Photo/Illutration Street Piano Donations set up its first piano at JR Kurosaki Station in Kita-Kyushu on Sept. 11. (Kei Yoshida)

KITA-KYUSHU--Playing a piano could finance music education for poor children and might even save someone else's life.

That possibility became the driving force behind an amateur pianist's campaign to set up pianos anyone can use at train stations, shopping streets and elsewhere.

“If towns are filled with soft tones from pianos, people’s minds will be healed and suicides prevented,” said Haruko Motoyama, 48, whose day job is a consultant to help women start their own businesses.

Motoyama formed the group Street Piano Donations in August, and the first piano debuted at Kurosaki Station here on Sept. 11 with the assistance of Kyushu Railway Co.

Motoyama hit upon the project in November last year, when she played a show with a friend to celebrate the installation of a public piano at Kita-Kyushu Airport by another group.

She said she thought she could support music education by installing street pianos and asking the people who tickle the ivories for donations.

Motoyama, who is involved in child-rearing support activities, has also organized scholarships for young people raised at orphanages and other institutions and worked as a volunteer on a lifeline telephone counseling service as part of suicide prevention efforts.

She studied piano in elementary and junior high school and resumed playing the instrument five years ago after a hiatus of nearly three decades.

“I'd like to create a system in which street pianos set up all over the world will contribute to support for children,” said Motoyama.

Motoyama spent about six months to make her plan a reality, assembling information on pianos no longer being played through friends and other contacts. She looked for public places to set them up with the help of volunteers.

The donations will be used to organize lessons and concerts for children who can't study music or attend concerts due to poverty or other reasons. They will also cover the pianos' tuning and other maintenance costs.

Motoyama's group has already secured multiple pianos and is negotiating with operators of shopping malls and ferries to arrange to install them.

It has also tapped piano teachers, tuners and others for assistance.

Although donations can currently only be made by bank transfers to the group's account, Street Piano Donations is working to post Quick Response codes on its public pianos so those who play them can pay on the spot with e-money.

To expand the project, the group is asking companies and individuals to provide pianos, places to install them, and other types of support.