The guy with the big smile—and the even bigger array of audio equipment—is none other than Inoue Daisuke, who's widely credited with inventing the first karaoke machine in 1971. You can get an overview of Inoue-san's life story in this Independent article from last summer, but here's a very, very truncated summary: While drumming in a bar band in Kobe, he stumbled upon the idea of recording his own backing tracks; soon, he was leasing out tapes and machines to bars around the city, unknowingly launching a worldwide, multi-million industry. Alas, Daisuke never patented his discovery, and he now sells devices that prevent bugs from damaging karaoke machines (one of which, I'm guessing, can be found here). Respect due!
THE INDEPENDENT ONLINE: The Man who taught the world to sing
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