Daisuke Inoue (b. Osaka 1940) is the man who invented the karaoke machine in 1971.
- “I’m not an inventor,” says the 65-year-old in his small Osaka office, where the first version of the karaoke machine sits in a corner. “I simply put things that already exist together, which is completely different. I took a car stereo, a coin box and a small amp to make the karaoke. Who would even consider patenting something like that?” (The Independent)
In 1999 Time Magazine called him one of the 20th Century's most influential Asians. In 2004 Harvard University awarded him the Ig Nobel Prize “for inventing karaoke”. He celebrated by calling himself, “the last samurai”. His Ig Nobel Prize was in the category of PEACE for inventing karaoke, thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other. Winners of the Ig® Nobel Prize