Debra Li

A 62-YEAR-OLD Japanese man is aiming to set a record by singing 1,000 songs at a karaoke bar in Luohu District.

Tsujio Shoji, a karaoke fanatic from Sendai City in Japan, started singing at noon Friday, and went past the 700-song mark by late yesterday evening.

Shoji, who moved to Shenzhen in 1993, had previously hoped to sing 1,000 songs at a stretch to create a Guinness World Record, but was thwarted Saturday night after being made to stop following complaints from guests living above the Odawara bar on the seventh floor of the Guangdong Hotel.

“It’s difficult to predict when he will finally finish the 1,000 songs, since he is quite exhausted now and guests at the hotel may also complain tonight,” said Mototada Tago, the Japanese owner of the bar and a good friend of Shoji.

“However, the record is not really that important. Shoji wanted to do it because he is optimistic and a big karaoke fan. He does it for fun, and to raise some money for charity,” Tago said.

Tago has provided the venue for free, and has placed a donation box at the bar. The money collected will be donated to poor Chinese students, Tago said.

Shoji decided to sing 1,000 karaoke songs after reading in a Japanese newspaper about a Korean woman’s failed attempt to set a Guinness record for singing karaoke.

At the Odawara bar, Shoji has the lyrics of 1,000 songs printed on 53 pages. He took a five-minute break every hour to rest, eat and visit the toilet.