Karaoke Inventor Shigeichi Negishi Dies at 100
Shigeichi Negishi, the inventor of the very first karaoke machine, has died at the age of 100.
According to Negishi's family, the inventor died of natural causes on January 26.
Several people independently invented karaoke machines in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In fact, another inventor, Daisuke Inoue, is often credited with the invention of karaoke with his "8 Juke" machine, which he released in 1971.
Inoue's innovation was to use songs rerecorded at tempos and keys that were easier for amateur singers.
However, Negishi created his karaoke machine in 1967, and the All-Japan Karaoke Industrialist Association says it is the first.
Negishi was the head of an electronics company when he had the idea for his machine. He was singing to himself one day, when one of his colleagues made fun of his singing voice.
Negishi thought his voice might sound better if he had a backing track to help him.
He told one of his staff to put together a tape deck, microphone and speaker, and then tested out the results with his family at home. They were all impressed by his new machine.
Negishi developed his machine with lights that flashed along with the music, and called it the "Sparko Box." He then traveled across Japan showing people his invention and sold around 8,000 Sparko Boxes to bars, hotels and restaurants.
However, he grew tired of the effort of selling his machines and decided to leave the karaoke business in 1975.
There is now only one working Sparko Box in the world and it is owned by the Negishi family. Negishi never patented his creation, and later, major manufacturers were able to make karaoke a popular activity around the world.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal writer Matt Alt, Negishi's daughter Atsumi Takano said he was never worried about having a patent.
"To him, spending a hundred years surrounded by his family was reward enough," she said.
