I had thought Mr Yanagi was asleep and his sudden question gave me a jolt, not to mention leaving me embarrassed. I’d apparently spoken aloud the thoughts running around in my head.

‘Weren’t you scared when you first started out?’ I asked. ‘Didn’t you wonder what you’d do if you turned out not to be any good at tuning?’

Mr Yanagi sank back in his seat, eyes narrowed at me. ‘I suppose I wasn’t. Or maybe I was.’ His eyes opened wide. ‘Are you scared?’ he asked.

I nodded silently.

‘That’s all right. If you’re scared, it’ll spur you on. You’ll work as hard as you can to polish your skills. Hold on to that fear a little longer. With so many things being thrown at you to absorb, it would be strange not to feel overwhelmed.’ He chuckled. ‘Don’t worry about it, Tomura.’

‘I can’t help it. I’m always so anxious, so frightened—’

Mr Yanagi raised a hand to cut me off. ‘Who is it who stays on to practise tuning pianos every day after work, hmm? How many do you think you’ve tuned altogether? How many books on tuning do you have piled up on your desk at the office? Read and study to that extent and you’re going to know an awful lot. And you listen to piano music every single night at home, don’t you? You’ll be fine. But don’t be put off if you feel anxious. Now’s the time to be scared, if you’re going to be.’

Even if I was afraid of the future, the present was even more frightening. I was still totally unable to tune a piano in the way I was desperate for.

‘I wonder if you need talent to tune a piano?’ I ventured, and Mr Yanagi turned in his seat to look at me.

‘Of course talent’s part of it.’

Just as I had thought, and it was a big relief to hear. I wasn’t there yet, hadn’t reached the stage where my talent was being tested.

I comforted myself with the notion that at least at this point talent wasn’t what was needed – I must not let the word ‘talent’ distract me, or use it as an excuse to give up. Experience, practice, effort, knowledge, a quick mind, perseverance and passion. If I didn’t have enough talent, I could make up for it with all of these. If one day in the future they were no longer enough for what I needed, then I could give it all up – but the thought of this terrified me. It must be so frightening to admit finally that you don’t have what it takes.