Did you know?: The invention of Karaoke

(Stripes Japan)

Daisuke Inoue is believed to be the inventor of karaoke. Inoue was a businessman and a musician who used to sing popular songs at parties. When his band was a no-show at one party, he improvised, and it was a huge success. Seeing its potential, he invented the 8 JUKE in 1971 by combining a guitar amplifier, a tape player and a timer that ran for 5 minutes when a 100-yen coin was inserted.