Subsequently, Inoue launched the All-Japan Karaoke Industrialist Association. Tributes and awards In 1996, Inoue's connection to karaoke was first publicized by a TV channel in Singapore. In 1999, Time magazine recognized Inoue's role in the newly international craze, describing him as among "The Most Influential Asians of the Century". "[A]s much as Mao Zedong or Mohandis Gandhi changed Asian days," Time author Pico Iyer wrote, "Inoue transformed its nights." Following the exposure by Time, Inoue attracted the attention of international media. In 2004, Inoue went to Harvard University to accept an Ig Nobel Peace Prize for "inventing karaoke, thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other." His rendition there of "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" earned a standing ovation. Master of ceremonies Marc Abrahams indicated it was the longest standing ovation the Ig Nobels had ever seen; the audience of largely Nobel Prize laureates responded by serenading Inoue with a chorus of "Can't Take My Eyes off You". In 2005, director Hiroyuki Tsuji released a fictionalized biographic film of Inoue called Karaoke. See also List of Japanese inventions References Karaoke Japanese inventors People from Nishinomiya People from Osaka 1940 births Living people