Kawai Pianos

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More about Kawai Pianos

Table of Contents

Models
Serial Numbers
History

Models

Current Kawai Upright Models

Series	Model	Width (cm)	Depth (cm)	Height (cm)	AmyTimeX2
K	K-15	149	59	110	Option available
K	K-200	149	57	114	Option available
K	K-300	149	61	122	Option available
K	K-400	149	61	122
K	K-500	150	62	130	Option available
K	K-600	153	65	134
K	K-700	150	62	130
K	K-800	153	65	134

 

Other Kawai Upright Models

Series	Model	Width (cm)	Depth (cm)	Height (cm)	Anytime
K	K-2	148	57	114	ATX or AT II
K	K-3	151	59	122	ATX or AT II
K	K-5	153	59	125	ATX or AT II
K	K-6	154	65	132
K	K-8 AS	152	65	132
K	K-15	149	59	110	ATX only
K	K-18E	152	59	112	AT
K	K-20E	152	59	112	AT
K	K-25E	150	59	122	AT
K	K-30E	152	59	122
K	K-50E	153	59	125	AT
K	K-60E	156	66	132
	VT-132 Variable Touch Control	156	66	132
KX (Canada)	KX-21	150	57	121
KX (Canada)	KX-15	150	57	115
KX (Canada)	KX-10	146	54	110

 

Current Kawai Grand Piano Models

Series	Model	Length	Width (cm)	Depth (cm)	Height (cm)	Anythime
GX	GX-1	5'5"	150	166	102
GX	GX-2	5'11"	152	180	102	ATX2
GX	GX-3	6'2"	152	188	102
GX	GX-5	6'7"	153	200	102
GX	GX-6	7'	154	214	102
GX	GX-7	7'6"	157	229	102
GL	GL-10	5'	150	153	102	ATX2
GL	GL-20	5'2"	150	157	102
GL	GL-30	5'5"	150	166	102	ATX2
GL	GL-40	5'11"	152	180	102
GL	GL-50	6'2"	152	188	102

 

Other Kawai Grand Piano Models

Series	Model	Length	Width (cm)	Depth (cm)	Height (cm)	Anytime
RX	RX-1	5'5"	150	164	102
RX	RX-2	5'10"	152	178	102	AT or ATX or AT II
RX	RX-3	6'1"	152	186	102
RX	RX-5	6'6"	153	197	102
RX	RX-6	7'	154	212	102
RX	RX-7	7'6"	157	227	102
GE-GM	GM-10	5'	150	150	102	ATX
GE-GM	GE-20	5'1"	150	154	102	AT or AT II
GE-GM	GE-30	5'5"	150	164	102	ATX

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Serial Numbers

Serial Numbers

Year	No.	Production	Year	No.	Production	Year	No.	Production	Year	No.	Production
1927	4200	Japan	1964	132307	Japan	1981	1219355	Japan	1998	2314043 A81000	Japan US
1930	6000	Japan	1965	163178	Japan	1982	1300000	Japan	1999	2350000 A90000	Japan US
1935	8350	Japan	1966	203433	Japan	1983	1380000	Japan	2000	2380000 A96000	Japan US
1940	9600	Japan	1967	251660	Japan	1984	1475000	Japan	2001	2410000 A100000	Japan US
1945	12000	Japan	1968	303686	Japan	1985	1550000	Japan	2002	2430000 A104000	Japan US
1950	14200	Japan	1969	369088	Japan	1986	1630500	Japan	2003	2466000 A111000 F000200	Japan US Karawan
1952	15000	Japan	1970	425121	Japan	1987	1706250	Japan	2004	2495000 A115300 F002200	Japan US Karawan
1953	16200	Japan	1971	488834	Japan	1988	1781250 A6904	Japan US	2005	2518000 F004700	Japan Karawan
1954	18600	Japan	1972	558216	Japan	1989	1856250 A7500	Japan US	2006	2543000 F010600 32000	Japan Karawan Canada (KX Only)
1955	20590	Japan	1973	633601	Japan	1990	1950000 A10200	Japan US	2007	2566000 F018700 34000	Japan Karawan Canada (KX Only)
1956	21300	Japan	1974	718768	Japan	1991	2000000 A21300	Japan US	2008	2585000 F030500 36800	Japan Karawan Canada (KX Only)
1957	22500	Japan	1975	785568	Japan	1992	2050000 A30515	Japan US	2009	2602000 F040085 37900	Japan Karawan Canada (KX Only)
1958	23200	Japan	1976	844362	Japan	1993	2100000 A29267	Japan US	2010	2615000 F049000 38900	Japan Karawan Canada (KX Only)
1960	26000	Japan	1977	904384	Japan	1994	2160743 A49071	Japan US	2011	2628000 F057700 40000	Japan Karawan Canada (KX Only)
1961	34500	Japan	1978	973490	Japan	1995	2197503 A56689	Japan US	2012	2639000 F067900 41000	Japan Canada (KX Only)
1962	75760	Japan	1979	1067130	Japan	1996	2244232 A64000	Japan	2013	2651000 42000	Japan Canada (KX Only)
1963	85622	Japan	1980	1126366	Japan	1997	2279943 A74000	Japan	2014	2664000	Japan
									2015	2675000	Japan

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History

Koichi Kawai, the company founder, was born in Hamamatsu, Japan in 1886. As the son of a wagon maker, Kawai developed an ability to create mechanical devices and inventions as young boy. His neighbor, Torakusu Yamaha, a watchmaker and reed organbuilder, noticed Koichi riding past on a unique pedal-driven cart he built himself. Impressed, Yamaha, who was struggling to build his first upright pianos, took the early-teenager in as an apprentice. While just a young man, he became a key member of the research and development team that first introduced pianos to his country. He proved to be a gifted inventor who became the first to design and build a complete piano action in Japan. He was awarded many patents for his designs and inventions.

Yamaha died in 1916, and in the 1920s the piano industry faltered in Japan. New management took over control of Yamaha's company, Nippon Gakki Co. (later renamed the Yamaha Corporation), and began to diversify its production line. This led to Kawai, who wanted to make pianos, not motorcycles and other products, to become frustrated with the company. In 1927, Koichi Kawai left Nippon Gakki and founded the Kawai Musical Instrument Research Laboratory along with seven like-minded colleagues. In the early days, the only thing that supported them was their passion for music and desire to produce superior pianos.

After Koichi Kawai's death in 1955, his son, Shigeru Kawai became company president at 33. He was determined to remain true to his father's ideals. He foresaw rapid growth in the music industry and planned accordingly, expanding production facilities and establishing a number of music organizations. In 1980, he opened the Ryuyo Grand Piano Factory. Later, he introduced the Shigeru Kawai Grand Piano line, which he described as "his personal legacy to the piano world." 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.

Shigeru Kawai's son, Hirotaka Kawai, was appointed president in 1989. Under his guidance, the company embarked upon a program that invested tens of millions of dollars to integrate advanced robotics into the manufacturing process. He established Kawai manufacturing facilities around the globe. More recently, he oversaw the introduction of several new series of grand, upright and digital pianos.

Today, the Kawai Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company distributes acoustic and digital pianos to over 80 countries. It is one of the most celebrated musical instrument companies in the world, having received over 43 major international awards for excellence in the past 17 years. And in the United States, Kawai's K-3 Professional Upright piano was named "Acoustic Piano of the Year" for a record-setting four consecutive years at NAMM.

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