Kaiser upright

[Bill Kibby]

If you search for "PianoGen", you'll find a button for "Aliases" which points out that german-sounding names were very popular. Kaiser is quite possibly one of these, but there was an Adolf Kaiser in Illinois about a hundred years ago. Also, press the "Datemarks" button. Numbers are probably not going to help, but press "Numbers" too. Adolf had some numbers published, but otherwise I can find no information about him.

[charles]

I bought the following instrument second hand 2 years ago from a dealer who imports s/h pianos from Japan, and now (that it needs a bit of work) am trying to research its origin.
The fall board is marked "KAISER" and this is also cast into the top of the frame and also cast is "NIPPON GAKKI" (ie Yamaha). Also is stencilled the serial no "720867". At the bottom of the frame is cast the no "N20608090. The hammer rest rail is marked "YAMAHA 8334". All markings are in Latin script. It is about 47.5" tall with a black veneered ply-wood case with synthetic finish and a practice pedal. The factory tuning card is marked with the s/n and "KAISERPIANO K1H" but is otherwise in Japanese: it shows it was first tuned "47.10.19" (ie October 1972).
The only reference to (post war) Kaiser I have found is at http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/piano/daisousa.htmwhich states it to be a Yamaha brand.

If the s/n is Yamaha then it was built 1968 (which is probably when the tuning card was printed). Why built as a Kaiser instead of a Yamaha, and the markings in Latin rather than Japanese? Was it built for export to Germany?

If not a Yamaha, then when, by whom and where built?

[Bill Kibby]

I can't see any latin there, and NIPPON GAKKI is not Yamaha, as I understand it, it means MADE IN JAPAN. Other than that, I can't help, I am not involved in the modern retail trade.

[charles]

Bill, thanks for your reply.

English is written in latin script as opposed to Cyrillic script, Arabic script, Japanese script, etc.

In 1887 Mr Yamaha founded Nippon Gakki Co.Ltd. = The Japan Instrument Co.Ltd. Yamaha remained the brand name. In 1987 the company name was changed to Yamaha Corporation to mark the 100th anniversary of the firm. (See http://www.global.yamaha.com/about/history.html ) Many think that “Nippon Gakki” translates as “Made in Japan” because the company cast frames for other brands.

I think I posted my question to the wrong forum: may I re-post it to the General forum?

[Bill Kibby]

Forgive my ignorance on the latin script, and I was told by a Yamaha dealer many years ago that "Nippon Gakki" meant "made in Japan", and never had reason to question it. Your enquiry is about piano history, allbeit modern history, so I think you're in the right place. You would have to start again to put it in the general forum, which is not supposed to be for history.

[charles]

Bill, many thanks: I'll keep the forum posted!

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

Sorry to drag up such an old topic, I just found it whilst looking for information about Kaiser pianos. It was my understanding that Kaiser pianos were made in Japan (quite possibly by Yamaha) and that "Nippon Gakki" stands for something like "Japan Musical Instruments" and was Yamaha's previous company name.

I'm just trying to find out where these Kaiser pianos were made now. Could it be they are from Yamaha's Hamamatsu factory? It's possible.

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

From what I can pick up, Kaizer is a stencil piano made by Yamaha and branded by Kaiser. It seems that the U1 was licensed to be branded as a Kaiser, I'm just trying to find out if the U3 was also rebranded Kaiser.