Shewbox.org » Japan

This is why I don’t have any kids (yet?)

Administrator — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 00:39:06 +0000

Japan = Good
Japanese Food = Very Good
Japanese People = Mostly Good
Japanese niece crying for her okasan (mother) = Not So Very Good

Download Audio: Ryoko Crying

Noodle Soup Restaurant

Administrator — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:55:44 +0000

I have a few more recordings I made while in Japan this last summer I haven’t posted yet. This one is from a noodle soup restaurant right next to Omiya station (in Saitama prefecture), which had wonderful cuisine. The calls you hear are from the employees welcoming new guests into the restaurant, or saying bye, or who knows what. I can’t really remember. And for the keen observer, at the end of this snipit, the cash register beeps and it sounds very similar to Walmart’s checkout beep. Or is it just me?

Download Audio: Noodle Soup Restaurant

Snoring

Administrator — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 23:01:49 +0000

My wife’s parents haven’t slept in the same room in years and years. One listen to this recording and you know why.

Download Audio: Snoring

Shakuhachi Practice

Administrator — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 19:07:55 +0000

While taking a walk one afternoon, I heard somebody practicing a shakuhachi, the Japanese traditional bamboo flute. My wife said that she has never heard somebody just practicing this instrument, so it must a have been a stroke of good luck to be passing just as someone was practicing. Unfortunately, as you might guess, it was a bit hard to hear since it was coming from inside of a house, and in order to raise the levels enough to hear it, there is a bit of background hissing. You can also hear some traffic pass, and a few leafs blowing by in the wind.

Download Audio: Shakuhachi Practice

Train Arrival

Administrator — Sat, 10 Jul 2004 01:45:52 +0000

This was recorded downstairs at Omiya Station. You hear the train station chime, followed by a bit of silence, then the arrival of a train. Suprisingly enough, there are a good number of people present in the train station in this recording, but most of them are very quiet. This was close to peak traveling hours and the station was quite full, yet the ambient noise from people talking is suprisingly low. Most people either read a book, play on their cell phones, or just stand there staring off into space thinking of japanese things.

Download Audio: Train Arrival at Omiya

Busy Omiya

Administrator — Wed, 30 Jun 2004 07:04:31 +0000

Omiya train station is busy pretty much any day of the week. The weekends, however, are a completely different story. Many more multitudes meander through the hallways, and I decided to stop and capture the busy sounds of the moment. There are no particular conversations or people that stick out of this session, but the general atmosphere is captured with a few voices here and there.

Download Audio: Omiya Train Station Upstairs

Stream

Administrator — Sat, 26 Jun 2004 19:57:03 +0000

My wife and I visited a wonderful traditional hotel and hot springs, but for the life of me I can’t remember exactly where it was located. I’ll have to ask my wife again to find out. Anyways, our hotel was located in a very hilly region and there was a largish stream running right next to the hotel that came down from the mountain. In a park in that area, a trail goes right down next to the stream, and I had my MD with me and decided to record the sounds of the stream.

Download Audio: A stream

Lumine Food Section: A Screaming Welcome

Administrator — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 21:40:42 +0000

This is hands down my favorite recording I made in Japan. I had just purchased a new microphone at a Bic Camera (Sony ECM-MS907) and was browsing around in the food section of a Lumine department store at Omiya Station. Back in the meat section, the workers were cutting the fish and various other meats while “greeting” the customers with phrases like ‘welcome to the store’, ‘please buy lots of fish’, etc. If you are thinking about timid Japanese people quietly speaking a greeting, think again. These guys weren’t just saying ‘welcome to the store’, they were outright screaming it. You could hardly hear youself think in there for all the shouting. But it did make for a memorable experience.

Download Audio: Lumine Food Section

Noisy Serenity

Administrator — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 05:27:00 +0000

One of the most serene places I visited in Japan was Engakuji (yup, more temples). The grounds gradually slope up a hillside, and the top area is surrounded by tall tress on three sides. But just like photography, recording memorable sounds is not always as simple as pushing record. While I was at the highest point of Engakuji, my recording session was overtaken first by loud construction, and when that finally abated, by a group of loud dogs. It especially irked me because no later than 15 seconds after the construction crew stopped to take a break, the dogs chimed in with their yelping. Despite all the interference some sort of bird was singing a cheerful melody and you can still grasp a bit of the feeling of the area despite all the unwanted noise.

Download Audio: Noisy Engakuji

Temple at Asakusa

Administrator — Sun, 13 Jun 2004 03:33:35 +0000

This next recording from my trip to Japan was recorded at the Buddhist temple at Asakusa (pictures, info). This is a large tourist attraction, and when I went was bustling with people. This particular recording was taken at the front part of the temple, and in it you hear people throwing coins into the osaisen, and also shaking the omikuji.

Download Audio: Temple at Asakusa