No. 3　 "Made in Japan" I Found in Stockholm Part 1

Life in Sweden

No. 3 "Made in Japan" I Found in Stockholm Part 1

1999/08/18

Instant Noodles Found in Stockholm (Left: Chicken Flavor, Right: Tomato Flavor)

Once upon a time, I read somebody was writing that the three major inventions made in Japan is Walkman, Karaoke and instant noodles. I do not know whether this is the case, however it is sure that they are found everywhere in the world.

While Walkman is becoming a little bit old-fashioned due to the emergence of more advanced digital equipments such as CD and MiniDisk, however Karaoke and instant noodles are still on the way of evolution by modifying themselves more fit for the local life style. In Stockholm, I was surprised to see that they are much more popular than I thought. And, at the same time, I found that they have gone under evolution here.

Last weekend, I had my first experience to see Karaoke in Swedish style and found many different aspects compared to that of Japan, its place of birth. The Karaoke Bar which I went had some 40 or 50 seats, and all the people shared one Karaoke machine. There was a girl, probably a professional singer, of whom the Karaoke machine was in charge. Sometimes she sang alone, and sometimes she sang together with, or maybe as an aid to, the guests. I think this style is not so popular in Japan as far as I know, because most of the Karaoke bars are either much smaller or compartmentalized so that you do not have to sing in front of a number of unfamiliar people. In Japan, generally speaking, young people prefer to go to compartmentalized Karaoke bar, because one can enjoy Karaoke just only with your close friends. Contrarily, all the people in the Karaoke bar in Sweden will be your audience, even if they do not know you at all, so it will be like your show !

I think both system has its own advantage, however let me explain the original meaning of Karaoke in Japanese. Karaoke's "Kara" means empty and "Oke" is an abbreviation of orchestra. The reason why it is called empty orchestra is quite simple. The music by the orchestra as an accompaniment of the song is recorded in the tape or disk, however the voice track is left empty, so that it can be used for anyone at anytime, therefore they are called "Kara-Oke". When I told this story to my friends, they were really surprised to hear that.

In terms with instant noodles, one of my fellow Swedish researchers told me that "it saved a lot of money and lives of poor young people, as it is cheap and easy to cook". Hmmmmm, it sounds like a common feature of instant noodle universally. I agree it is a kind of "junk food", nevertheless I have to confess that I was really relieved by it when I was a little bit depressed due to home sick just after my arrival to Sweden. I was really rejoiced when I first found it in a supermarket and shed tears of joy when I had it, living alone and far away from my native country.

Interestingly, instant noodles with Italian pasta sauce such as "Tomato Flavor" seems to be very popular in Sweden, but not in Japan. This can be said as the "localization" of instant noodle like that of Karaoke.

However, they are not all the "Made in Japan" which I found in Stockholm. I will be back again with continuing story.

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Last Updated 1999/08/18