A Sunday of breaking personal records after steeling myself like Denken [Around-50's Karaoke & Muscle Training Diary 2026/04/26]

I go to Chocozap and keep a record of my muscle training and karaoke (JOYSOUND National Scoring GP. 1,000 points for 10 songs).

Almost one year of karaoke

Next month will mark one year since I started karaoke at Chocozap. However, it looks like I won't be able to go as freely from June onwards.

That leaves me with only one month left. So, I suddenly felt like checking my growth using the usual JOYSOUND national scoring.

My personal best for the top 10 so far is 970.186 points in November '25.

However, at that time, four of the songs were Kyu Sakamoto's "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi wo," which is easy to get high scores on, and its covers.

But honestly, it wasn't very fun singing the same songs just to aim for high scores.

Because of that, I distanced myself from the high-score route and have been training with songs I like and want to sing since December.

Steel yourself. You're a man, aren't you?

However, just like with TOEIC, I want to check my growth now. I understand that when prioritizing results, strange restrictions are meaningless.

My mood is exactly like the line from Denken, my favorite character in "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End": "Steel yourself. You're a man, aren't you?".

Come to think of it, I liked Denken so much I wrote an article about him before lol

Unleashing the strongest combo!

The conditions weren't great, being an early morning reservation slot after practicing the sanshin. Even so, I'm the type whose score fluctuates based on my mood, so I'm strong when it comes to this.

First, Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi's "Shabondama" reached the 93-point range and 5th place nationally. This should secure my top 10 for this month.

And then, I unleashed the songs that were my mainstays during my high-score-aiming period: Kyu Sakamoto's "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi wo" (the BEGIN version gets the best score) and "Ue wo Muite Arukou"!

I had sealed them away since last November, but I had originally sung them hundreds of times, and the BEGIN version has reached my all-time personal best in the 98-point range.

Once I remembered them, it was easy to get back into the groove. Both of them reached nearly the 96-point range all at once.

Furthermore, I also brought in Porno Graffitti's "Saudade" and "Melissa", which have been mainstays since the very beginning.

With "Melissa," I was surprisingly on the verge of the 96-point range. I never thought the day would come when I'd surpass Saudade...

From here on, it's an all-out war.

There are only 4 days left this month. While April might be a stretch, I wonder if I can achieve a new personal best in the Top 10 next month, May, which marks my 1st anniversary of karaoke.

That said, the return of Kyu Sakamoto's strongest duo, "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi wo" and "Ue wo Muite Arukou."

And with the rapidly growing GLAY lineup, as well as the veteran Porno Graffitti, I have no shortage of firepower.

The fun is just beginning!

JOYSOUND National Scoring Record

954.605 points (+7.012 points)
3,385th / 34,555th place (Top 9.8%)

It's truly a reunion of a dream team to defeat the final boss. Among them, the 2nd place for "Melissa" really shines.

To eventually reach the 970-point range, I want to get all songs up to 10th place to 96 points or higher. For now, I've revised my goal for this month to 955 points.

Only 0.395 points left until this month's goal.

Strength Training Record

Shoulder Press 20kg 60 reps
Chest Press 60kg 60 reps
Lat Pulldown 65kg 60 reps
Leg Press 65kg 100 reps
Adduction 60kg 100 reps
Abduction 80kg 100 reps
Dips 80kg 100 reps
Ab Bench 100→250 reps

Did the whole routine for the first time in a while. The fatigue feels good.

Adding 150 more reps to the ab bench later... Surprisingly, 250 reps a day is manageable.

The reason for the addition will be in this evening's tanka poem... I'm not sure if I'm burning all the calories, though (orz).

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author: Shisa Taro
A multi-otaku near 50. Hobbies include traveling to all 47 prefectures, karaoke, a cappella, sanshin, and strength training.

Karaoke is open to all genders, genres, and ages. Restarting with the goal of breaking my personal record of 970 points in the JOYSOUND National Scoring Grand Prix!