Monday 13 February 2012

Unusual rise in piano sales linked to earthquake

The number of pianos, other than electronic pianos, sold in the country last year totaled 18,164, up 11 percent from the previous year, marking the first rise in 17 years, according to an instrument manufacturing association in Shizuoka Prefecture.

The Hamamatsu-based association, which takes statistics of domestic piano sales and production, said piano sales increased as a result of robust demand for replacements after many pianos were destroyed or damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Piano sales in 1992, when the association started taking such statistics, stood at 113,500. However, sales began to drop since 1995, with only 16,356 sold in 2010. The association said the slump was due to a low birthrate and an increase in the number of people buying low-priced and high-quality electronic pianos.

Asked about the recent surge in piano sales, an official of Kawai Musical Instruments Mfg. Co. in Hamamatsu said, "Piano sales in Sendai and other disaster-hit areas [in 2011] exceeded those of the previous year because of replacement demand after many pianos were destroyed by the disaster."

An official of Yamaha Corp., another major musical instrument manufacturer in the city, said customers shifted into the piano market as the production of electronic organs and other electronic musical instruments fell because makers of parts for such products were damaged in the disaster.

The Sendai Nagamachi Mall branch of Shimamura Music, a musical instrument retailer, which closed temporarily after it was damaged in the disaster, said there has been a significant increase in the number of customers who bought pianos since it reopened in May.

By the end of January, piano sales at the store had tripled compared to usual years. Most customers bought new pianos because their pianos were lost or damaged by the disaster, the store said.
(Feb. 10, 2012)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120209005943.htm

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