Yoshiro Nakamatsu

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Yoshiro Nakamatsu

Yoshiro Nakamatsu, May 2010
Born June 26, 1928 (1928-06-26) (age 85)
Residence Japan
Nationality Japan
Other names Dr. NakaMats
Occupation inventor

Yoshiro Nakamatsu (中松 義郎 Nakamatsu Yoshirō, born June 26, 1928), also known as Dr. NakaMats (ドクター中松 Dokutā Nakamatsu), is a Japanese inventor who has become a minor celebrity for his inventions. He regularly appears on Japanese talk shows which, in conjunction with his appearance, usually craft a humorous segment based on one or more of his inventions.

He is a prolific inventor, and he even claims to hold the world record for number of inventions with over 4,000 patents.[1] While this claim has been mentioned in several media articles,[2][3] several other sources do not list Nakamatsu among the world's most prolific inventors.[4][5][6][7] Nakamatsu was the subject of the 2009 documentary The Invention of Dr Nakamats.[8]

Nakamatsu creativity process

In his interviews, Nakamatsu described his "creativity process", which includes listening to music and concludes with diving underwater, where he says he comes up with his best ideas and records them while underwater.[3][9] Nakamatsu claims to benefit from lack of oxygen to the brain, making inventions "0.5 seconds before death". He also built a million dollar toilet room made completely out of gold that he claims helps make him think better.[citation needed] Nakamatsu also has an elevator in his house that he claims helps him think better. He strictly denies that it is an elevator, but rather a "vertical moving room". Nakamatsu's goal is to live at least 144 years.[10]

Inventions

Nakamatsu's patented inventions include:

  • "Enerex" System for generating hydrogen and oxygen[11]
  • "PyonPyon" jumping shoes with leaf springs on their soles[12]
  • "Cerebrex" armchair, a chair that supposedly improves mental function such as calculation and thinking by cooling the head and heating the feet[13]
  • A toilet seat lifter[14]
  • A condom with an embedded magnet, supposedly "improving sensitivity" as "electricity is generated in the blood vessels in the female organs by Fleming's left-hand rule"[15]
  • Protective envelopes for floppy disks, and head-cleaning floppy disk[16]
  • A CD for supposedly "enhancing brightness or sexual function"[17]
  • A cigarette like device for supposedly "activating the brain"[18]
  • A pillow preventing falling asleep while driving (an air compressor strapped to the cars headrest, forcibly feeding air to the driver)[19]
  • A peephole in a sheet of material, described as a "oneway visible shielding object"[20]
  • Spectacles in the shape of eyes, so that the user appears to wear no spectacles[21]
  • A "Wig for self defense" — a strip and a weight are attached to a wig. The wearer swings the wig to hit an attacker.[22]

It should be noted that patents (these or any other) do not mean that the devices actually work. Patent offices grant patents without checking that the patented device works. While a patent is usually invalid if the patented device or process does not work, this is typically only determined if the patent is challenged (which is not normally done unless the patent holder sues an alleged patent infringer).

Claimed inventions

Nakamatsu gains much of his fame from his claim to have invented the floppy disk in 1952. He claims to have licensed his floppy disk patents to IBM Corporation in 1979, but that the details are confidential.[2] An IBM spokesman, Mac Jeffery, said that the company does license some of his patents, but not for the floppy disk, which they invented on their own.[23] Another source has mentioned that IBM reached nonexclusive patent agreements with Nakamatsu in the late 1970s to avoid conflicts.[24]

Media coverage

Nakamatsu has appeared on several American TV shows, including Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Late Night with David Letterman, even Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.[3] He also appeared on the BBC show Adam and Joe Go Tokyo and the BBC radio show Jon Ronson On...

In 2005, Nakamatsu was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize (a parody of the Nobel Prize) for Nutrition, for photographing every meal he has consumed during a period of 34 years (and counting).

In 2009, Danish filmmaker Kaspar Astrup Schröder made a humorous documentary about Nakamatsu titled The Invention of Dr. NakaMats.[8][25]

In 2013 Nakamatsu was featured on the Sky 1 programme 'The Moaning Of Life' where Karl Pilkington travels the world to see how people face up to life's biggest issues.

Political aspirations

Nakamatsu has been a candidate in the 2007[26][27] and 2011 gubernatorial elections in Tokyo, and has also run for the Upper House election, but to date has failed to get any political seat. He is known for frequently entering and losing elections in Tokyo.[27] Now he has a special seat on the Happiness Realization Party.[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dr. Nakamatsu's profile on his web site
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lazarus, David (April 10, 1995). "'Japan's Edison' Is Country's Gadget King : Japanese Inventor Holds Record for Patent". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-21. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Thompson, Charles ("Chic"). "The Edison of Japan: An Interview with Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats".  First published in Thomson's book What a Great Idea!: The Key Steps Creative People Take, Perennial (HarperCollins), 1992. ISBN 0-06-096901-6.
  4. ↑ Man-Made Marvels Time Magazine, Dec 4, 2000
  5. ↑ You really can find identities of top patent holders USA Today, Dec 13, 2005
  6. ↑ Masters of invention Portfolio, October 15, 2007
  7. ↑ The Ten Greatest Inventors In The Modern Era Business Insider, 6 May 2011
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fornoff, Alexa (March 2, 2010). "True/False: What’s Behind 'The Invention of Dr. NakaMats'". ReadyMade (blog). Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  9. ↑ An interview with Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu at PingMag
  10. ↑ Grayson, Ian (May 8, 2006). "'NakaMats': Creative mind is the key". CNN. Retrieved 2007-10-13. 
  11. ↑ http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/5399251.html
  12. ↑ JUMPING SHOE
  13. ↑ MENTAL WORK IMPROVING CHAIR
  14. ↑ ADAPTER FOR AUTOMATICALLY FLAPPING UP SEAT OF TOILET STOOL
  15. ↑ CONDOM FOR IMPROVING SENSITIVITY
  16. ↑ Floppy disk related patents
  17. ↑ RECORDING MEDIA SUCH AS CD FOR ENHANCING BRIGHTNESS OR SEXUAL FUNCTION
  18. ↑ ACTIVATION OF BRAIN BY OLFACTORY SENSATION
  19. ↑ PILLOW PREVENTING ASLEEP-DRIVING
  20. ↑ ONEWAY VISIBLE SHIELDING OBJECT
  21. ↑ EYE-SHAPED SPECTACLES
  22. ↑ WIG FOR SELF-DEFENSE
  23. ↑ Barron, James (Nov 11, 1990). "What a Stroke of ... Um, Ingenuity, Anyhow". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-03. 
  24. ↑ Hornyak, Tim (January 2002). "Dr. NakaMats: Japan's Self-Proclaimed Savior". Japan Inc. Retrieved 2007-10-13. 
  25. ↑ "OPFINDELSEN AF DR. NAKAMATS / THE INVENTION OF DR. NAKAMATS". 
  26. ↑ Fujimori, Ainu, lesbian, inventor and Tojo's granddaughter all defeated in election
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Cabbie, dilettante and prolific inventor in fray to lead Tokyo
  28. ↑ Dr Nakamatsu joins HRP

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