Maywa Denki’s toy musical instrument, the Otamatone, was released for over the counter sale at Tokyu Hands Ginza last Saturday and promptly sold out by Monday. Meiwa Denki’s inventive and off-the-wall toys and art performances have been hugely popular both in Japan and the West for a long time now and new products tend to be pounced on by eager customers.
I was lucky enough on Monday to catch a performance that included rendition of "Greensleeves" on the Otamatone (see video above) at O’Crest in Shibuya as part of Japan Music Week. The Otamatone, whose names plays on the Japanese words for "tadpole" and "sound," is a kind of electronic recorder that emits a sound when you blow through it and squeeze the cheeks of the cute character at the tube's base.