Karaoke, the drunkard's confidence meter, was invented in 1971 by a keyboardist named Daisuke Inoue. He now spends his days selling his cockroach killing machine and detegent-free washing water, and has no regrets for failing to patent what is now a multi-billion dollar industry. From the interview:

His company came to boast annual sales of 10 billion yen, 95 million dollars at current rates. But the lifestyle proved too much for Inoue.

"It was luxury-induced depression. I had been a salesman talking directly to customers but was suddenly given a monthly salary of 3.5 million yen [US$34,000] and no real job," he said.

"I began to suffer headaches and was unable to move to go to office," he said, recalling the months in the early 1990s he served as nominal "chairman" of the company.