The Piano Shop bath has an excellent working relationship with Kawai and is one of the most prominent stockists of Kawai upright pianos and grand pianos in our area.
Koichi Kawai
Kawai was founded in 1927 by Koichi Kawai. Born in 1885, as a boy Koichi Kawai began working in the piano industry and quickly gained standing as an inventive and passionate designer and craftsman. In 1927 he founded Kawai with just seven other dedicated colleagues who all shared the same vision, to one day build the world’s best piano. The new piano manufacturers faced many challenges between 1927-1955 but despite of the difficulties faced they endured. By 1955 they were producing over 1500 pianos each year.
Shigeru Kawai
In 1955 Koichi Kawai was succeeded by his son Shigeru Kawai who built on the strong foundations laid by his father. Shigeru Kawai had enough vision to forsee the expansion of the domestic piano market and invested in the development of new technology and factories. This expansion in the 1950s enabled Kawai to meet demand and also signalled the direction Kawai would continue to grow in, combining traditional craftsmanship with science and technology in order to create pianos of uncompromising quality. In 1980 Shigeru Kawai built the Ryuyo factory in Japan which symbolised the union between traditional piano manufacturing techniques and cutting edge technology. This philosophy remains at the heart of Kawai piano production to this day.
Hirotaka Kawai
In 1989 Hirotaka Kawai took over from his father and continued the legacy and vision of the two men he succeeded. One of the boldest moves made by Kawai was the introduction of composite materials into the action of Kawai pianos. This was done to increase stability, durability and responsiveness of the Kawai piano actions. When Kawai introduced its ABS actions they were initially treated with suspicion by some in the piano industry and sadly criticised by dealers of other brands who maintained that all wood actions were better. However, a few decades on and after winning plaudits from the piano industry and top pianists the world over the contributions that Kawai has made to the development of piano manufacturing is impossible to dispute. The Kawai brand continues to go from strength to strength and is now recognised as a distinguished piano manufacturer by technicians and professionals alike. Of course it is not necessary to know this background before purchasing a Kawai piano, but for those historians among us it can be interesting.
To find out more about Kawai pianos all you really need to do is lift the lid of one of these pianos and play, the tone and playability of these pianos speaks for itself. All the new Kawai upright and Grand pianos embody Kawais continued commitment to excellence and innovation across the spectrum.
If you are currently looking for a new upright piano or grand piano, we cannot recommend Kawai pianos highly enough. However, personal preference plays a key role in any piano purchase so we would always recommend you visit our showroom and play as many different pianos as possible in order to make a fully informed choice about your purchase. We are open seven days a week, so why not visit our large piano showroom? Or to pre book an appointment call us on 01225 427961.
Kawai Acoustic Piano models we currently have in stock are;
Kawai K15E Upright Piano
Kawai K200 Upright Piano
Kawai K300 Upright Piano
Kawai K500 Upright Piano
Kawai K6 Upright Piano
Kawai GE10 Grand Piano
Kawai GE30 Grand Piano