![]() ![]() Kawai design engineers reasoned that the tendency of wood to shrink and swell significantly with changes in humidity made it less than ideal for use in a piano action, where exacting tolerances must be maintained to ensure stable piano touch. ![]() ![]() In 1971, the company began to use acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a composite material, for parts of its piano actions to overcome the problems associated with the use of wood. Since the 1970s, Kawai has pioneered the use of alternative materials to improve the consistency and stability of piano performance. The Kawai Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company distributes acoustic and digital pianos to over 80 countries. He integrated advanced robotics into the manufacturing process, established Kawai manufacturing facilities around the globe, and oversaw the introduction of several new series of grand, upright and digital pianos. Shigeru Kawai's son, Hirotaka Kawai, was appointed president in 1989. Shigeru Kawai was president of the Kawai company from 1955 to 1989, chairman from 1990 until 2002, and a company consultant until his death in 2006 at 84. In 1980, he opened the Ryuyo Grand Piano Factory. Īfter Koichi Kawai's death in 1955, his son, Shigeru Kawai became company president at 33 and expanded production facilities. This led Kawai to leave Nippon Gakki in 1927 and found the Kawai Musical Instrument Research Laboratory. (later renamed the Yamaha Corporation), and began to diversify its production line. New management took over control of Yamaha's company, Nippon Gakki Co. Yamaha died in 1916, and in the 1920s the piano industry faltered in Japan. Kawai became a member of the research and development team that introduced pianos to Japan. His neighbor, Torakusu Yamaha, a watchmaker and reed organ builder, took him in as an apprentice. ![]() Koichi Kawai, the company founder, was born in Hamamatsu, Japan in 1886. ![]()
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