Why Japanese subways play bird noises

[@24mootsmoots70]

To be more specific, the bird chirps are known as 盲導鈴 which means (bell to guide the blind). The chirps can be heard on key places such as the stairs, entrance to the station, and on the platform. They allow the blind people to follow the sounds so they can get to the platform safely. I believe its main purpose isn't to create a soothing environment (although I personally do think they're nice sounding)

[@truethunder]

this is correct.

[@Train_Shrine_in_Japan]

Yes, its sounds are signs for blind handicaps. For example, "Cuckoo sings" means a ticket gate. So, it is not related to relieve stress.

[@Freezorgium]

I thought it was to keep pigeons out

[@pandus47z]

We have similar thing in Moscow, but with 3 notes instead of bird

[@TheKewlPerson]

Side note: they dont play the bird noises underground only on the overground JR lines

[@SeanFlaharty]

Thank you for explaining this. During my first trip to Japan in 2005 I remember hearing those sounds and figuring out they were being piped in. I just didn't understand why. Now I do. Great video!

[@jennydale8680]

I love how musical Japan is, especially the pedestrian crossing sounds. And the Bullet trains have different tunes as well

[@ReiwaMagi]

I knew the 0:25 answer within a second. Tokyo JR Station's Departure Melody is too iconic.

[@crunchybones3165]

0:52 oh god i thought i was in a subway station in japan again, I swear the subway music they play is so catchy and it gives me so much nostalgia

[@jonahstaples6210]

You were so hard on these videos and you only get a couple of use most underrated KZbinr ever

[@rinkai8770]

I set one of the Tokyo JR lines station songs as my phone ringtone so that everytime there is an incoming call I can feel like I'm still in Japan

[@Wyrdwad]

Hmm. I'd always heard the bird noises were actually piped in to underground stations in particular in order to help keep vermin away, since the sound of birds would indicate the presence of predators and thus deter rats, cockroaches, etc. I wonder if that's actually true -- and if so, if it was an intended secondary purpose for the bird sounds, or just a happy coincidence.

[@jstar65]

Everytime I visit Japan to see my family there, The sound of makes me feel happy lol

[@rokano]

Same, I miss Japan's ambient noises.

[@wara3854]

Nice Video! You are one of the most underrated youtubers!

[@ezeNdog]

Bird chirps also send an frequency to plant life to blossom in the spring

[@vse7327]

Sorry but the JR east yamanote line kehintohoku line chuo Sobu line chuo main line tokaido line takasaki line jobs. Line and yokosuka line are not in a subway but are overground. Which where these specific jingles come from.

[@ゆびゆびチャンネル]

駅のホームに流れている鳥のさえずりは、視覚障害者の方に改札階段があることを伝えるためなんだよね😊 日本人でも知らない人多いと思う！🕊

[@seanmaxwell3319]

ネタバレやーんw

[@conorduffy693]

This is like Vox levels of quality, love the channel! :)

[@transientbeing1887]

I don't get why people do this: they put their "BIG MYSTERY" they're going to talk about in the video in the very title of this very video... and then in the video they act like they didn't just give away the whole thing with their own title.

[@PouLS]

I think it's beacause of poor review. The creator probably made this video before even thinking about the title.

[@LyntzbartzkyPerez]

Its how writing works, you have to have an intro like that. He’s not trying to make it a mystery he’s trying to introduce the concept to you and get you hooked onto it

[@citrusjuicebox]

@@LyntzbartzkyPerez That's not how writing works. The writer just sucks. The real video shouldn't start well over 60% in.

[@LyntzbartzkyPerez]

@@citrusjuicebox those are some of the weakest points I’ve ever seen

[@citrusjuicebox]

@@LyntzbartzkyPerez In that case, I would hate to read whatever you've written.

[@MissSarahEK]

This makes me want to visit Japan! Super interesting 🧐

[@sparkpass]

You definitely should! It’s a super cool experience!

[@sleepogaming4746]

Me and my classmates was gonna go to Japan but cancelled by its too expencive

[@kefas2playpama04]

Here in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, each station from their subway line (MetrôRio) played some kind of soothing ambience sounds with birds singing and traditional "carioca" instruments just like what they have in Japan... I wonder why these calming sounds have not been playing so much on Rio these days like what it was before... not even San Pablo can have this kind of ambience inside the station of each Subway line in the city, sadly.

[@arixdne_fallen_angels]

Thank you for solving this mystery, I remember traveling the Yurikamome Line and some JR lines while waiting for the trains when I first heard them in the early 2010s. I thought the bird sound was real and didn’t think much of it.

[@Trupen]

Great video :D

[@MarcoCaifan87]

I just came back from a Tokyo trip, and my wife and I noticed the bird chirps inside the trains. Our guess was that it would provide a sense of relaxation.

[@kathykaura7219]

a large department store chain in turkey uses bird chirping sounds.

[@angkarbasil]

Meanwhile in NYC subway: *Gunshots, screams for help and gangster rap songs*

[@aikotoba99]

Everything in Japan has a reason. Maybe it's to relax people a little. I think that's a good idea.

[@luckyvalera6398]

LARRY BIRD IS HAPPY NOW

[@jumpbcb]

Great content, you'll get popular on KZbin very soon!

[@thetawaves12]

Superb documentary, I learned a lot thank you

[@zekridanial1322]

Wow i guessed subway right away.

[@ReplayedCo]

Very interesting content dude! And great editing. Looking forward to more from ya :D

[@Vofoeki]

Minoru Mukaiya wrote the station jingles, he was the pianist for Casiopea.

[@vaultboi76]

So, I’m not crazy? 0:25 ooh… I remember that one. 😢❤

[@RailfanParadise]

I have some of those jingles as my ringtones!

[@bekirbadem3101]

1:50 but I love these sounds :3

[@thatrandomguyontheinternet2477]

When Japan a country smaller than USA has more train usage and track both high and normal passenger

[@andrew1745]

Im supporting you. Ive subbed and liked! Keep it up.

[@williamrauzi9769]

I came from tick tock and I am blown off of my feet on how such a small reactor can crate such good and quality content keep it up it’s awesome

[@vim3413]

This is just a departure bell, to inform passengers that the train doors are closing. The reason it is not an inorganic sound is to give it a station-specific character.

[@mattegeniet]

um, aaaactuallyyyy 🤓 that particular melody (0:25) would not be underground. That's a JR melody (one of the Yamanote stations), and they're all above ground train stations.

[@deadby15]

Is there any place on earth where workers are not heavily pressured to be on Time?

[@jjosephhan]

underrated youtuber

[@trevanphelps7851]

Soon enough you’ll be a huge KZbinr

[@lukaswaller6655]

How the crap does this channel only have 770 subscribers. Wtf

[@ALEXHERRERA-yu1lg]

I think they also put it in ped crossing.

[@evanever]

Good video!

[@Glushe]

Great video!

[@aikotoba99]

I think saying manipulating how people think is a misunderstanding. In Japan, convenience is a way to reduce stress. It's not manipulation, but you could say helps to calm people.

[@redhidinghood9337]

You used a lot of clips from Korea when talking about Japan. Ik it's hard to distinguish but u could seek for the description of the photos you're downloading for more information aka. where they were taken. Korean and Japanese may look similar to westerners but in reality it would be like talking about the US and putting Russian streets full of signs in Cyrillic, which would obviously be quite odd. Other than that the video was great!

[@VimpieB]

There is literally just one stock video segment, which is played twice, that is distinguishable as being in Korea. And that is being used to illustrate a typical, visually chaotic, messy public environment. I suspect that most people with an interest in watching videos about details on Japanese society will assume that this specific scene is probably in Korea, if only because of the Hangul overload. No claim is being made whatsoever in this video that this stock video is 'in Japan', or did you think the pieces of stock video showing nature scenes and places in the United States were also being used to portray Japan ? I genuinely wonder if you post the same commentary underneath pretty much every video you watch here that uses stock video/photo material. Or is it some kind of misplaced pride that forced you to defend the 'Korean identity' ?. Perhaps there are some real inaccuracies in the video. It may be that the bird sounds are only played at railway stations and not subway stations, as others have stated. I've been to many, but not all subway stations in Japan, so I can't rely on my own experience there. But I probably wouldn't have been conscious about every sound at every station I ever visited anyway. 6 minutes is maybe a bit long to tell a sufficiently complete story to your audience, but I enjoyed the video. Thanks.

[@kkfishrick6012]

Splendid content

[@jucicat]

The video is very iformative, thank you! I live in Russia, Crimea and in my town bird songs play at a bus station. They really irritate me because it is a place where sparrows, crows and pigeons live. It sounds really out of place. I would prefer to listen to some music.. There are also ads and warnings which we can hear from speakers sometimes.

[@929Finn]

Before I found out about it I thought birds were living in all the stations (although I assume that is true for the billions of crows there).

[@tibor9379]

Awesome video, tnx

[@NopWorks]

I liked how the video mentioned the 2005 train accident. Being punctual is great, but not at the cost of safety. The story is tragic and sad. There's a good documentary on it: "Senconds From Disaster - Runaway Train"

[@pixelnobs]

1:42 lol

[@rocketpie3300]

The better Vox

[@japanesesmiles8515]

Nice video🌸 😊🇯🇵

[@greengaeru5122f]

the bird noise is for blind person to make him know if thiers an stairs

[@williamstephens9945]

How cute. 🗾

[@Chachan7799]

WILLAM HOW TO THIS KUNG

[@hinababy624]

Is the cuckoo bird included? I always here them in a train station.

[@HassanKhan0987]

24 billion riders??? I think you mean rides occur mate.

[@jakedoerge6690]

Came from tik tik:^

[@Imbreadtt]

Jake Doerge tic toc is dum

[@jesslynch7293]

Super interesting 🧐

[@vse7327]

Uhm not every station has a unique melody certainly most do but some have a few duplicates. So this video isn’t 100% accurate but still informative

[@ねえ聞いてよ]

You always talk about Japanese Innovations. Are u part Japanese or just interested in their stuff?

[@jingmunin1796]

Same thing in China.

[@jingmunin1796]

Not the sounds though

[@hooktrunk]

Complete BS. The train station melodies are meant to keep you alert to the incoming and departing trains, not relax you. They are loud and not peaceful, albeit not jarring. I like them. They give workers a bit of pep if anything. Also, they are on the above ground JR line trains which are NOT subways. The bird sounds are for blind people to help them find the escalators and stairs. The jingles and sounds have been around for far longer than the time of that horrible 2005 train accident in in Hyogo Pref.

[@swire6984]

Pokemon city music in real life.

[@QueenSephy2002]

Fun fact: Germany’s train stations at night have blue lights, which are tested to help calm people down, and even curb the risk of suicide

[@sotsora8000]

The same thing is being done in Japan. They are used to light the platforms of some stations and crossings. I didn't know they've being done in Germany.

[@neubro1448]

Not really soothing if it's crows cawing. There are a lot of crows in Japan and they are loud. They're scavengers that can eat anything.

[@Phonxer]

Instead of decreasing working hours they play birds to get them less stress.. Drugs anyone?

[@slickstickstuck]

I am here from tik tok

[@xps07]

who came from tik tok

[@99k20hatch]

anTt0 I JUST CAME FROM TIKTOK

[@leenmnb]

Me

[@Kirakiracuremarine]

Meh

[@itspizzatime4084]

Me

[@telemachin]

Moi

[@citrusjuicebox]

This is the most annoying video about an interesting piece of trivia I've ever had the misfortune to click on.

[@sparkpass]

Thanks for the feedback. May I ask why?

[@citrusjuicebox]

@@sparkpass You could've easily shaved off the first 4 minutes of the video, completed your entire explanation with context in about 90 seconds. This is padding to the extreme.

[@sparkpass]

Fair enough, thanks for getting back! I'm always trying to evolve.

[@citrusjuicebox]

@@sparkpass Thank you for taking this constructively. Will be happy to check out more of your videos in the future.

[@444haluk]

I fucking hate bird noise.

[@ianspaintpot]

that sounds like a nation of mindless drones

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

This is not unique to japan, not even remotely.

[@Marconius6]

As someone who lives in Tokyo, I find the bird noises incredibly annoying. The main issue is they basically just play a 5 second clip on loop, so it gets very obviously repetitive very quickly... and then you become all the more aware of how artificial it is.