Street piano in Japan confiscated after people break rules: Reports

A street piano in Japan's Kakogawa city has been confiscated after authorities said that people were displaying poor manners while playing it, according to a report by the BBC early Tuesday (May 2). The report said that the Kakogawa City Council had placed this piano inside the area's main railway station in November last year, and authorities hoped that residents would respond to a global trend which saw a huge rise in street pianos.

However, authorities were disappointed by the rule-breaking, such as people playing the piano too often, too loudly and without any respect for manners.

BBC reported that some directives were laid out for the piano's use. Authorities insisted that users should disinfect their hands before playing the piano, performances should be kept to 10 minutes and people should avoid voice accompaniment.

Some budding musicians have been accused of practising the same sounds over and over again, while others provoked complaints by continuing to play during station announcements, the report added.

Authorities added that warnings were issued, but there was no improvement. They also said the piano might be placed in a different location, away from the station loudspeakers.

Kakogawa has been inspired by the public art movement of placing instruments in shared places, such as transport hubs and shopping centres.

But the city council was disappointed by the disregard for rules.

Many commuters (at the railway station) were unhappy with the confiscation of the piano. “I have an electronic piano at home, so I like to practise here,” an unidentified man in his 60s said and pointed out that most people observed the rules, as per the report.

On the other hand, another person was happy with the city council's decision. “I’ve seen people who kept playing the same song and yelling along for about an hour, and everyone who was walking had a disgusted look on their faces,” the person said.

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