‘I think it’s a wonderful thing that all this can be expressed as 440 hertz. Each piano’s different, but they’re all connected by sound, all conversing through the same frequency.’ I felt a little embarrassed by the end of our conversation, surprised by how much I’d spoken during our exchange.

We sat down on the concrete block beside the shrubbery in the car park. The endless winter had finally lifted and on sunny days we sometimes ate lunch here. It was still chilly, but after hours in a stuffy room, doing all the detailed work involved in tuning, it was refreshing to eat our meal in the fresh air and to chat.

Sometimes I’d recall how Mr Akino said, with feigned indifference, that all we needed to do was focus on the high and low notes. ‘We might very well feel it’s all a bit futile if, time after time, we put our hearts into improving the tone but the client isn’t satisfied or simply doesn’t notice. On the other hand, if you do a half-decent job and don’t worry too much about the finer stuff, the client is usually perfectly satisfied. In short, the client doesn’t care if you’re giving it your all or not. Coming up with a good sound – that’s our one and only mission. And if a client feels that a pronounced bass and treble sounds good, then there’s nothing wrong with giving it to them.’

‘But still—’ The concern I’d had many times came back to me.

‘What’s wrong?’ Mr Yanagi pulled his disposable chopsticks apart and looked at me, amusement on his face. Apparently I’d spoken my thoughts aloud.

‘No, it’s nothing.’

But it wasn’t nothing. What I was thinking was: doesn’t this crush the possibility? The possibility of encountering a truly sublime sound? A sound that sends a shiver through your heart, as had happened to me back in the gym of that sixth-form college?

Sure, I might not be able to produce that sound myself – I was still a beginner – but if you don’t make that your goal, you will never get there.

Achieve a Sense of Harmony

The temperature had shot up, and just stepping out into the fresh air was enough to make me feel as though I hadn’t a care in the world. I didn’t normally go out on my days off but was glad I’d done so today – glad I’d made some plans.