A basic retelling of the history of Japanese piano-making company Kawai

You may have noticed, through perusing the website of Little & Lampert Pianos, that pianos that we can offer include those from the Japanese music instruments manufacturing firm Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Kawai, to use its less formal name, has - since it was established in 1927 - become renowned for its manufacture of instruments including grand pianos and upright pianos. The company has, of course, been through many milestones to reach its highly respectable present position - and we decided that it seemed wise to use this blog post to detail many of those milestones and so help you to better comprehend how the firm has developed.

 

A young man of much promise in Japan's piano industry

The company's founder, Koichi Kawai, was born in Hamamatsu in Japan in 1886. Today, Hamamatsu is a city in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan and where the company remains headquartered. From a young age, Koichi Kawai became adept at making mechanical devices and inventions, thanks largely to having a father who made wagons. He started working in the piano industry from his early teens and would go on to make several vital contributions to that industry. He would, for example, be a key part of the research and development team that would first introduce pianos to Japan and be the first person to design and make a complete piano action in his country.

 

Dramatic changes in the Shigeru Kawai era

This man's involvement with the aforementioned company called Kawai can be dated back to his establishment of the Kawai Musical Instrument Research Laboratory in 1927. After Koichi Kawai died in 1955, his son Shigeru Kawai became the company's president aged 33. He was determined that the company would continue running in adherence to his father's ideals. Under his presidency, the company expanded its production facilities in preparation for dramatic growth in the music industry. In 1980, the Ryuyo Grand Piano Factory was opened. Though Shigeru Kawai stepped down as Kawai's president in 1989, his involvement with the company lasted until his death in 2006 at the age of 84.

 

Strength to strength under Hirotaka Kawai

Since 1989, the company's president has been Shigeru Kawai's son Hirotaka Kawai. Noteworthy developments of the company under his leadership have included the multi-million-dollar integration of advanced robotics into the process of manufacturing pianos, the setting up of new Kawai manufacturing facilities around the world and the introduction of several new lines of upright, grand and digital pianos. The company has reached a stage where it now distributes pianos to over 80 countries - including, of course, the UK. That helps to explain why many people can easily get their hands on Kawai pianos through buying them from the piano shop Middlesex company Little & Lampert Pianos. We eagerly anticipate offering many more Kawai pianos over coming years - the company's modern reputation for making great pianos has developed over many decades and is well-deserved. We also offer piano tuning London services that can be used to improve Kawai pianos.