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（英会話リスニングスクリプト）
The dictionary defines it as, "The
technique or entertainment of singing in conjunction with
a machine which provides a prerecorded backing track and
mixes the voice to blend with the accompaniment".
It is a compound word "Kara" comes
from "karappo" meaning "empty" and "oke"
is the abbreviation of "okesutora" or "orchestra".
Love it or hate it, karaoke is here to stay.
Karaoke is said to have originated in a
snack bar in Kobe.
When the bar's most popular guitarist was
unable to play, he made a backing tape for customers to
sing along to.
When home use machines became popular in
the early eighties it became a problem.
Because a lot of apartments are often concentrated
in small spaces, problems began to arise between neighbours
who were upset by the karaoke party in the apartment next
door.
As a reaction to this, businessmen created
the karaoke box, a roadside entertainment facility with
closed-doors and insulated rooms where people could drink
and sing as much as they wanted without upsetting anybody.
The first karaoke box appeared in 1984 in
a rice field in the countryside of Okayama Prefecture and
a new form of entertainment was born.
One factor in karaoke's popularity is the
incredible range of people who enjoy it.
Company presidents enjoy drinking and singing
along to their favourite songs just as much as college students
or factory workers.
Ask most of them why they enjoy it so much
and they will tell you that it is the best way of relaxing
and getting rid of stress, more relaxing even than a Japanese
bath at the end of the day!
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