The Birds Sing Every 8 Seconds in Japan
Zama, Japan
It was a chilly morning as we waited for the train, but pleasant. We were at our home station of Zama, on our way to Kamakura. My sister, brother, and I were chatting away. Someone made a comment about how lively the birds were on this sunny day. My brother-in-law Mark was standing a few feet away from our bench, observing all the activity at the station. After a while, he got our attention and said, “Those birds sing every eight seconds.” We looked at him, thinking he may have gone a little crazy.
“Listen.” He held up his fingers, counting off a slow 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, and then pointed. Bird song filled the air. And then he did it again. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. Bird song.
“What!” So natural and real, I would never have suspected a recording. My ever-observant brother-in-law somehow noticed how regular it was and started timing it.
After a little research, we learned that the recordings are just one more testimony to Japanese attention to detail and service to the public. The songs are intended to guide visually impaired people. Different sounds indicate different objects and conditions, including the location of escalators, the closing of train doors, or where to find ticket gates.
This post from Hidden Japan talks about some of the history. Japan commissioned Yamaha (the musical instrument and motorcycle company) to compose what are known as the “hassha merodiis.” These seven-second tunes are calibrated to inform about departures and calm passengers. According to research, they found that a short melody was best for reducing stress and accidents caused by people rushing for the train. The switch to hassha merodiis reduced these accidents by 25 percent (Japanese language).
As I said nearly every day, “Those Japanese; they think of everything.”
Everyone lines up in straight lines — on escalators, waiting for the train. We had to remind ourselves to stop milling around at the train stop.
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More Information About Hassha Merodiis
This conversation between “Dad” and “Ken” talks about the bird sounds in a cute format.
Here is the Hidden Japan link again.
A composer wrote 170 different melodies for use in the transit system. Here is his story.
Traveling with Disabilities: We took a LOT of stairs in Japan, but wouldn’t have needed to. Ramps and elevators were available in most places. Here is general info about travel with disabilities in Japan.