Photographies taken in 2025
For more than four years, I nurtured a dream: to photograph abandoned pianos in Japan. A country of profound contrasts—between futuristic modernity and timeless tradition—Japan quietly called to me. In 2025, that dream finally came true. Without question, it was the most powerful and emotional experience since I began my project, Requiem for Pianos.
On this photographic journey, I traveled across parts of Japan: from Tokyo to Kyoto, through the deep forests of Wakayama, the mountainous regions of Fukushima Prefecture, and all the way to the remote volcanic island of Hachijō-jima, nearly 300 km south of the capital.
My journey led me to numerous abandoned schools, poignant symbols of a fading rural Japan. In these suspended spaces, pianos rest in silence—once the instruments of children learning their first notes. As rural communities age and people move to the cities, many schools have closed, leaving behind these forgotten instruments.
I also explored abandoned hotels, including the famous Imperial Hotel of Hachijō-jima. Built in the 1960s to host waves of tourists, this once-grand structure was meant to symbolize post-Olympic Japanese tourism. But due to its remote location, high travel costs, and shifting economic tides, the dream faded. Today, its empty halls, faded carpets, and dust-covered Yamaha pianos tell a different story—one of elegance lost and silence reclaimed.
The piano holds a special place in Japanese culture. In many families, owning a piano—often a Yamaha or a Kawai—is a symbol of education and refinement. Yamaha, born in Hamamatsu, is not just a manufacturer—it is a cultural institution. To witness these instruments, sometimes still pristine, abandoned in forgotten places, evokes a powerful emotional response—a sense of pride quietly fading into memory.
As always in my work, I did not just photograph these pianos. I recorded their voices. The softest whisper of a worn string, the faint click of an aging hammer—each sound is a fingerprint. I captured the final breaths of Yamaha, Kawai, and other iconic Japanese instruments to enrich my visual work with an immersive auditory dimension. These sounds will become part of my installations in future exhibitions.
This journey through Japan was a transformative experience—a profound encounter with memory, culture, nature, and silence. I was deeply moved by the fragile beauty of these places, by the way vegetation reclaims forgotten rooms, by the soft light filtering through tatami mats and woven blinds.
Through these images and sounds, I invite you to step into a forgotten Japan—majestic, poetic, and hauntingly alive.
A Japan that still resonates in the hearts of its sleeping pianos.
© 2014-2025 Romain Thiery, tous droits réservés/reproduction interdite
