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Asia

In Asia, a karaoke box is the most popular type of karaoke venue. A karaoke box is a small or medium-sized room containing karaoke equipment rented by the hour or half-hour, providing a more intimate atmosphere. Karaoke venues of this type are often dedicated businesses, some with multiple floors and a variety of amenities including food service, but hotels and business facilities sometimes provide karaoke boxes as well. In South Korea, karaoke boxes are called noraebangs. In mainland China and Taiwan, a karaoke establishment is called a KTV.

In some traditional Chinese restaurants, there are so-called "mahjong-karaoke rooms" where the elderly play mahjong while teenagers sing karaoke. The result is fewer complaints about boredom, but more noise. Noise regulations can be an issue, especially when karaoke is brought into residential areas.

Violent reactions to karaoke singing have made headlines in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, with reports of killings by listeners disturbed by the singing. In the Philippines, at least half a dozen killings of people singing " My Way " caused newspapers there to label the phenomenon " My Way killings "; such that some bars refused to allow the song, and some singers refrained from vocalizing it among strangers.

Prostitution became an issue implicating karaoke in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia. In Thailand, "karaoke girls" are brought in not only from Thailand itself but from neighboring countries and are sent to other parts of the world.

Asian karaoke establishments are often fronts for gentlemen's clubs, where men pay for female hosts to drink, sing, and dance with them. In Japan, such a business is called a piano bar.

After the COVID-19 outbreak, karaoke bars in Japan reopened with rules such as mask wearing, mic covers, and singer must face same direction as onlookers.