"Bar pianists are like public bathhouses, or shoeshine boys in the street. There are no jobs any more. Situations have changed, and it is shocking how much has disappeared," said Kazuko Asakura.
She is a bar pianist who finds survival today increasingly difficult. Many of the old doors have closed. Many of the old pianos stay unplayed. Many of the old friends have troubles of their own, and have moved away to different occupations. For Kazuko Asakura, who for 30 years has played in top hotels and clubs, circumstances have become precarious. Still, she said, "Music is always with me. It is part of me."
Kazuko's father was a pianist who prewar was employed as a timpanist in the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. He was also a composer and a broadcaster, who worked often for children's theater. When he returned from Siberia after the war, his work gone and his house burned out, he found employment editing musical textbooks. He stayed in this occupation for the rest of his life. He set Kazuko at the keyboard when she was 6, and resolved that she should attend a university of fine arts.