Yoshiro Nakamatsu#Floppy disk

In some interviews, Nakamatsu has described his "creativity process", which includes listening to music and concludes with diving underwater, where he says he comes up with his best ideas. He then records them while underwater.{{cite web |url=http://www.pingmag.jp/2006/10/20/twilight-zone-dr-nakamats-inventions/ |title=An interview with Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu |publisher=Pingmag.jp}} Nakamatsu claims to benefit from lack of oxygen to the brain during his dives, making inventions "0.05 seconds before death." He also claims that his "Calm Room," a bathroom constructed without nails and tiled in 24-karat gold, encourages creative thinking by blocking television and radio waves.{{Cite journal|url = http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dr-nakamats-the-man-with-3300-patents-to-his-name-134571403/?all|title = Dr. NakaMats, the Man With 3300 Patents to His Name|last = Lidz|first = Franz|date = December 2012|journal = Smithsonian Magazine|access-date = October 15, 2014}} He also has an elevator in his house that he claims helps him think better, although he strictly denies that it is an elevator and describes it as a "vertical moving room". He predicts that he will live until the age of 144.{{cite news|author1=Ian Grayson|title='NakaMats': Creative mind is the key|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/05/07/nakamats/index.html|access-date=11 February 2017|work=CNN|date=8 May 2006|language=en|quote=He sleeps for just four hours each day, and maintains a strict dietary regime that incorporates a single meal of just 700 calories. As well as stimulating his brain, he believes this approach will allow him to continue living until the age of 144.}}

File:Yoshiro Nakamatsu in 1950s.jpg

Nakamatsu is a prolific inventor, and he even claims to hold the world record for number of more than 3,200 inventions.{{cite web|url=http://dr.nakamats.com/nakamatsuprofile.html |title=/ Dr.nakamatsuprofile |publisher=Dr.nakamats.com |access-date=2015-04-08}} While his claim to a "world record" has been described as a record for patents by several media articles,{{cite news | title ='Japan's Edison' Is Country's Gadget King : Japanese Inventor Holds Record for Patent | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/10/news/10iht-matscon.ttt.html | first = David | last = Lazarus | work = The New York Times | date = April 10, 1995 | access-date = 2010-12-21 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.whatagreatidea.com/nakamatsu.htm |title=The Edison of Japan: An Interview with Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats |first=Charles ("Chic") |last=Thompson |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330154757/http://www.whatagreatidea.com/nakamatsu.htm |archive-date=March 30, 2012 }} First published in Thomson's book What a Great Idea!: The Key Steps Creative People Take, Perennial (HarperCollins), 1992. {{ISBN|0-06-096901-6}}. several other sources do not list Nakamatsu among the world's most prolific inventors{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998676,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110135748/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998676,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 10, 2006 |title=Man-Made Marvels |publisher=Time Magazine |date=December 4, 2000}}{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/maney/2005-12-13-patent_x.htm |title=You really can find identities of top patent holders |publisher= USA Today |date= December 13, 2005}}{{cite web |url=http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2007/10/15/Prolific-Inventors/ |title=Masters of invention |publisher= Portfolio.com |date= October 15, 2007}}{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/most-prolific-inventors-2011-5 |title=The Ten Greatest Inventors In The Modern Era |publisher= Businessinsider.com |date=6 May 2011}} (he has six patent families).{{cite web|url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=PTXT&RS=%28APT%2F1+AND+IN%2F%28Silverbrook-Kia%24+OR+Kia-Silverbrook%24%29%29&Refine=Refine+Search&Query=apt%2F1+and+in%2F%28Nakamatsu-Yoshiro%24+or+Yoshiro-Nakamatsu%24%29|title=USPTO Patent Full Text and Database : Nakamatsu-Yoshiro OR Yoshiro-Nakamatsu: 6 patents|publisher=Patft.uspto.gov|access-date=2015-04-08}}

Among Nakamatsu's early inventions is the Shoyu Churu Churu, a siphon pump used in the home to move soy sauce from large containers to smaller vessels for cooking and serving. His patented inventions include:

• Juusyoku Record ({{langx|ja|重色レコード|Jūshoku rekōdo|link=no}}, {{literal|stacked color record / dual color record}}) – An optical sound media which uses a printed paper sheet instead of transparent film (1952)[https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/web/PU/JPB_S27001322/550E270DD470275E9AD57305FB90BE6B Patent S27-001322] (Japanese)
• "Magnetic record sheet" - "a method for forming signal record track comprising a number of spiral signal track loops ..." (1964)[http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US3131937 Magnetic record sheet], Patent US3131937
• "Enerex" - System for generating hydrogen and oxygen
• "PyonPyon" - Jumping shoes with leaf springs on their soles{{Cite web |url=http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&II=0&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19910827&CC=JP&NR=3195503A&KC=A |title = Espacenet - Bibliographic data |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716101043/http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&II=0&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19910827&CC=JP&NR=3195503A&KC=A |archive-date=16 July 2012 |url-status=dead}}
• "Cerebrex" armchair, a chair that supposedly improves mental function such as calculation and thinking by cooling the head and heating the feet
• A toilet seat lifter{{cite web |url=http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19890904&CC=JP&NR=1221127A&KC=A |title=Espacenet - Bibliographic data |access-date=2012-07-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724045311/http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19890904&CC=JP&NR=1221127A&KC=A |archive-date=2012-07-24 }}
• 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"{{Cite web |url=http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19950530&CC=JP&NR=7136207A&KC=A |title = Espacenet - Bibliographic data |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122075143/http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19950530&CC=JP&NR=7136207A&KC=A |archive-date=22 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}
• A protective envelope for floppy disk (1975-1983),[https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/web/PU/JPA_S52058510/F85F2FE3D576D318B04D5E2F5ABB6C0E JPS5856170] (Japanese) and a head-cleaning floppy disk (1981-1988)[https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/web/PU/JPB_S63046882/16DB63F585337C169962F4DEF042B77E JPS6346882] (Japanese), [https://patents.google.com/patent/US4490765 Patent US4490765 - Diskette for cleaning a floppy-disc drive head - Google Patents]
• A CD for supposedly "enhancing brightness or sexual function"{{cite web |url=http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19950808&CC=JP&NR=7204276A&KC=A |title=Espacenet - Bibliographic data |access-date=2012-07-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716035516/http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19950808&CC=JP&NR=7204276A&KC=A |archive-date=2012-07-16 }}
• A cigarette-like device for supposedly "activating the brain"{{cite web |url=http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19951009&CC=JP&NR=7258113A&KC=A |title=Espacenet - Bibliographic data |access-date=2012-07-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120722051648/http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19951009&CC=JP&NR=7258113A&KC=A |archive-date=2012-07-22 }}
• A pillow preventing falling asleep while driving (an air compressor strapped to the cars headrest, forcibly feeding air to the driver){{Cite web |url=http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19961217&CC=JP&NR=8332227A&KC=A |title = Espacenet - Bibliographic data |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728205724/http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=19961217&CC=JP&NR=8332227A&KC=A |archive-date=28 July 2012 |url-status=dead}}
• A peephole in a sheet of material, described as a "oneway visible shielding object"{{cite web|url=http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=20081127&CC=JP&NR=2008285939A&KC=A |title=Espacenet - Bibliographic data |publisher=V3.espacenet.com |access-date=2015-04-08}}
• Spectacles in the shape of eyes, so that the user appears to wear no spectacles{{cite web|url=http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=20080313&CC=JP&NR=2008058764A&KC=A |title=Espacenet - Bibliographic data |publisher=V3.espacenet.com |access-date=2015-04-08}}
• A "wig for self defense" — a strip and a weight are attached to a wig. The wearer swings the wig to hit an attacker.{{cite web|url=http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_gb&FT=D&date=20071101&CC=JP&NR=2007285622A&KC=A |title=Espacenet - Bibliographic data |publisher=V3.espacenet.com |access-date=2015-04-08}}
• Love Jet - A sexual enhancement product which he created out of concern about Japan's declining birthrate. In a 1995 interview, he explained that the purpose of the aphrodisiac was "to save Japan".{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/10/news/10iht-matscon.ttt.html|title = 'Japan's Edison' Is Country's Gadget King : Japanese Inventor Holds Record for Patent|last = Lazarus|first = David|date = April 10, 1995|work = New York Times|access-date = October 25, 2014}}

===Floppy disk===

File:Juusyokurecord(s27-001322).gif

Upon the basis of the Juusyoku Record patent issued in 1952, Nakamatsu claims to have invented the first floppy disk well before IBM's floppy disk patent was filed in 1969.{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US3668658/en|title=Magnetic record disk cover}} However, what Nakamatsu patented in 1952 was a paper for optical sound player. In contrast to a floppy disk, this Nakamatsu patent discloses the use of printed paper for storage instead of the magnetic material of a floppy disk. It is not rewritable and lacks most elements of the IBM floppy disk patent. Since the paper was 'floppy' material, he claims he had invented the floppy disk (sometimes he uses the phrase "floppy media"); however, flexible magnetic recording media was well known prior to 1952, in tape and wire recording.

According to Nakamatsu, IBM reached licensing agreements with him in the late 1970s.{{cite web | title = Dr. NakaMats: Japan's Self-Proclaimed Savior | url = http://www.japaninc.com/article.php?articleID=653 | first = Tim | last = Hornyak | publisher = Japan Inc |date=January 2002 | access-date = 2007-10-13 }} He also says to have licensed his floppy disk to IBM in 1979, but that the details are "confidential". An IBM spokesman, Mac Jeffery, confirmed that the company did license some of his patents, but said that they were not for the floppy disk, which he said IBM invented on its own.{{cite news | title = What a Stroke of ... Um, Ingenuity, Anyhow | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/29/nyregion/what-a-stroke-of-um-ingenuity-anyhow.html | first = James | last = Barron | work = The New York Times | date = Nov 11, 1990 | access-date = 2010-05-03 }} Another IBM spokesman, Brian Doyle, said that the company licensed 14 patents from Nakamatsu and those patents do not have anything to do with the floppy disk.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGuuh5SIk_8C&pg=PA49|title=Spy|first=Sussex Publishers|last=LLC|date=December 28, 1991|publisher=Sussex Publishers, LLC|via=Google Books}}

Nakamatsu is the son of Hajime Nakamatsu, a banker, and Yoshino Nakamatsu, a teacher who provided early tutoring in mathematics and science and encouraged him to begin inventing. He studied engineering at the University of Tokyo. He has three children.

In June 2014, Nakamatsu, who has contended that it should be possible for people to reach 144 years of age by taking care of their health, revealed that he is suffering from prostate cancer and that his doctors did not expect him to live past the end of 2015. He has sought a new treatment for the disease.{{Cite news|url = http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/27/national/inventor-nakamatsu-reveals-terminal-cancer/|title = Inventor Nakamatsu reveals he has terminal cancer|date = June 27, 2014|work = Japan Times|access-date = October 15, 2014}} In September 2015, Nakamatsu appeared at the awards ceremony for the Ig Nobel prizes, where he performed a song about his medical condition.{{Cite news|url = http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/18/national/huh-kissing-nothing-sneeze-osaka-doctors-allergy-relief-study-bags-ig-nobel-award/#.VgLAK5O3OSo|title = Huh? Kissing nothing to sneeze at? Osaka doctor's allergy relief study bags Ig Nobel award|date = September 18, 2015|work = Japan Times|access-date = September 23, 2015}}

Nakamatsu is a perennial political candidate. In 2004 he told the Japan Times that "politics is a part of inventions," explaining that it is an "invisible invention" along the lines of concepts such as education and happiness.{{Cite news|url = http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2004/07/25/to-be-sorted/japans-inventor-supreme-shares-the-secret-of-3218-successes/|title = Japan's inventor supreme shares the secret of 3,218 successes|date = July 25, 2004|work = Japan Times|access-date = October 25, 2014}} Since 1995 he has unsuccessfully campaigned multiple times to be elected Governor of Tokyo, including, at an age of 96 years, in the 2024 election where he was ranked 11th.{{Cite web |last=日本放送協会 |title=東京都知事選挙2024 立候補者紹介・選挙速報(7月7日投票) |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/senkyo2/shutoken/20336/skh54664.html |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=www.nhk.or.jp |language=ja}}{{cite web |url=http://www.japannewsreview.com/politics/politics/20070730page_id=1188 |title=Fujimori, Ainu, lesbian, inventor and Tojo's granddaughter all defeated in election |publisher=Japannewsreview.com |date=2007-07-30 |access-date=2015-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025210957/http://www.japannewsreview.com/politics/politics/20070730page_id=1188 |archive-date=2014-10-25 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/od_afp/japanvoteoffbeat_070406183249 |title=Cabbie, dilettante and prolific inventor in fray to lead Tokyo - Yahoo! News |access-date=April 9, 2007 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070409172425/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/od_afp/japanvoteoffbeat_070406183249 |archive-date=April 9, 2007 }} He has also campaigned unsuccessfully for election to the House of Councillors, the upper house of the National Diet. In 2010 and 2013 he ran as a candidate of the Happiness Realization Party.{{cite web|url = http://wordpress.tokyotimes.org/yoshiro-nakamatsu-dr-nakamats-on-the-campaign-trail-in-tokyo/|title = Yoshiro Nakamatsu (Dr. NakaMats) on the campaign trail in Tokyo|date = July 15, 2013|access-date = October 25, 2014|website = Tokyo Times|last = Chapman|first = Lee}}{{Cite news|url = https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2010/06/30/japanese-politics-the-unusual-suspects/|title = Japanese Politics — The Unusual Suspects|last = Joyce|first = Andrew|date = June 30, 2010|work = Wall Street Journal|access-date = October 25, 2014}}

Nakamatsu has appeared on several American TV shows, including Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Late Night with David Letterman, CNN's Make, Create, Innovate, and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. 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. In 2009, Danish filmmaker Kaspar Astrup Schröder made a humorous documentary about Nakamatsu titled The Invention of Dr. NakaMats.{{cite web | title = True/False: What's Behind 'The Invention of Dr. NakaMats' | url = http://www.readymade.com/blog/readymade/2010/03/02/truefalse-whats-behind-the-invention-of-dr-nakamats | first = Alexa | last = Fornoff | publisher = ReadyMade (blog) | date = March 2, 2010 | access-date = 2010-05-04 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101025122319/http://www.readymade.com/blog/readymade/2010/03/02/truefalse-whats-behind-the-invention-of-dr-nakamats | archive-date = October 25, 2010 }}{{cite web | title = OPFINDELSEN AF DR. NAKAMATS / THE INVENTION OF DR. NAKAMATS | url = http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/danishfilms/dffilm.aspx?id=22642 | publisher = Dfi.dk | access-date = 2015-04-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121006001203/http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/danishfilms/dffilm.aspx?id=22642 | archive-date = 2012-10-06 | url-status = dead }} In 2010, Nakamatsu claimed he had been granted an honorary title by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta,http://dr-nakamats.com/nakamats_g/n_wun212.html (Japanese) and introduces himself as "Sir Dr. NakaMats",{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dr-nakamats-the-man-with-3300-patents-to-his-name-134571403/|title=Dr. NakaMats, the Man With 3300 Patents to His Name|first1=Smithsonian|last1=Magazine|first2=Franz|last2=Lidz|website=Smithsonian Magazine}} although his claim has been denied by a representative of the order.

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. In 2015, Full Metal Breakfast released a song called "Dr. NakaMats." in 2016, Nakamatsu was awarded the first Museum Lifetime Visionary Award "in recognition of a uniquely decorated life dedicated to the pursuit of that which we do not yet know" during a celebration of his 88th birthday. The ceremony, held in Cortlandt Alley in New York City, was planned in conjunction with the museum's exhibition of various inventions and personal artifacts of Nakamatsu.{{Cite web |url=http://mmuseumm.com |title=Mmuseumm: Last Night Was Real |date=2016-09-24 |website=Mmuseumm |publisher=Mmuseumm |access-date=2016-09-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926200721/http://mmuseumm.com/ |archive-date=2016-09-26 }}

In 2019, Nakamatsu was featured in a mini-documentary by popular YouTube channel Great Big Story,{{cite web |title=Japan's Master Inventor Has Over 3,500 Patents |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnjSjJOEfSc |website=YouTube |access-date=24 March 2019}} in which Nakamatsu discussed some of his successful inventions and demonstrated his creative process. {{As of|2020|12|12|df=US}}, it had more than 4.2 million views.

• List of prolific inventors

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• {{Official website|http://dr.nakamats.com/english/eng_index.php}}
• {{IMDb title|1708535|The Invention of Dr. Nakamats}}

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Category:1928 births

Category:Living people

Category:Ig Nobel laureates

Category:Japanese inventors

Category:Japanese political candidates

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Category:University of Tokyo alumni