It’s the end of a crystal era.
It’s an unfortunate truth that natural disasters don’t care what day it is, so the residents of the Noto Peninsula and surrounding regions faced an extraordinary catastrophe in the form of a Magnitude 7.6 earthquake on New Year’s Day. What was already a serious disaster was made worse by people being on vacation, both visiting the affected area and in positions normally at the ready to provide support.
The damage suffered by this relatively rural area is severe and rebuilding will be a long and hard road for the survivors. Among those pledging their continued support is none other than X Japan drummer, multi-instrumentalist virtuoso, and possibly the biggest mensch in the country, Yoshiki. Although he has a history of charitable donations too long to list, this one is a cut above the rest.
Anyone who’s seen a solo live performance of Yoshiki on the piano would have noticed an exquisite Kawai CR-40N Crystal Grand Piano. These transparent pianos generally sell for millions of yen (tens of thousands of US dollars) and fewer than 10 are produced each year.
This instrument has been a personal favorite of Yoshiki’s for about a decade, but as a show of support to the people of the Noto Peninsula, he suddenly put it up for an emergency auction from 12 to 16 January. About 1,000 bids were made in the five-day period, and when the dust settled, the winning bid was 40 million yen ($270,000).
The money made from the auction will go to Yoshiki Foundation America which in turn will provide it to the Japanese Red Cross Society. But in addition to the money, Yoshiki also hopes that the spectacle of giving up his beloved piano will help raise awareness that the people of Noto still need our help.
It’s just the latest in a never-ending outpouring of generosity from the rock star, and hopefully, a reminder for all of us to stay safe in the coming year. After all, we can’t have this guy constantly giving away all his stuff.
Source: Twitter/@YoshikiOfficial via Netlab
Featured image: YouTube/Yoshiki
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