In this booster
Karaoke in Japan is not a stage in a bar — it’s a private room, rented by the hour, with a phone to the front desk and a tablet full of every song you’ve ever heard. It’s where an izakaya evening goes next, what a rainy night is for, and (open secret) one of the classic ways to wait out a missed last train. This booster is the front desk, the room, and the etiquette of the shared microphone.
No new grammar — every sentence here is a frame you already own, wearing new nouns. Mostly Lesson 9’s invitation frame opening the evening, Lesson 6’s -jikan buying it in blocks — the same move the Animal Cafés booster drilled, and sanjuppun and ichi-jikan work verbatim here — plus Lesson 3’s ikura and Lesson 1’s onegaishimasu. Boosters assume the finished core (Lessons 1–9); take them in any order.
As always: tap each sentence and listen first, repeat it aloud, then check yourself against the text and meaning that appear. Tap again to listen as often as you like.
Getting a room
karaoke — the word English borrowed back, in Lesson 9’s invitation frame. Say it after dinner and watch the evening reorganize itself; the nijikai (second party) ends up in a karaoke box more often than anywhere else.
Hitokara, daijoubu desu ka.
hitokara — solo karaoke (hitori + kara), and this booster’s unlock: singing alone is completely normal in Japan. Chains have one-person booths; nobody blinks. The answer to this question is always yes — asking it is really for you.
Ni-jikan, onegaishimasu.
Lesson 6’s -jikan again — ni-jikan is the classic karaoke block, and the Animal Cafés booster’s Ichi-jikan, onegaishimasu. and Sanjuppun, onegaishimasu. work at this desk word for word.
Kono heya desu ka.
heya — room, borrowed from the Ryokan booster; the receipt has your room number, the hallway has forty identical doors.
The system
furii taimu — “free time,” the flat rate that beats the hourly blocks once you’ll stay a while. Daytime and late-night free time are often absurdly cheap — which is exactly why karaoke doubles as the missed-last-train plan (the Capsule Hotel booster is the other answer).
Furii taimu, onegaishimasu.
The commitment version — settle in.
Dorinku baa wa arimasu ka.
dorinku baa — the drink bar: all-you-can-refill soft drinks for a small add-on. Most rooms expect everyone to order at least one drink; the drink bar settles that politely in one move. (Alcohol runs separately — the Izakaya booster’s nomihoudai exists at karaoke chains too.)
In the room
rimokon — the remote, meaning the touchscreen song tablet. It has an English-language switch (look for a globe icon or 言語, the word for “language”) and a genuinely enormous English catalog. It also vanishes under coats and menus every ten minutes, hence the sentence.
Maiku, futatsu onegaishimasu.
maiku — microphone, counted with Lesson 3’s futatsu. Rooms usually have two; when one is missing or dead, this at the desk fixes it — duets are half the point.
Kono uta ga suki desu.
uta — song, in Lesson 9’s suki frame. Said while someone else sings, it’s the cheapest friendship in Japan — and the polite alternative to grabbing the second mic uninvited.
Biiru o futatsu, onegaishimasu.
The room phone calls the front desk — lift it, order, hang up, and it arrives at the door. Any Lesson 5 food or drink word works in the slot.
Enchou, onegaishimasu.
enchou — extension. Ten minutes before your block ends, the room phone rings with the extension question. This is the yes; overtime without it gets billed in blocks anyway, so answer the phone.
Dialog
Front desk to phone call — and almost every line is one you already own. Listen to the whole dialog cold first.
Nan-mei sama desu ka. Futari desu. Ni-jikan, onegaishimasu. Dorinku baa wa ikaga desu ka. Hai, onegaishimasu. Kochira e douzo. Mamonaku ojikan desu. Enchou nasaimasu ka. Enchou, onegaishimasu. Hai, wakarimashita. Arigatou gozaimasu.Count the recycling: the headcount question from Lesson 5’s restaurant script, Futari desu from the same lesson, Kochira e douzo from the same script — the karaoke desk is the restaurant scene wearing headphones. Only the drink bar and the phone call are new.
What they’ll say to you
The desk’s two questions and the phone’s one, at native speed. You never say these.
Dorinku baa wa ikaga desu ka. Kaiin kaado wa omochi desu ka. Mamonaku ojikan desu. Enchou nasaimasu ka.Ikaga is keigo’s “how about” — catch dorinku baa and answer from your kit. Omochi desu ka is the same “do you carry” shape as the konbini’s point-card question. And mamonaku + ojikan on the phone means the clock, nothing else: extend or wrap up.
Repair drill
Ask about free time and the whole price board arrives at once — per-person rate, drink bar, member discount — in keigo. You are not expected to parse it.
Furii taimu wa ikura desu ka. Furii taimu wa ohitori-sama sen-gohyaku-en de, dorinku baa tsuki ni narimasu. Kaiin-sama wa sen-nihyaku-en desu. Yasashii nihongo de onegaishimasu. Sen-gohyaku-en desu. Dorinku baa mo arimasu.Asked in easy Japanese: Lesson 3’s numbers and this booster’s own dorinku baa — the keigo tsuki ni narimasu re-worded into plain mo arimasu, which is what that rung is for. One honest cost of the easy version: tsuki said “included in the price,” and mo arimasu only says “there is one” — the board by the register settles which. The member-discount clause you lost costs you nothing — the card question comes to you anyway (script above).
How to behave: the mic is communal
- The queue is the law. Songs play in the order they were entered; you sing yours, not whatever comes up. Never sing over someone else’s song uninvited — if you love it, Kono uta ga suki desu and let them offer the second mic. Hand the mic on with douzo.
- Applaud everything. Skill is completely beside the point — participation is the currency, and the tone-deaf rendition gets the same cheer as the good one. That’s also your permission slip: nobody is judging.
- Everyone orders something. The room rate quietly assumes a drink per person; the dorinku baa settles it once for the whole visit.
- The phone call is real. Ten minutes before time, the desk calls: enchou to keep going, iie, daijoubu desu to wrap up — overtime without answering gets billed in blocks regardless.
- Solo is normal. Hitokara booths exist because plenty of Japan sings alone — practice, stress relief, lunch break. If you’ve ever wanted to belt something with the door shut, this is the country for it.
Checkpoint
Your exit exam, out loud. Each line below sets a scene from this booster — say the Japanese before you tap; the tap plays the answer. Check yourself, repeat after the audio matching its pronunciation, rhythm, and speed, and if one won’t come, replay its section. These are this deck’s speaking cards — in Anki they queue up after the listening cards, so you’ll always have heard a line before you’re asked to produce it.
Vocabulary reference
| # | Romaji | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | karaoke | karaoke | Karaoke ni ikimasen ka. |
| 2 | hitokara | solo karaoke | completely normal — Hitokara, daijoubu desu ka. |
| 3 | heya | room | Heya wa doko desu ka. |
| 4 | furii taimu | free time (flat rate) | Furii taimu wa ikura desu ka. |
| 5 | dorinku baa | drink bar | Dorinku baa wa arimasu ka. |
| 6 | rimokon | remote / song tablet | Rimokon wa doko desu ka. |
| 7 | maiku | microphone | Maiku, futatsu onegaishimasu. |
| 8 | uta | song | Kono uta ga suki desu. |
| 9 | enchou | time extension | Enchou, onegaishimasu. |
Recognize only — never say these. The desk and the phone:
| Script line | It means | You do |
|---|---|---|
| Dorinku baa wa ikaga desu ka. | want the drink bar? | Answer hai, onegaishimasu — or iie, daijoubu desu; it’s the standard upsell |
| Kaiin kaado wa omochi desu ka. | member card? | Answer iie + a smile — Lesson 3’s point-card question in a new shirt. They may offer to make one; it’s free and takes a minute. |
| Mamonaku ojikan desu. Enchou nasaimasu ka. | time’s almost up — extend? | the room phone at T-minus-ten. Answer enchou, onegaishimasu — or iie, daijoubu desu and start the last song |
Anki deck
Drill this booster’s audio anywhere: download the Karaoke Anki deck. Sentence cards are the course; vocab cards are backup — suspend them unless a word won’t stick.