When we think of the Japanese piano "invading" the US, we think of the early 1960's, when they began importing some pretty nice pianos here. But wait, there was an earlier time when the Japanese began importing pianos. Not many of us are aware of that, but it was in the 1930's when they imported around 200 pianos to the United States.
It was a short lived "invasion". Why? Because the pianos they were importing were not much different than toy pianos. One string per note, shortened keyboards, and small plain cabinetry was the whole of the Japanese import piano offering. I quote the Nov.-Dec. 1933 "Presto-Times" music trade magazine, which had an interesting article on the subject:
"...To make a small toylike piano is commendable enough so far as we can see, but
there are toy shops that could do this work. These miniature instruments probably
do have some tendency toward creating an incentive in children for the study
of music which in due time might call for a standard piano. But as for trying to
make a cheaper piano; a piano to sell at a ridiculously low price just because some
poorly paid artisans of other countries like Japan are doing it is, to all appearances
a tendency to encourage cheapness to the impairment of quality. Let them over in
Japan or anywhere else give their time to cheap, unmusical and unpiano production
but as for our own country and our own product we should keep to the legitimate.
However, it can be said that if something of the Japanese piano order must
be turned out in this country to meet the requirements of the Japanese importations,
there are factories here with capabilities for mass production able to master
the situation and thus minimize importations of even toy pianos."
Thus, the Japanese piano invasion fizzled out rather quickly. I think they learned something from that.
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