at a bar before I left Kagoshima for good in '98. I sobbed through it, and it can still bring tears to my eyes when I try to sing it.
Once I went on a karaoke date with the kindest guy I ever met. I was just getting to know him, and he told me he could sing love songs in English. I found that terribly romantic, silly me. He started out with Disney's "When You Wish Upon a Star." You know, that actually is a romantic song, but not if you watched it along with Jiminy Cricket singing the "Encyclopedia" song every Sunday evening since you were six years old. (By the way, do you still have to sing along with Jiminy to spell "encyclopedia" or is it just me?)
When my younger son came to visit me in Japan much further into my stay, he did one heck of a job on "Great Balls of Fire", but we got into trouble when we tried an Elvis duet. Just into the first chorus of "Are You Lonely Tonight," he looked at me in horror, and said, "Wait, there's a speaking part in this song!" Not to worry, Mr. Kindest Guy I Ever Met stepped in and did an excellent rendition of Elvis speaking with just a hint of Japanese accent.
 |
| Steve, my younger son and I singing Elvis! |
Another teacher who came from Okinawa sang the Boom's hit, "ShimaUta," "The Island Song." It was all in Japanese but I could see tropical flowers, the sand and the warm blue waters when he sang on the video background. Some of my best friends, Wei, Shawn, and Brigid lived on wonderful islands. I always think of them when I think of that song, and will do a future blog on my visit to Brigid and "her" island, Amami Oshima. Amami looked just like the background on the video of the song, which I have noted for you at the end of the blog if you want to check it out.
Now when I listen to music there are many songs that remind me of those parties. Looking back now, I can see Rochelle's face as she sang a popular song from a favorite Japanese soap opera, "Haruyo Koi." I can see Mrs. Ono do a near professional job of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in English. I can see Takehiro singing Elton John's "Your Song," Nobuchan singing the Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody" and Nancy singing Madonna's "Material Girl." Mr. Kindest Guy I Ever Met is still singing love songs, in Japanese, English and Spanish, like Besame Mucho. As for myself, I have retained a great fondness for "Me and Bobby McGee."
Here are some very good links to most of the Japanese songs mentioned above. Sorry that they don't appear so you just click on it; you will have to copy and paste. I would urge you to try a couple, especially if you never went to karaoke or Japan, because they show the beautiful scenery of Japan in some of the backgrounds, just like they look for real, and on the karaoke videos. It's wonderfully natsukashi, nostalgic, for those who have been to Japan.
Here's the link to "Kanpai":
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AitSOdKUe5mtHdLu_rgZ3gSbvZx4?p=japanese+song%2C+Kampai&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-901&fp=1&soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma choose the 4th video box with the cherry blossoms to get the good scenery backgrounds.
And here's a link for a loose translation to the song: http://www.lyricsforsong.net/lyrics/tsuyoshi-nagabuchi-kanpai-english-lyrics_kqijqo.html
"The Island Song":
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AitSOdKUe5mtHdLu_rgZ3gSbvZx4?p=the+boom+shimauta&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-901&fp=1
choose the second video box and see the Japanese writing for the karaoke song.
translation
http://www.animelyrics.com/jpop/theboom/shimauta.htm
"Haruyo Koi"
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2on33_haru-yo-koi_music
I could not find a decent translation for this one.
Remember, I would love to have you leave a comment, perhaps your favorite song title???
Great as usual, One of my favorite songs is Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce
ReplyDeleteThanks, that's one of many of Jim Croce's great songs. I didn't see any of that or from many other favorites like Neil Young - Harvest Moon, Crosby, Stills and Nash - Southern Cross, Willie Nelson - Your Were Always on My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind, Carly Simon and Carole King ............we had wonderful music in our younger years!
ReplyDeleteI agree with all your choices, and they still are great today.
Delete