In 1980 a 300,000-square-foot factory was built, capable of producing sixty grand pianos a day. In 1989 the company presidency was passed to Shigeru’s son, Hirotaka Kawai, who has since invested millions of dollars to introduce robotic technology into the production process. In the last ten years, production sites have been established outside Japan, in the U.S., and Malaysia.

Determined to find a stronger and more stable material for action parts, Kawai pioneered the use of the polymer composite acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, from which their action parts are made today.

Dates and serial numbers when the pianos were manufactured