Singing your heart out at karaoke boxes may never feel the same in Japan in the coronavirus era.
To encourage customers to return following the lifting of the state of emergency, the Japan Karaoke Box Association has drafted a set of guidelines detailing recommendations on how the industry can safely resume. They call for a limit on how many people can be in one box — typically a small booth smaller than a motel room — and for people to wear masks "and/or other protective gear that covers the eyes and face” while belting out the latest hits.
A national pastime and cultural export, karaoke unfortunately ticks every box in the government’s guidelines of environments to avoid: crowded, cramped and potentially laden with virus-carrying droplets. But that didn’t stop customers from queuing up outside outlets of Manekineko, the nation's largest karaoke chain, as they re-opened for business last week in Kanagawa Prefecture.
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