Paper short abstract:

I investigate how Japanese elderly life can be understood as a musical time, through elderly musical participation in communal karaoke. These elderly musical engagements problematise established ideas of Japanese elderly life as a time of passivity, dependence and burden on the national economy.

Paper long abstract:

Andy Bennett points out that for older people today, who have aged within the socio-cultural environment of the 20th century popular culture industry, popular music continues to inform their qualitative and subjective life experiences. Bennett's argument is perhaps most pertinent to Japan, where life expectancy is among the top few in the world. Elderly Japanese participation in karaoke is common, but there is little research attempting to understand their experiences and motivations. Looking at two groups of Japanese karaoke enthusiasts, mainly in their mid-fifties to seventies, I investigate how they relate to their preferred popular genres and songs, and how they derive pleasure and emotional fulfilment from their karaoke participation. Analysing both their musical and social bases for karaoke enjoyment, I show how these older Japanese engage with music as a cultural resource for elderly living, and draw attention to Japanese elderly life as a musical time. Furthermore, I explore how their activities constitute an active negotiation of what it means to live successfully as an elderly person in Japan, and problematise established ideas of Japanese elderly life as a time of passivity, dependence, and burden on the national economy.