Actually this is a very old question that is pondering me a long time. I find a lot of VST samples of the typical brands like
Steinway, Bösendorfer, Fazioli, Steingräber and Yamaha. But never a sample of a Kawai. And this is stange, as Kawai is the most direct counterpart to a Yamaha. Both are made in Hamamatsu, both have accoustics and digitals in the same price range, and both want to have their grands to be placed in the biggest orchestra halls.
So why are there Yamaha VST out there, but no Kawai?

I've asked something similar before in PW and elsewhere. My best guess is, something to do with property rights, proprietary stuff. Perhaps not wanting to cannibalize their Kawai digital pianos/controllers/hybrids that have that Shigeru Kawai samples. Once something is "authorized by Kawai" I reckon there's some sorts of financial agreements.

Best guess, but I could be wrong!

It is interesting, and I don't have a good answer. I do find Kawai to be one of the best acoustic pianos out there. I would personally rather play a Kawai than a Yamaha or Steinway, but that's me.

Have heard rumors of a high end sampled piano but have not seen it for sale.

I think it's just lack of interest. Kawai couldn't stop anyone from doing it. I think I read something about one a while back. I can't remember what it was called.

    Kawai James --- you better answer this. Make sure to answer it please. A straight (proper) answer - not a politician's answer. Ooops ... this is getting into politics. I better check the forum rules on politics.

      johnstaf I think it's just lack of interest. Kawai couldn't stop anyone from doing it. I think I read something about one a while back. I can't remember what it was called.

      I think this is the answer.

      In my opinion, Kawai exists in an interesting place between boutique brand and name brand.

      • Kawai isn’t a true household name, yet. They’re solid in the industry, but certainly aren’t at the level of omnipresence held by Steinway or Yamaha. Despite Kawai’s first market share, there are still many who walk into a piano dealer and will have never heard of Kawai before, or walk into a concert hall and don’t recognize that name on a piano.

      • Kawai isn’t associated with “prestige”. Their top line, Shigeru Kawai, does command reputation and status…but, not their entire line. Nowhere near the level of “old-world” gentlemen like Bosendorfer or Bechstein, or the new bons vivant Fazioli (who has made a name for themselves with their opulent aesthetic and design). And brands like those have cultivated the idea of prestige across their lines; not just in their top offering.

      • Kawai instruments are rather general in tone and timbre. Nowhere near as unique as Bosendofer, Fazioli, or Ravenscroft. I’d say most ears couldn’t tell a Kawai from the other standard-sounding pianos - they lean into the territory of tone and timbre that Steinway famously occupies, but sans Steinway’s mythos.

      So, Kawai is known but not omnipresent, beautiful but standard (without being the standard) and not particularly unique, and aren’t generally associated with prestige.

      And that’s what hurts them in the VST world, because most VSTs go for:

      The Standard Experience, to sound like a regular, well-voiced, well-tuned, beautiful sounding, good-old fashioned piano: Steinway and (recently) Yamaha rule here. Why make a Kawai, which sounds very similar to those two, when you can sample the new power-player Yamaha, or the ever-popular de-facto-piano Steinway, both of which have more famously been associated with “good old fashioned pianos” than Kawai has.

      Unusual Sound, a piano with a unique tone and timbre that stands out from the standard sound: Bosendorfer’s rich tenor, twang, and wobbling metallic bass - Bechstein’s plucky treble and highs - and Fazioli’s rich almost grainy timbre. Or the “felt” trend which has become popular. Why make a Kawai, which is rather middle of the road, when if users want unusual, they’ll choose something else.

      Prestige Experience, a VST aimed at giving us poors (lol) the experience of playing an instrument associated with the “upper class”, the savoir-vivre, the “blue-bloods”, the wealthy…that history, legacy, and money. Steinway, Bosendorfer, Bechstein, Bluthner, and a few others command that association. Kawai doesn’t.

      So, I agree it’s interest. Kawai is a solid brand making wonderful pianos. Anyone should be pleased to own one of their acoustics, and indeed many are since they seem to be doing very well for themselves and have built a firm market share with many devotees. Fine instruments. But, generally, they don’t particular score high in the parameters that most VST-makers and VST-users are searching for.

        Taushi Kawai isn’t a true household name, yet.

        People in most piano house-holds know kawai more than steinway. That's from both ... digital and acoustic sides.

        Actually ... I reckon kawai is actually a true house-hold name.

        From most everyone (non pianists) have met, when referencing a top tier piano, they say “Steinway” like it’s a symbol of top tier piano.

        And they most inevitably know about Yamahas as well given their omnipresence in one way or another, be it motor craft, musical instruments, etc. plus seemingly most contemporary musicians appear to be on a Yamaha (think John Legend, Alicia Keys, Robert Glasper, Jesus Molina etc).

        When I tell folks about Kawai, they have no idea.

        We all live in different environments, have different friends and networks, but for folks who have no pianos, have no interest in pianos, within my world, almost none know about Kawai and most all know about Steinway and Yamaha.

        By “know” I mean whether they’ve heard of it… that said they seldomly know of any other brands either.

        This is coming from me, who owns a Kawai, so it’s fair to say I’m not being biased here 🙂 I certainly wish Kawai was more known and renowned.

          At most music stores in Australia selling pianos ... they usually just have yamaha and kawai and roland and casio ... in the digital section. In the acoustic section ... yamaha and kawai ... uprights. That's for general music stores.

            SouthPark definitely. Same here in the US as far as music stores. I should’ve stated earlier that I was mostly referring to acoustic. 🙂

            While on the topic of US, perhaps even further reason why Yamaha/Steinway stand out. Their marketing budget is quite conducive to US consumer propensity. Meanwhile Steinway perhaps has some underlying “made in America” aura about it and familiarity to folks in US.

            (Totally generalizing here but that’s one of my theories!)

            Steinway is a famous brand. Kawai isn't a high-profile brand amongst the non-piano-playing public. Steinway is more like Fender.

            On TV and in films I rarely see anything but Steinway and Yamaha. I see Bechstein in old British films and more recently in The Pianist and Florence Foster Jenkins. There's a Blüthner in Iron Man.

              johnstaf I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who absolutely must know what brand a piano is when watching a movie or TV show!

              My personal guess is that Kawai is for whatever reason uninterested in pursuing this market. Either they're unaware, or they are aware and are don't see viable commercial value, in promoting an SK-EX VST.

              I think the enthusiast digital piano market skews heavily in favor of Kawai (when you consider the multitude of acoustic piano makers, AND the digital makers who just offer an unnamed Steinway sample/reference), and because of that, many more digital players know of and appreciate Kawai, and would love a high quality SK-EX VST. But perhaps Kawai thinks of this as being direct cannibalization of their main hardware DP business, especially if they were to license/approve a 3rd party VST and just end up taking some meager royalties per copy sold. "Wouldn't we lose core DP sales if many people just bought a Roland A-88 or M-Audio/Studiologic keyboard and downloaded our golden tones"? Just a guess...

                Gombessa "Wouldn't we lose core DP sales if many people just bought a Roland A-88 or M-Audio/Studiologic keyboard and downloaded our golden tones"? Just a guess...

                I don't think so. If this would be a stategic decission, then why Yamaha hasn't come to the same conclusion?
                I own a Kawai digital because of the action. But my tonal preference is the brighter Yamaha. To be fair, the Kawai EX sample is something that isn't bad either, and kind of similar to the bright Yamaha sound. So I am absolutely fine how my CN29 sounds.

                About the presence of Kawai amongst non-musicians:
                I personally didn't know Kawai, before I bought one. As stage pianos/keyboards I usually remember Roland and Korg as a brands. And I knew Yamaha builds the best E-pianos (didn't know about the term digital piano, back then). I knew even the term Clavinova. And I knew Casio, but this brand was better known for calculators and cheap toy keyboards.

                Kawai? I guess I have seen this on a stage few times. But the presence was way less than Roland and Korg. (I also don't remember a lot of Yamahas)

                Killomiter Has James found his way on here?????

                Killomiter -- he is hiding!!!

                Interesting - he even has a star wars galactic republic symbol.

                Let me provide a different perspective.... I just started selling my piano libraries, and guess which one (by far) sells the best? Steinway. Does the Yamaha sell well? Yes, it sells, but not nearly like the Steinway. Does the Bosendorfer sell? Yes, but not nearly like the Steinway. Name recognition is extremely important, and I think Kawai, in terms of name recognition, ranks behind those three - so no one spends time to promote them.

                But with that said, it's funny that I was just at the Kawai flagship store in Omotesando/Tokyo in a private room with a Shigeru Kawai. I sampled it for fun. What will I do with the library? I'm not sure yet. I won't sell it, but I might give it out for free if I decide to distribute it.

                  What do you mean no Kawai VIs. This one's kinda new and a bit spendy, but the demos I've heard are universally excellent.
                  https://premiersoundfactory.com/piano-premier-kawai-legend/

                  I shouldn't be too hard on you, I asked the same question on another forum: https://vi-control.net/community/threads/shigeru-kawai-sk-ex-anything.146761/
                  That thread has grown to 9 pages and referenced a number of Kawai virtual instruments, including the one referenced above.

                  Steve