After a decade in the karaoke business, lounge owner Kagura Muto has heard her share of sour notes. But business of late has been a different sort of flat.
Under the white-hot spotlights at her bar, a retiree cuts loose a raucous, rough-on-the-ears rendition of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Nary a soul is here to clap.
"Ten years ago, this place would have been packed with 20 people," Muto complained after punching in the off-key crooner's next song. "Now nobody wants to sing. It's all because of the bad economy."
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