Street piano in Japan’s Kakogawa city confiscated as people were displaying poor manners while playing it

According to a report by the BBC on May 2, a street piano placed in Kakogawa city, Japan, has been confiscated by the authorities due to poor manners displayed by people playing it. The Kakogawa City Council placed the piano inside the main railway station last November, hoping that residents would respond to the global trend of street pianos.

However, authorities were disappointed with rule-breaking incidents such as playing the piano too often, too loudly, and without respect for manners. Some directives were issued, including disinfecting hands before playing, limiting performances to 10 minutes, and avoiding voice accompaniment, but warnings were ignored, and no improvement was seen. The piano might be placed in a different location, away from the station loudspeakers.

The city of Kakogawa was inspired by the public art movement of placing instruments in shared places like transport hubs and shopping centres. However, the city council was disappointed by the disregard for the rules. Some budding musicians played the same sounds repeatedly, while others continued playing during station announcements, causing complaints from commuters.

Although some commuters were unhappy with the confiscation of the piano, others were happy with the city council’s decision. One person said, ‘I’ve seen people who kept playing the same song and yelling along for about an hour, and everyone was walking had a disgusted look on their faces.’ On the other hand, another person pointed out that most people observed the rules and he liked to practice on the piano because he had an electronic piano at home.