Japan Times : Made in Japan

Please read the article and say what you think is Japan's most important invention or contribution to the world. The article mentions :

- Nintendo & video games
- Digital watches and calculators
- The Self Defense Forces (is that a joke ? hardly a contribution to the world; at best a way to satisfy the Bush Administration in their conquest of the Middle East)
- The Walkman (although invented by a German, not Sony)
- Karaoke
- Black-clothes fashion (didn't know it was the Japanese who launched that)
- Kyoto Protocol (that's in fact 156 countries, Japan was just a host for the conference)
- Overseas Development Aid (ODA), but every developed countries have one, and many European countries have higher per capita donations.
- Instant Noodles


I think they forgot 2 very important things : Anime/Manga (an enormous cultural influence worldwide), and Martial Arts (judo, karate, kendo...), not to mention all the electronics, cameras, cars, etc. in which Japan excels. Certainly all greater contributions to the world than cup noodles or the SDF.