Wall Street Journal, who confirmed via his daughter Atsumi Takano that he passed away in Tokyo on January 26 from natural causes following a fall.In 1967, Negishi, who was working for an electronics company at the time, designed the rudimentary Sparko Box, which would go on to inspire the globally dominant karaoke machines of the future, after being caught singing badly in his office.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.