Q 01/05

The word karaoke is a clipped compound of two Japanese words meaning what?

A) Singing box

B) Night song

C) Loud voice

D) Empty orchestra

Answer · why

D) Empty orchestra

Kara means empty and okesutora is orchestra, describing music with the lead vocal missing.

Q 02/05

Which Japanese nightclub musician is credited with building the first karaoke machine in 1971?

A) Daisuke Inoue

B) Shigeichi Negishi

C) Toshiharu Yamashita

D) Akio Morita

Answer · why

A) Daisuke Inoue

He was a bandleader and drummer who led sing-alongs for businessmen in the Sannomiya district; he never patented his machine.

Q 03/05

What did Inoue call his original coin-operated machine?

A) Sing-Along System

B) 8 Juke

C) Sparko Box

D) Minus-One

Answer · why

B) 8 Juke

He had 11 built at about $425 each, with an amplifier, a microphone, a coin box and a car stereo playing special 8-track tapes.

Q 04/05

How did Inoue first get customers interested in his machines when Kobe's snack bars ignored them?

A) He gave away free drinks with every song

B) He put them in hotel lobbies

C) He hired hostesses to sing on them ostentatiously

D) He advertised on Osaka radio

Answer · why

C) He hired hostesses to sing on them ostentatiously

The stunt worked but angered his fellow musicians, who saw the machines stealing their customers.

Q 05/05

Which tongue-in-cheek award did the man credited with inventing karaoke receive in 2004?

A) The Ig Nobel Peace Prize

B) The Ig Nobel Acoustics Prize

C) The Golden Raspberry Award

D) A Grammy Trustees Award

Answer · why

A) The Ig Nobel Peace Prize

The citation praised him for providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other.