JAPAN: Japan's toy maker unveils presumably the world's smallest fully-functioning grand piano

A miniature piano toy may be the perfect Christmas gift for musically talented -- and preferably small-fingered -- loved ones. Though this is a toy, it has a full-range 88 keys and sounds very close to the sound of a grand piano. Japanese toy maker Sega toys which developed the piano, claimed it is the world smallest fully-functioning grand piano, measuring 25 centimeter (9.84 inch ) in width and 18 centimeter (7.09 inch) in height. It seems to be highly difficult to play every note correctly even for a great pianist considering each key has only 4 millimeter (0.16 inch) width. However there is a specific reason why the company reduced the grand piano six times down from its original size. "Considering the housing situation in Japan, few households afford to have a huge grand piano in their house. So we considered it had to be cut down to this size to be accepted by people who lives in a small space," explains Yoshiyuki Endo, one of the developer. It also has an auto-playing function of a hundred songs varying from classical tunes like Chaikovsky's "Piano concerto 1" to rock'n'roll hits like "stranger" by Billy Joel. "You can bring it anywhere and have a mini concert. I think it will be a great communication tool," said Sega Toys spokeswoman Minako Sakanoue. The piano is set to go on sale in Japan on April 1, 2007 for 47,000 yen ( about 407 USD).

ITN Source | December 9, 2006

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