October 26, 2009 | weird news
Gladstone Hotel Karaoke Night, Toronto
“You haven’t lived until you have seen a Japanese salaryman sing the Frank Sinatra ballad “My Way”. It is one of those quintessential said sights that seem to define Japan. What an odd and yet common spectacle: a tousled salaryman, living a life of bows and stifling conformity, a man married to the company, a man who—in the thousands every year—works himself to death for the sake of the corporation, a man who has to eat shit and smile every day, a man who fuels the economic engine yet remains unsung, unacknowledged and often openly mocked. A man like that, standing up and singing in heartfelt English: that the record should show, he took the blows and did it his way! This is something you don’t soon forget.”
Will Ferguson, Hitching Rides with Buddha: A Journey Across Japan
Apparently, the owner of Tokyo’s most famous karaoke bar, ‘Smash Hits’, holds the dubious distinction of hearing one such hit, warbled 25,000 times: “My Way”, the song penned by pumpkin-complected Paul Anka.
We’ve written about karaoke-inspired violence previously, and if there’s one person who no jury in the world would convict for turning homicidal it would be Smash Hits’ Hide Saito, who notes: “We have tens of thousands of songs to choose from, but they always finish with a bad version of My Way. Usually after ruining Bohemian Rhapsody.” Everybody croon along at home. “Regrets, I’ve had a few…”
I’ve heard of the kind of torture that happens in Guantanamo. Water-boarding must be similiar to this. But your article doesn’t explain why the Japanese are doing this to their Salarymen.