世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1][part 2]

I haven’t been to karaoke for years, mainly due to being tone deaf and preferring to go home rather than staying up boozing until all hours! A Swiss friend of mine used to go to sing enka on the whole, and take full advantage of the all-you-can-drink offer they ran at Jumbo Karaoke by knocking back at least five pints of Asahi in two hours! To find out how the average Japanese views karaoke, DIMSDRIVE Research conducted a survey on this very topic.

Demographics

Between the 12th and 20th of December 2007 9,271 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 54.9% were female, 1.5% in their teens, 15.5% in their twenties, 36.1% in their thirties, 28.6% in their forties, 12.7% in their fifties, and 5.6% aged sixty or older.

When I once went to karaoke there was a great Japanese punk song that had nonsense English lyrics that when sung sort-of sounded like Japanese, but I never found out the name of the song. That was a pretty dull anecode, I must admit, but it’s the best I’ve got… I got rather disenchanted with the whole affair after going there with Japanese colleagues who spent their time singing 1970s ballads and anime theme songs.

Research results

Q1: Where do you usually do karaoke? (Sample size=9,271, multiple answer)

Karaoke box, karaoke hall	65.1%
Pub, other drinking establishment	14.2%
Home, friend’s home	3.9%
Hotel	2.6%
Public hall, sports centre, etc	0.2%
Other	0.4%
Don’t do karaoke (to Q11)	30.1%

Q2: What genres of songs do you often sing? (Sample size=6,477, multiple answer)

J-Pop	87.2%
Anime song	32.9%
Rock	25.0%
Enka	24.9%
Western music	15.6%
R&B	9.0%
Hip-hop	7.7%
Children’s songs	3.8%
Other foreign music	3.3%
K(Korean)-Pop	1.5%
Other	2.1%
Don’t know, nothing in particular	2.6%

J-Pop is more popular with women, but men prefer anime songs and Western music.

Q3: Do you have a favourite repertoire? (Sample size=6,477)

Yes	60.9%
No	39.1%

Q4: Which criteria do you mostly use to select which song to sing? (Sample size=6,477, multiple answer)

Songs I’m good at	71.5%
Songs that will raise the mood	47.7%
Songs by a favourite artist	47.5%
Songs I’m used to singing	46.5%
Songs that can be sung enthusiastically	33.4%
Songs that everyone knows	32.3%
The usual numbers	23.4%
Even though no-one knows, songs I like	20.1%
Songs I want people to hear	19.5%
Songs I’ve never sung before	18.2%
Songs I can score big points on	5.5%
Songs that will impress the opposite sex	5.2%
None of the above	1.4%

The most interesting (but not really surprising, I suppose) figure when looked at by sex was that over twice as many men as women choose songs to impress the opposite sex!

From Q1, those people who do not go to karaoke halls skip to Q12, leaving 6.035 to answer the following questions.

Q5: How often do you go to a karaoke box, karaoke venue? (Sample size=6,035)

Thrice a week or more	0.3%
Once or twice a week	1.5%
Twice or thrice a month	7.1%
Once a month	13.2%
Once every two or three months	24.2%
Once every six months	23.5%
Once a year	13.0%
Less than that	15.9%
Don’t know	1.3%

Q6: Who do you often go with to karaoke box, karaoke venue? (Sample size=6,035, multiple answer)

Friends	64.2%
Work colleagues, boss, underlings	30.5%
Spouse	30.2%
Children	21.1%
Girlfriend or boyfriend	10.4%
Other family	9.5%
Hobby circle acquaintences	8.8%
Parents	3.7%
Alone	3.2%
Neighbours	2.1%
Other	0.4%
Don’t know	0.6%

[part 1][part 2]

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