The Artist — SATO is a Boston-based artist who first discovered watercolor at a summer camp when he was 10 years old. Since then, he has painted every day, filling large sheets of paper with two or three colors chosen for that day — often while listening to music he loves. He is known for his combination of clear, translucent colors. SATO is also a pianist.
The Artwork — “BIG STEP” The artwork featured on the piano is titled “BIG STEP.” SATO’s vibrant colors are joyful at first glance, gently whispering, “Go on, why don’t you try playing?” — an invitation to approach the piano freely, without the weight of thinking “I must play well” or “I must be perfect.”
BIG STEP
Heralbony — SATO’s artwork is shared through Heralbony, a company with the mission “Release your distinctiveness.” Heralbony forms contracts with artists — many of whom are people with intellectual disability — and shares their pure, powerful works through products and spatial design. Their purpose is to reframe disability as individuality and talent, dissolving the boundaries that exist in society through the power of art, and paving the way for a new culture.
Concept Story:
KIZASHI (A Sign of What’s to Come)
with HERALBONY
Heralbony is a company with the mission, “Release your distinctiveness.”
They form contracts with artists – many of whom are people with intellectual disability – and share their pure, powerful works through products and spatial design.
Their purpose is to reframe disability as individuality and talent, dissolving the boundaries that exist in society through the power of art, and paving the way for a new culture.
Kawai deeply resonated with this spirit.
This collaboration gives form to a shared belief: expression does not belong only to a chosen few. It is an attempt to redefine the piano as a borderless vessel – one on which anyone can freely leave the trace of their sensibility.
From here begins a new chapter in the Kawai story, where art and music blend together.
A Vessel that dissolves boundaries – a celebration of your Big Step
Freedom of expression is simply allowing your emotions to exist in the world as they are.
The Shigeru Kawai piano, crafted with Kawai’s finest expertise, is a vessel that elevates the subtle traces of your everyday emotions into a beautiful sound. Yet, we know that the instrument’s formal dignity can, at times, create quiet distance, building a wall that separates people from the freedom to express themselves.
We hope this collaboration becomes a big step toward gently removing that wall.
SATO paints every day. Since encountering watercolor at a summer camp when he was 10, he has filled large sheets of paper with two or three colors chosen for that day, often while listening to music he loves.
What kind of day was it when this piece “BIG STEP” was born? A happy day? A sad one? Was it a day of discovery, or a calm and peaceful one?
As a company that hopes to accompany people throughout life through the piano, we were deeply moved by these works that capture the delicate shifts of each passing day. His vibrant colors are joyful at first glance, gently whispering, “Go on, why don’t you try playing?”
Think back to the moment you first turned your heart toward the piano. There must have been a surely, in that moment, you approached the piano freely, just following your heart. And yet, at some point, perhaps you felt weighed down by the thoughts, “I must play well” or “I must be perfect.”
SATO’s bold, rhythmic colors quietly set you free from that pressure, celebrating the freedom to take a step just as your heart wills it.
Entrust your joy, your uncertainty, and your hopes for the future to the piano exactly as they are. The supreme resonance and touch of Shigeru Kawai will capture those feelings as vivid memories in sound.
Where sound and color blend, the walls of the heart begin to dissolve. This KIZASHI – the first glimpse of a freer, richer landscape of life – is what Kawai hopes to explore together with you over the next 100 years.