Kawai pianos can be found all over the world, from Norway, Oxford, to Houston TX. Originally an apprentice of Torakusu Yamaha, Koichi Kawai founded Kawai in 1927. Third generation Kawai family member, Hirotaka Kawai, became president in 1989. He expanded production to other countries.

K. Kawai has an included ‘k’ which was placed on mid to high quality Japanese made Kawai pianos as a way to differentiate them from other models produced in lesser known Asian countries. In the early days no differentiation was made, until demand surged, and competition for lower priced Chinese and Korean pianos came into the US and European markets.