Grand Piano · New
Kawai SK-2 Shigeru Kawai Grand Piano
$74,095 – $87,4955'11"
One Shigeru Kawai in our Colleyville showroom, ready to play.
Shigeru Kawai pianos: the SK series, hand-built in Japan
Shigeru is less a model range inside the Kawai catalogue than a separate workshop that happens to sit inside the same company. This page says what that actually buys, and what it costs on our floor today.
The Shigeru line
What Shigeru Kawai actually is
Shigeru Kawai is not a model range in the ordinary sense. The instruments are built in small numbers by Kawai’s Master Piano Artisans, with materials selected individually rather than drawn from a line, and each piano is voiced and regulated as a single object rather than to a specification sheet. The factory that builds the rest of the Kawai catalogue builds these too — but not in the same way, and not at the same rate.
What you hear, in practice, is consistency of character right across the keyboard and a quality of very quiet playing that mass-built instruments struggle to reach. Whether that is worth several times the price of an excellent GX is a real question and not one we will answer for you. It is also not a question anyone can answer from a page: it has to be played, preferably for longer than a showroom visit usually lasts.
This page exists because the price of a Shigeru is a question people genuinely search and almost nobody answers with a number. Ours is below, read from live inventory. If you are working your way up the Kawai range, the GX series is the line directly beneath this one, and our Kawai page covers everything in one place.
On the floor
The Shigeru instruments we hold
Sizes and prices are read from live inventory when the page is built. We publish them because a buyer at this level should not have to fill in a form to find out whether a visit is worth making.
| Model | Length | Price | What sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| SK-2 | 5'11" (180 cm) | $74,095 – $87,495 | The parlour Shigeru — the smallest room the hand-built line will properly sit in. |
Shigeru Kawai in our showroom
Every instrument links through to its own page, with the full gallery, the complete specification and its finish.
- View Kawai SK-2 Shigeru Kawai Grand Piano
How to approach a Shigeru
There are fewer models here than in Kawai’s other lines, and the decision is a different one. It is less about which and more about whether.
01
Play it against the instrument you would otherwise buy
The useful comparison is not Shigeru against Shigeru — it is a Shigeru against the best GX of similar length, played one straight after the other in the same room. If you cannot hear the difference, you should buy the GX, and we will tell you so. If you can, you will already know what you want to do.
02
Give it more than five minutes
Hand-built instruments do not announce themselves. What separates them is what happens at the quiet end of the dynamic range and how the tone holds together as you move across registers, and neither of those is audible in a few loud chords. We will leave you alone with the piano for as long as you want, which is the only sales technique this instrument responds to.
03
Ask about the artisan programme
Kawai’s Shigeru programme includes continued attention from a Master Piano Artisan after the instrument has settled into its new home, rather than handing it over at delivery and walking away. The terms are Kawai’s and they do change, so ask us directly rather than taking a figure off a forum — but it is a real part of what the price covers, and it is worth understanding before you buy.
04
Think about the room as part of the instrument
At this level the room does as much to the sound as another foot of string would. A hard, bare, high-ceilinged space will make any piano harsh, and a heavily furnished one will swallow it. Before you commit, talk to us about where it is going. It is the cheapest improvement available to you and the one most often skipped by people who have just spent a great deal of money.
Shigeru Kawai
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Shigeru Kawai different from a standard Kawai grand?
Production volume, and how much of the work is done by hand. A Shigeru is built in small numbers by Kawai’s Master Piano Artisans, with its materials selected for that instrument and its voicing and regulation finished individually rather than to a line standard. Kawai’s other grands are excellent factory pianos built to a consistent specification; a Shigeru is closer to a commissioned instrument, and it is priced accordingly.
How much does a Shigeru Kawai piano cost?
The Shigeru instruments on our floor run from $74,095. That figure is the price, not a starting point for a negotiation you have to come in and have — we publish it because almost nobody else does, and because a buyer at this level deserves to know before they drive over.
Is a Shigeru Kawai worth it compared to a Kawai GX?
For most buyers the GX is the better value, and we sell far more of them — we would rather say that plainly than sell you the wrong piano. The Shigeru earns its price for players who spend hours a day at an instrument and who can hear, and will use, what it does at very quiet dynamics and across register changes. The only way to find out which of those you are is to play the two one after the other, which is why we keep them on the same floor.
Do Shigeru Kawai pianos hold their value?
Better than almost anything else in the Kawai catalogue, for the same reasons they cost what they do: small production numbers, hand finishing, and a transferable factory warranty on new instruments. That said, we would never ask anyone to buy a piano as an investment. Buy it because you will play it every day — the resale value is a consolation, not a plan.
Can I play a Shigeru Kawai near Dallas–Fort Worth?
Yes, and that is not something every dealer in the region can say. We keep Shigeru on the floor in Colleyville, about fifteen minutes from Southlake and Grapevine and half an hour from Dallas or Fort Worth. Because these are individual instruments rather than stock items, calling before you come is worth doing — we will make sure the piano is tuned, open, and yours for as long as you need it.
Sit down with one for an hour
A Shigeru is not an instrument anybody should buy on a five-minute demonstration. Come to Colleyville, tell us how long you want, and we will leave you and the piano to it.