Free guide · 5 min read
Japanese for karaoke
Booking a room, working the machine, and the small social rituals of a Japanese karaoke night.
Karaoke in Japan is usually a private room with friends rather than a stage in a pub - which makes it far less intimidating, and a genuinely good place to practise reading lyrics at speed.
At the front desk
放題 (hōdai) means “as much as you like” and attaches to other verbs too - 食べ放題 (tabehōdai) is all-you-can-eat. Spotting 放題 on any sign tells you it’s an unlimited deal.
Working the machine
予約 is the same “reservation” you used for hotels - here it means putting a song in the queue. 採点 turns on the machine’s scoring, which is a reliable way to make an evening competitive.
The social bit
Karaoke has a mild etiquette: don’t queue five songs in a row, and do applaud everyone. 上手ですね is the standard compliment - and 上手 is the same word from the Reading section, built on 上 (above) and 手 (hand).
These phrases get built into real conversation in the90 day course. The first week needs no account.