SAGA, Japan >> As airports across Japan open eateries, shopping malls and other leisure facilities to occupy passengers while they wait to board their planes, Saga Airport in Saga prefecture has become the first to install a karaoke booth.
Airport operators expect the booth to be used by not only domestic passengers but also inbound international tourists, who have been increasing in number since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
100 YEN PER SONG
The karaoke booth, called Saganosora (Saga sky), opened for a trial run on Jan. 22 and is now located on the third floor of the international terminal building.
The booth is shaped like a telephone booth and can accommodate up to four people, though it is equipped with only two microphones. For 100 yen (about 66 cents) per song, travelers can don a pair of headphones and sing along to the music.
Kyushu-Saga International Airport Building Co., the Saga-based business that runs the airport, introduced the booth to provide passengers with something unique to do to pass the time.
The booth was produced by Daiichikosho Co., the Tokyo-based company that operates the Big Echo chain of karaoke parlors in Japan. For it’s trial run, the booth was initially installed on the first floor near a central stairway so it could be easily visible to both domestic and international travelers.
A digital clock installed in the booth ensures that passengers will not miss their departure times.
Ryuji Matsufuji, 61, from Yanagawa, Fukuoka prefecture, sang karaoke in the Saganosora booth on the day it opened. “When I visit Saga Airport to travel or something, I sometimes worry about how I will pass the time. I think this will give me an easy way to spend it well,” he said with a smile.
A Daiichikosho official who supervised the installation of the booth said, “We have high expectations for the booth to be used by foreign tourists, as karaoke offers them a good way of using Japanese coins that they won’t be able to exchange when they go back to their countries.”
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS RESUME
Many travelers who use Saga Airport are from areas such as Saga prefecture and southern Fukuoka prefecture.
In 2020 and 2021, airport operators attempted to draw more travelers by renovating its paid-entry lounge and expanding shopping areas where specialty prefectural goods were sold. Still, Saga Airport offered fewer entertainment options than Fukuoka Airport and other urban airports.
In a 2023 survey conducted by Kyushu-Saga International Airport Building, many passengers indicated they wanted more options for passing the time while awaiting flights.
In addition, flights on three routes connecting Saga with Taipei, Shanghai and Seoul, which were suspended during the pandemic, resumed service in 2023. From the start of the fiscal year through December, the number of passengers on the three international routes surpassed 92,000 and is expected to continue rising.
That anticipated growth moved officials to increase entertainment options at the airport, and while visiting a leisure industry exhibition in Tokyo last fall, they found the Daiichikosho karaoke booth.
“We feel there’s something surprising about seeing a karaoke booth inside an airport, and so we thought it would be a good way to offer a new kind of amusement,” said Sho Akikawa, Kyushu-Saga International Airport Building’s chief of business planning. “It can also be used by people other than the passengers, so we hope this will serve as an opportunity to promote Saga Airport as a visitor-friendly location.”
