“Things to do in Osaka, Japan”
Every search result ever; a karaoke bar.
I’m fresh – or rather not so fresh – off my first night at a Japanese karaoke bar and I have to say, I finally get the hype. Yes, this morning has been ROUGH but not with regret, just a smidgen of dehydration because I had SO much fun.
Two nights ago I was on an evening stroll through Shinsekai, passing by bar after bar of drunken, singing Japanese men and women. God knows what songs they were singing, they were all in Japanese obviously, but I could easily translate one thing; they were having FUN. Karaoke was huge here and I’d been holding off for the right place/right time for far too long, I had been triggered. It was time.
I should have known that after wolfing down my Okonomiyaki (savoury Japanese pancake, DO NOT leave Japan without trying one of these, it’s a damn insult to the whole country), that a good night was on the cards. It was simply too good a start. After this, we waddled to a pre-selected Karaoke bar featuring English songs; The Drunken Clam, and settled in amongst another European couple and a group of German/possibly Scandinavian men with an affinity for Iron Maiden. It was pretty quiet to begin with, which had me worried I’ll admit, but like any good night out I decided to just throw myself into it with good intentions, cheering for any and all singers; which quickly earned us friends thank god! A few heavy metal numbers later however, and it was just myself, Fraser (not a karaoke fan) and the other couple beneath the lyrics of Barbie Girl – not my favourite, and if you’ve heard the song you’ll know exactly why it just doesn’t slap like it used to. I interjected with some Tears for Fears in the hopes of getting the ball rolling but by 10pm a host of drunken Europeans took over that part for me. Soon more and more people came bounding in and the favour of cheering for any and all songs, sung well or badly, was returned just as I hit that long note in “This Love” by Maroon 5. I fucking love karaoke and pre-third album Maroon 5.
Song after nostalgic song was requested by quasi-drunk Europeans and the more I sang and “danced”, the more I had to fight my sadness about Brexit (shock) because truly what problems (not that I had any) cannot be solved by drunk karaoke (apart from the the Irish border..). Although the lines were perhaps more clearly drawn when a duet to Pulp came up, our new European friends growing silent while the rest of us screamed about roaches crawling up the wall; glorious. But still, friends were made and I found myself strapped between an English gal and my new love for the evening, Helene, when the Spice Girls came up. This was probably the most female bonding time I’d had in forever and I was honestly so grateful for it because so many songs were ones plagued with memories I’d made with my best friends at home – small violin right?
So, three and a half hours later and three beers down, Fraser was getting antsy and I was waiting to complete my night with a Bowie number – aka I’d had a solid run and needed a killer finish. I began thinking about the how I’d made a bunch of friends for the night that I would probably never see again, but how singing and dancing with them all had given me this homely feeling so far from home. With a few days left to go in Japan, it was the kind of therapy I was needing before we moved on to start this all over again. Japan has been incredible, but it hasn’t been the easiest to make friends here given the format of the hostels/travelling as a couple and that most people we met were only with us for a day or two. But that didn’t matter as I fumbled through Bootylicious with the English gal who was absolutely besting me, I was with pals for tonight.
I can’t recommend a karaoke bar enough if you find yourself in Japan. They’re cheap, they’re everywhere and god are they unifying. The best night of my 5-6 weeks in Japan hands down, even if I had to explain to one of the guys that SUM 41 was a “generational” song for me.
While you were watching Disney Channel, I was watching Kerrang!
Fu***ing off; a personal tale of travels, triumphs and travesties. 