Shigeichi Negishi: Japanese businessman who invented first-ever karaoke machine dies aged 100

Shigeichi Negishi, the Japanese entrepreneur who invented the first-ever karaoke machine, died aged 100. According to The Wall Street Journal, Negishi, who was based in Tokyo, died on January 26.

Journalist Matt Alt, who interviewed Negishi for his book Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World, announced his death on X. Negishi's daughter, Atsumi Takano, also confirmed her father's death to Alt, saying he died from natural causes after a fall.

Alt wrote: "Farewell to another legend: Shigeichi Negishi, inventor of karaoke, has died age 100. By automating the sing-along, he earned the enmity of performers who saw his machine as a threat to their jobs. It's an eerie precursor of the debate surrounding AI's impact on artists today."

Negishi, leading an electronics firm at the time, conceived the initial idea for what later evolved into the Sparko Box - a prototype for the beloved karaoke device known worldwide. It is believed that Negishi's inspiration struck one day in 1967 as he strolled into his office, singing to himself. Upon receiving jests about his singing skills from a colleague, Negishi recognised the potential improvement with the aid of a backing track.

Negishi, an avid fan of singing along to radio and television shows, ingeniously assembled a makeshift karaoke machine by having an employee connect a speaker, tape deck, and microphone. He tested his creation with an instrumental rendition of Yoshio Kodama’s “Mujo no Yume” before organising what Alt described as "history’s first karaoke party" with his family.

During an interview with Alt, Negishi shared the origin of the name for his groundbreaking invention. Initially, he proposed "karaoke," a blend of the Japanese terms for "empty" and "orchestra." However, his distributor vetoed the idea, citing that "karaoke" sounded too much like "kanoke," which means coffin. This was when Sparko Box was born.

Despite not obtaining a patent for the Sparko Box, Negishi embarked on a stint as a traveling salesman, showcasing his creation at various establishments across Japan. He managed to sell approximately 8,000 units during this period before ending his sales efforts in 1975.

While a few Japanese inventors had developed similar devices before the widespread popularity of karaoke in the 1980s and '90s, Negishi's Sparko Box predates them all. Even Daisuke Inoue, the inventor of a similar gadget called the 8 Juke, trailed Negishi's innovation by four years.

According to Alt, Negishi's family preserves the only remaining operational Sparko Box.