The Game of Love between Men and Women: Elderly Romance at Japanese Karaoke Kissas

Abstract
Existing research on elderly well-being has mostly focused on the issues of long-term care and policy making, with leisure and affect remaining under-investigated. This is despite the increasing number of elderly people aging healthily. My research addresses this gap by examining the regular karaoke participation of urban elderly Japanese, through fieldwork conducted at establishments known as karaoke kissas (a bar/café hybrid). Drawing upon the nascent research on elderly music engagements, which argue that music continues to matter as a cultural resource through which older people can negotiate personal and collective lifestyles as they age, this talk explores how and why coming regularly to the karaoke kissa enabled elderly karaoke enthusiasts to experience romantic affection. Using the conceptual lens of “serious leisure”, I highlight the emotional and time investments characterizing regular karaoke participation, which influence individual and social experiences of everyday elderly lives. Through these approaches, I describe the modes of karaoke participation that encourage the elderly men and women to become romantically attracted to each other, and develop intimate emotional and even physical connections. This research is thus significant in addressing the hitherto under-researched issues of intimacy and romance in Japanese elderly life. By highlighting livelier possibilities for elderly life through leisure activities, I contend that aging is not simply a demographic crisis to be solved, but an integral process in life that can be negotiated proactively.

About the Speaker
Benny Tong is a final-year PhD candidate in East Asian studies and anthropology. He submitted his dissertation in June 2018 to the Australian National University. His research interests include Japanese and East Asian popular music and culture, aging lifestyles, and modern Japanese gender identities. Tong’s latest academic publication is “A Tale of Two Stars: Understanding the Establishment of Femininity in Enka through Misora Hibari and Fuji Keiko”, in Situations: Cultural Studies in the Asian Context 8:1 (2015), 23-44.