The Otamatone is a cute, quirky, and fun to play electronic musical toy characterized by its eighth note-shaped body, adorable moving mouth, and silly, buzzing, amusingly off-key "voice." Developed by design firm Maywa Denki, it was first released in Japan in 2009 and has been the country's best-selling musical toy ever since. Innovative, unique, and now a popular toy worldwide, the Otamatone has earned high praise from fans and the toy industry alike, including the Japan Toy Association's grand prize Japanese Toy Award in their 'High Target' toy division. Fun and Easy to Play! Simply press and slide fingers up and down the touch-sensitive stem to play different notes. You can also squeeze the Otamatone's "face" to create a "Wah" effect and shake the stem while playing a note to add Vibrato. How Does it Work? The Otamatone creates electronic tones that you can control based on the position of your finger on the touch-sensitive fretboard. Use a switch on the back to choose an octave and slide your fingers up and down to play different notes. Open the Otamatone's mouth with a squeeze to change the sound. A perfect toy for lovers of all things cute, silly, and weird, the Otamatone also makes a great gag gift, and a unique and amusing gift for violinists and other musicians.