SHIGERU
KAWAI SK-5
HANDCRAFTED. ELEGANCE.
EXCELLENCE
– THE PREMIER PIANO OF JAPAN –
SHIGERU KAWAI SK-5 GRAND PIANO
Chamber Grand
CHAMBER GRAND
SHIGERU KAWAI SK-5
If you’ve been searching for a stunning piano that offers the perfect fusion of robust tone, power and presence, look no further than the Shigeru Kawai SK-5 Chamber Grand piano. Hand-crafted by our Master Piano Makers from the very best materials, no other piano in this class can compare.
The SK-5 is the third piano in the Shigeru Kawai series and is the perfect choice for stately homes, professional venues and intimate recital spaces. The series is an exceptional range of concert musical instruments inspired by the designs of the company’s founder, Koichi Kawai.
The Shigeru Kawai SK5 model offers a gratifying mélange of beauty and sound quality that enriches a range of studios, professional venues and intimate recital spaces.
Few other pianos of its class possess the same quality of materials as the Shigeru Kawai SK-5. A solid spruce soundboard and underside beams of spruce imbue the piano with its magnificent tone. So does the synergy of large and small pore hardwoods used in the Konsei Katagi rim. The Shigeru Kawai SK-5 also boasts mahogany hammer moldings and a maple bridge.
Each new Shigeru Kawai owner is visited in the first year of ownership (COVID allowing) by one of the Master Piano Artisans for a day of dedicated in-home servicing.
Specifications:
Length: 6’ 7” (200 cm)
Width: 5’ 1” (153 cm)
Weight: 774 lbs. (351 kg)
Finish: Ebony Polish
Features: Kawai Millenium III ABS-Carbon action ~ “Shiko Seion” hammers from New Zealand and Australian wool ~ Tapered and tuned solid spruce soundboard ~ “Temaki” Kawai-made hand wound bass strings ~ Hand notched bridges ~ Hand planed ribs ~ Thinned hammer shanks ~ Rock maple and mahogany rim ~ Bird’s eye maple inside rim ~ Agraffe duplex scale ~ Aluminum action rail ~ Nickel plated tuning pins ~ Solid brass hardware ~ 10 year warranty
The Shigeru Kawai SK-5 comes with a 10-year transferrable warranty as standard.
PIANOS MADE TO
PERFECTION
MAKING PREMIUM PIANOS SINCE 1999
CHAMBER GRAND
SHIGERU KAWAI SK-5
What truly makes the Shigeru Kawai SK-5 unique from competitors, however, is its exquisite components, including hand-wound bass strings, Shigeru Kawai Concert Agraffes, and Shiko Seion hammers. The length of each key stick has been extended to provide greater control from the front to the back of the key, while Kawai’s acclaimed Millennium III Action offers faster repetition, increased power and much more range of expression.
The SK-5 model is part of Shigeru Kawai’s Concert Series, acclaimed by leading artists, teachers and technicians.
Boxwood Bridge Caps
Boxwood is a very hard and strong wood that effectively transmits higher frequencies through the bridge to the soundboard.
Concert Agraffes
Shigeru Kawai SK-5’s Concert Agraffes are the same as those employed by our world-famous EX Concert Grand.
Millennium III Action
The Millennium III Action features state-of-the-art ABS-Carbon components that are exceptionally light and strong to deliver quicker repetition.
Kigarashi Soundboards
The Shigeru Kawai SK-5’s majestic tonal quality is owed, in part, to the custom-tapered soundboard. Composed exclusively of the finest spruce aged by the traditional kigarashi process, which only uses time and nature to achieve a state of natural balance, this soundboard delivers an exceptionally pleasing tonal quality.
Shiko Seion Hammers
Shiko Seion hammers are created exclusively by our dedicated Master Piano Artisans (MPAs) and take their name from the Japanese words for “ultimate voicing.” Our artisan craftsmen oversee the entire process from start to finish. No heat or artificial hardeners are used in the manufacturing process which results in a hammer with exceptional response and expression.
Konsei Katagi Rim
The Konsei Katagi rim, meaning “mixed temperament” in Japanese, is made from a unique combination of distinct hardwoods that provide an ideal balance of tone. It combines large pore hardwoods offering warmth and fullness with small pore hardwoods used in the inner rim that bring brightness and projection to create a well-rounded, lush tone that is the hallmark of Shigeru pianos.
Concert-Length Key Buttons
The Shigeru Kawai SK-5 hardwood key buttons are affixed to the top of each key stick to increase strength and energy transmission. The key buttons have been extended to twice the normal length to ensure the keys can satisfy the rigorous demands of even the most formidable pianists.
Stretcher Over-Lap Design
The Stretcher Over-Lap Integrated Design (SOLID) of the SK-5 provides an extremely solid foundation for string tension and tuning stability. The pin block is hand-fitted to the plate, and the overlapping stretcher bar and pin block are then combined into a single structure that is securely anchored to both sides of the rim. The cohesion of the pin block, plate and stretcher bar, resulting in a framework that provides excellent strength and rigidity, which makes for stable, accurate tuning and thus wonderful tone.
Extended Keysticks
Each key stick is extended overall length to make playing easier and more comfortable, as well as to provide greater touch and response from the front of the key surface to the back. Keysticks are also created with a somewhat taller profile for extra stiffness, providing greater power.
Millennium III Action
The Millennium III Action features state-of-the-art ABS-Carbon components that are impervious to changes in temperature and humidity, unlike their wooden counterparts, thus providing a more stable, trouble-free action. In addition, ABS-Carbon parts are lighter yet stronger than wooden parts, which deliver quicker repetitions with more power without more effort.
Concert Agraffes
The SK-5’s Concert Agraffes are the same as those employed by our world-famous SK-EX Concert Grand. Uniquely Shigeru Kawai, the agraffes are machined from billet brass rods one at a time to guarantee precise alignment of the strings, resulting in a crystal clear, pristine tone.
Temaki Bass Strings
The word “temaki” in Japanese literally translates as “hand-wound.” For absolute precision and tension, the craftsman carefully guides the winding of specific bass strings by hand in the unhurried “temaki” technique to assure rich character and exceptional depth of tone. While much more labor-intensive than mass-produced strings, it is yet another unique feature of the wonderful Shigeru Kawai grand pianos.
All-Spruce Beams
The massive underside beams of a piano serve dual purposes, for structural integrity and transmission of sound vibrations. Spruce is prized for its exceptional sound transmission and preservation capabilities. However, it is commonly regarded as too valuable to be utilized as a structural material. All of the underside beams on SK-5 pianos are made entirely of the highest quality spruce, unlike lesser pianos that use cheaper materials.
Boxwood Bridge Caps
Boxwood is a very hard and strong wood that effectively transmits higher frequencies through the bridge to the soundboard. Unlike the smaller Shigeru pianos, the SK-5 features Boxwood bridge caps, to augment projection in the treble that blends well with the louder bass tone of larger pianos. This subtle addition in the SK-5 speaks to Shigeru Kawai’s attention to detail.
Specifications
THE PREMIER PIANO OF JAPAN
Length: 6’ 7” (200 cm)
Width: 5’ 1” (153 cm)
Weight: 774 lbs. (351 kg)
Finish: Polished Ebony
Size comparison
Resources
| Size | Length | 6’ 7” (200 cm) |
| Width | 5’ 1” (153 cm) | |
| Height | 40″ (102 cm) | |
| Weight | 774 lbs. (351 kg) | |
| Touch | White key surfaces | NEOTEX™ |
| Black key surfaces | NEOTEX™ | |
| Action | Millennium III Action with Carbon Fiber | |
| Hammers | All underfelted | |
| Sound | Soundboard | Solid Spruce, Tapered |
| Agraffes | 1-54 keys / Shigeru Kawai concert agraffes | |
| Duplex scaling | Front & Aliquote | |
| Beams | 4 | |
| Exterior design | Pedals | Damper, Sostenuto, Soft |
| Casters | Double, Brass | |
| Lid props | 3 | |
| Fallboard | Soft Fall Closing System | |
| Music rack | Position | 5 positions |
| Hard Finish | – | |
| Lock | ✔ | |
| Other features | Stretcher Over-Lap Integrated Design (SOLID) | |
| Longer Keys | ||
| Steel-reinforced keyslip & keybed | ||
| V-pro plate | ||
| CORE system | ||
| Vertically laminated treble bridge | ||
| Longer period of natural drying process | ||
| Select hand-wound bass strings | ||
| Dual Pivot Damper Action | ||
| Spruce beams | ||
| Reinforced Hammer Shank | ||
| Hand-craft Process | ||
| Final voicing by MPA (Master Piano Artisan) |
"Ever since I played a Shigeru Kawai piano for the first time years ago, I've dreamed of owning one - and now I do. Some dreams really do come true."
David Lanz
Grammy-Nominated New Age Pianist, Shigeru Kawai Artist
Shigeru Kawai Artists
Unparalleled Legacy. Unsurpassed Craftsmanship. Unrivaled Advancement.
Shigeru Kawai STORY
Shigeru Kawai was born on July 28, 1922 in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan. He entered the piano business as a young man in 1946. Although he was a member of the Kawai family, Shigeru spent his early years learning the piano building process as a regular worker. He put in long hours laboring diligently in the manufacturing area, sometimes sleeping overnight in the factory as an expression of his dedication to the craft. He loved the work so much that, in later life, he would often remark, “Creating pianos was the greatest job I ever had!”
“Koichi taught Shigeru the “methods of origin” by which pianos are built entirely by hand. He would often say, “As long as you are building pianos, you should strive to build the finest ones in the world.” Shigeru listened attentively to Koichi’s every word.”
