The keyboard was ivory, a little yellowed with time. Mr Yanagi pressed a few keys to test them. The sound was muffled and certainly out of tune, but not as bad as I’d imagined. He played two octaves with both hands, then as the lady patiently watched from the corner of the room, he quickly twisted the screws, lifted off the front panel and placed it on the hard floor. He examined the strings and hammers, and turned to her with a broad smile.

‘You asked if we could return it to its original condition?’ he said quietly. ‘Well, I think we can. And with a little further adjustment, I think we can achieve an even better sound than it had originally.’

He added, ‘Of course this is up to you. We can either bring back its original sound, or else try to achieve a different tone that you’d prefer now.’

The lady touched her whitish hair as she considered. ‘Either option is OK?’ she asked hesitantly. ‘You really can do either?’

‘Absolutely, either one. We’ll aim to create the tone you find most pleasing.’

With this assurance from Mr Yanagi, the lady smiled broadly, looking relieved. ‘All right, then please tune it to the way it used to sound.’

‘Of course,’ Mr Yanagi replied. Then, as if the question had just struck him, he said, ‘May I ask who used to play this piano?’

‘My daughter. She gave up before she became really good. Neither my husband nor I play, so maybe it was inevitable.’

In a quiet voice she continued, ‘We didn’t look after the piano in the days when my daughter used to play. It probably didn’t show itself at its best. I feel bad asking for it to be returned to its original sound if, as you say, you can make it sound even better.’

‘No, please don’t feel that way,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘Every person has their own preferred sound.’

She looked somewhat comforted at this, but it was true. I understood why she wanted to get back to the way it sounded when her daughter had played.

‘It’ll probably take us two or three hours. We’ll just go ahead, so please don’t worry about us. I’ll let you know if I have any questions.’ Mr Yanagi nodded to her and I bowed.

After the lady had shuffled silently out of the room, Mr Yanagi set to work. Improving the timbre of the piano required adjustment of the voicing as well as the tuning.