Karaoke without friends: how ‘me time’ is becoming a growing Japanese trend
- Signs of the ‘ohitorisama’ are everywhere in Japan, from cinemas offering seats with partitions to theme parks that let singles jump the queue at certain rides
- Surveys show Japanese consumer rate quality time alone above hours spent with family and friends
Every so often, 33-year-old Masaki Kitakoga slips into a tiny booth with a desk and a chair and belts out karaoke tunes for 90 minutes – completely on his own.
Kitakoga is part of a growing trend in Japan favouring solo activities that is now so widespread it has its own name: ohitorisama or “on your own”.
Analysts say that Japan’s demographic make-up – more than one third of households contain just one person – makes it perfect for the solo market, with many also craving “me time” in a fast-paced, interconnected and workaholic society.
Karaoke, in many ways the archetypal social activity, is a case in point.
Six years ago, the Koshidaka karaoke chain realised that some 30 per cent of its customers in certain locations came on their own, so it set up “1Kara”, tiny booths for solo singers.
Now the firm runs a network of eight speciality karaoke parlours that each sees “tens of thousands” of crooners flock to its solo booths, according to Daiki Yamatani, a spokesman for the chain.
