Japanese Karaoke-ドケ！

Posted by terri | Filed under tunes, video

One of my favorite hobbies whenever I can find the time, the money or the companion(s) is Japanese Karaoke. When I lived in Japan, Karaoke was one of the few pieces of entertainment that I thoroughly enjoyed, and it is always a fun challenge trying to read Kanji and Kana off of the screen while singing along. I certainly am not a great singer, but I think I possess a spirit that makes it fun every time — no matter how bad I sound.

This past week I went with 友也 who is the only one I know who enjoys Japanese Karaoke as much as I do (and it doesn’t hurt that he knows the “old school” songs I know.) We set the camera and just let it roll. Instead of taping the usual “Random Karaoke Pick” segments that I normally do, I decided to retry a song that I really effed up on the first time around. “真赤な太陽” (makkana taiyou) by 美空ひばり (Misora Hibari) is probably the only song I can dare to attempt from the famous singer, and it has turned out to be one of my most favorite to sing.


And if you’re wondering how that song is supposed to sound, there are lots of videos on YouTube including this performance by Misora Hibari:

And this one by African American enka singer Jero:


I don’t know how many more songs I can add to my repertoire as I am not exposed to Japanese music much lately, but I think I’ll be singing Japanese Karaoke for many years to come with the few songs I know. I think I’d have no other reason to retain my Japanese reading skills otherwise.

Permalink | Comments (1) | Jun 12, 2009

One Response to “Japanese Karaoke-ドケ！”

  1. Tomoya Says:
    June 16th, 2009 at 11:41 pm

    I am so thrilled that you know this song. This song is covered all the time and it definitely is a fun one to sing. Incidentally, I don’t care for Jero’s cover. I hate hearing the “f” sound in “futari.” Amateur…

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