"Individual circumstances" heard at a karaoke izakaya in Nishinari, Osaka

NHK's documentary program "Document 72 Hours" (General) will air the episode "Singing at a Karaoke Izakaya in Nishinari, Osaka" from 10:00 PM on September 26th. The setting is a karaoke izakaya in Nishinari, Osaka. Drinking and singing is a place where you can become friends with customers sitting next to you for the first time, but what are the reasons why each person pours their heart out into song...?

At the karaoke izakaya in Nishinari, Osaka, near Tsutenkaku, where you can eat, drink, and sing, anyone can sing their favorite songs whenever they want for just 100 yen per song.

Customers from all walks of life come and sing at the top of their lungs, including a former civil servant belting out hits from the 1970s, a man returning from a night shift at a factory, and people from other prefectures staying overnight. Some sing alone, immersed in their own world, while others join in with the people next to them. For three days, I listened intently to the sounds of the people who gather here, day and night.

This documentary program focuses on a single location each time, observing the various human dramas that occur there over a period of 72 hours. It listens to the stories of people who meet by chance, capturing the current era.