ABSTRACT
When practiced in a Japanese cultural context, karaoke epitomizes ringisei, a method of conducting meetings in which participants aim to achieve consensus rather than score points. Ringisei-style consensus building should not, however, be mistaken for self-effacing conformity. As psychiatrist Takeo Doi writes in his best-seller, The Anatomy of Self, ringisei is rather "an instinctual sense that the support of the group is indispensable for the individual,,,2 and this sense pervades Japanese-style karaoke.
