Japan boasts a long tradition of high-tech innovations and technological inventions. The country has been one of the most vibrant in these industries since the beginning of the past century. The journey into the history of Japan’s most useful invention is ready to start with the following well-known innovations from Japan that changed how people live in the world.
1) Cellular Network
In 1979, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) launched the first cell phone in history. NTT also provided the world’s first cellular network, but the first commercially available models appeared only four years later, in 1983, when the DynaTAC 8000x was released to the public. From then to the present day, the industry of mobile phones has impressively developed a large array of cell phones. Also, the subscriptions to cell phone companies increased to over seven billion worldwide. On average, one device per everybody on the planet.
2) Notebook PC
In 1983, Yukio Yokozawa received a patent for inventing the first notebook PC. It was an LCD-featured laptop device with a full-size keyboard and a built-in rechargeable battery. The PC was launched with a printer, the Epson HX-20. So far we’ve gone from that year, with computing technology moving giant steps forward. The gap between present-day laptops and the first model that appeared in Japan is noticeable. It’s enough to think of all the things we can do with a laptop under our fingers: exploring the internet, finding materials for research, watching videos, and enjoying video and casino games. And Japanese online casinos are some of the best options out there, by the way!
3) Karaoke
Although it spread late in some corners of Earth, karaoke was invented in 1971 by Daisuke Inoue, a musician who became the world’s most influential person in that year. He provided music background at clubs with his band. The idea was meant to offer businessmen the chance to take to the stage after company meetings. Daisuke Inoue decided to build a karaoke machine out of a car stereo, with a coin box for the bars’ clients. He installed his machine in bars and it turned out a big success!
4) Cassette Player
Another music-dedicated high-tech innovation appeared in 1979, 16 years after Phillips released cassette technology. Japanese company Sony launched the first Walkman model, the TPS-L2 Walkman, a personal cassette player destined to change how people listen to music forever. The company decided to implement the Walkman with two earphone jacks for headphone use.
5) Blu-Ray Disc
In 2006, Sony and Phillips released the first Blu-ray disc, a digital polycarbonate disc for data storage to replace DVD technology. The disc is 12 cm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray technology allows users to store several hours of high-definition videos. The invention is also an excellent distribution tool for video games for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The name of the invention comes from the blue laser that reads the disc. Currently, the blue laser was replaced with a violet laser.
Japan is home to many more high-tech inventions, such as the first digital cameras, high-speed trains, QR codes, and many more that changed our lives and improved technological progress.