Forget state-of-the-art gadgetry, the Japanese believe their best invention of the 20th century was instant noodles.

And their second best idea - ahead of personal stereos, computer games and impossibly small cameras - was karaoke.





Instant noodles were created in 1958 by Japan's Nissin Foods. Ironically, Japan's food industry initially rejected the product as a novelty with no future. It could hardly have been more wrong. ''Instant noodles, representing 'Made in Japan', are now not only just a national food but a global food,'' the Fuji Research Institute said, as it released the results of a survey of what the Japanese see as their best exports. Walkman Karaoke, which allows would-be Elvis Presleys and Whitney Houstons to embarrass themselves in front of friends and strangers, was second in the poll.



