ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--A grand piano silenced by the 2011 tsunami will make beautiful music again thanks to the support of U.S. pop superstar Cyndi Lauper and others inspired by the owner of a local musical instrument shop.
A Japanese pianist will perform on the restored piano at a city-run hospital, which reopens here on Sept. 1, more than five years after it was destroyed by the tsunami spawned by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Lauper, 63, offered to donate the piano to the city government when she visited the Sarukoya musical instrument shop in 2012 after hearing that owner Teruo Inoue was restoring pianos damaged by the disaster.
Sarukoya, located in central Ishinomaki, was engulfed by the tsunami to a height of 1.7 meters on March 11, 2011. About 30 pianos for sale in the outlet were rendered unusable.
Inoue, 87, once considered closing Sarukoya. However, he decided to continue with it, after recalling that his shop had withstood the tsunami.
“This is a battle. I don’t want to be defeated,” he thought at that time.
Inoue reopened his shop in August 2011 and began repairing pianos damaged by the tsunami.
In March 2012, Lauper, who was visiting areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami disaster, heard about Inoue’s efforts and dropped in his shop with veteran music critic Reiko Yukawa, 80.
Lauper offered to donate one of the damaged pianos after it was restored by Inoue.
Physician Yasuo Sato, 68, who had worked in the city-run hospital until 2010, heard about plans to put the instrument in the hospital and offered additional financial support.
The grand piano to be donated had been used by a family here before the 2011 tsunami. After it was immersed in seawater, salt infiltrated into its wooden parts. The strings also rusted.
Inoue thought since the grand piano maintained its original shape, he could restore it. With the same determination he had when he reopened his shop, he began to repair the instrument in late April this year.
With the help of his three employees, he removed the salt from the wooden parts using ultrasonic devices and other tools. He also painted the piano about 10 times. The 228 rusty strings and damaged keyboard were replaced.
Inoue conveyed the completion of the three-month repair work to Yukawa. Earlier this month, he received a message from Lauper that said she wanted to visit Japan in the near future to hold concerts.
Inoue believes that when Lauper visits Japan, she will come to Ishinomaki again to see the restored piano.
Michie Koyama, 57, a pianist from Sendai, who has been performing in disaster-hit areas, will hold the concert for patients on Sept. 16.
“I am happy as beautiful sounds come out again from the piano that has been revived from the ruins. I want the piano to heal patients for many years to come,” Inoue said.
“I hope that people value the piano as a symbol of grass-root exchanges between Japan and the United States,” Sato added.