Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- 1 Odakyū-sen
- 2 Shinjuku Station
- 3 Shinjuku
- 4 Mukōgaoka-yūen North
- 5 Mukōgaoka-yūen South
- 6 Mukōgaoka-yūen Platform
- 7 January Monday
- 8 Odakyū Notables
- 9 Odakyū Line Sounds Familiar
- 10 Train Notices
- 11 Odakyū Commercials
- 12 February Tuesday
- 13 Odakyū Keitaispracht
- 14 By-line, Setagaya Line
- 15 March Wednesday
- 16 Odakyū Day-out Sendagi
- 17 Shimo-Kitazawa
- 18 Bicycle!
- 19 Odakyū Bike Interview – Toda-san
- 20 International Interlude via Narita Airport
- 21 Keitai Train Culture
- 22 April Thursday
- 23 Odakyū Tamagawa
- 24 Station Sights
- 25 Odakyū-sen, Yoyogi-Hachiman Eki
- 26 May Friday
- 27 Mukoōgaoka-yūen, Day for Night
- 28 Odakyū Day-out, Hakone
- 29 June Saturday
- 30 Odakyū Commercials
- 31 Odakyū Smokes
- 32 By-line, Nambu Line
- 33 Odakyū Bag Watch
- 34 Seijo Times
- 35 Odakyū Day-out, Yokohama
- 36 July Sunday
- 37 Odakyū Trains of Thought
- 38 Train Signs, Train Sounds
- 39 By-line, Tama Express
- 40 August Monday
- 41 Odakyū Day-out, Chiba
- 42 September Tuesday
- 43 Odakyū Lady-grooming
- 44 Odakyū and Near-Odakyū Women’s Hairday
- 45 Odakyū Evenings-out
- 46 October Wednesday
- 47 Odakyū Day-out, Ibaraki
- 48 Chikan! Odakyū Misbehaviour
- 49 November Thursday
- 50 Odakyū Blues
- 51 Odakyū Men’s Haircut
- 52 Odakyū Day-out, Ō-Sumo
- 53 December Friday
- 54 Odakyū Store
- 55 Odakyū Bookshelf
- 56 Last Train
- Glossary
9 - Odakyū Line Sounds Familiar
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- 1 Odakyū-sen
- 2 Shinjuku Station
- 3 Shinjuku
- 4 Mukōgaoka-yūen North
- 5 Mukōgaoka-yūen South
- 6 Mukōgaoka-yūen Platform
- 7 January Monday
- 8 Odakyū Notables
- 9 Odakyū Line Sounds Familiar
- 10 Train Notices
- 11 Odakyū Commercials
- 12 February Tuesday
- 13 Odakyū Keitaispracht
- 14 By-line, Setagaya Line
- 15 March Wednesday
- 16 Odakyū Day-out Sendagi
- 17 Shimo-Kitazawa
- 18 Bicycle!
- 19 Odakyū Bike Interview – Toda-san
- 20 International Interlude via Narita Airport
- 21 Keitai Train Culture
- 22 April Thursday
- 23 Odakyū Tamagawa
- 24 Station Sights
- 25 Odakyū-sen, Yoyogi-Hachiman Eki
- 26 May Friday
- 27 Mukoōgaoka-yūen, Day for Night
- 28 Odakyū Day-out, Hakone
- 29 June Saturday
- 30 Odakyū Commercials
- 31 Odakyū Smokes
- 32 By-line, Nambu Line
- 33 Odakyū Bag Watch
- 34 Seijo Times
- 35 Odakyū Day-out, Yokohama
- 36 July Sunday
- 37 Odakyū Trains of Thought
- 38 Train Signs, Train Sounds
- 39 By-line, Tama Express
- 40 August Monday
- 41 Odakyū Day-out, Chiba
- 42 September Tuesday
- 43 Odakyū Lady-grooming
- 44 Odakyū and Near-Odakyū Women’s Hairday
- 45 Odakyū Evenings-out
- 46 October Wednesday
- 47 Odakyū Day-out, Ibaraki
- 48 Chikan! Odakyū Misbehaviour
- 49 November Thursday
- 50 Odakyū Blues
- 51 Odakyū Men’s Haircut
- 52 Odakyū Day-out, Ō-Sumo
- 53 December Friday
- 54 Odakyū Store
- 55 Odakyū Bookshelf
- 56 Last Train
- Glossary
Summary
Train announcement recording in Japanese: ‘Mukōgaoka-yūen desu’.
Then the English recording: ‘The next station will be Mukōgaokayūen’.
Third time by conductor (guttural, throaty, choked): ‘Mukogaōkayūen desu’.
Er…yes, got it.
Keitai denwa. Phone-talk. Hand-over-mouth ‘Hai, hai’ (Yes, yes), ‘Honto ni?’ (Really?), ‘Kawaii!’ (Cute!), ‘Uso!’ (Is that true?). ‘So… so…so…so.’ (So..so…so…so). Plus affirmative head nods.
Sudden ring tones, with follow-up conversation, under sign saying ‘Please switch your phone to manner mode’.
Yellow straps supposedly indicating a quiet zone – but phone talk continues and, well, the straps? Creak in sync with the train's sway.
Buzz-hum of young Japanese earplug music. Sleeper's snore, gentle or loud, plus head landing on next passenger's shoulder.
Male throat-clearing. Serious throat-clearing. Sneezes. Coughs.
Women's laughter, more hand over mouth.
Winter-time sniffing (no nose-blowing). Gauze masks.
Strap creak as train sways.
Rustle of vertically folded newspapers.
Snap of shaded carriage blind being pulled down (or up).
Whack of umbrella (especially if wet) falling on floor.
Static-affected train and platform announcements.
Whoosh of slide-doors opening and closing.
Carriage courtesy-language: arigatō gozaimasu (thank you), sumimasen (excuse me), gomen-nasai (I’m sorry), do itasi-mashite (you’re welcome).
Announcements. Once in a while you get the one arrival or departure recording played simultaneously with another. An overlap earconfusing enough. But then, not infrequently, the platform guard will also get in on the action. Three voices, thus, operate and vie. Almost akin to a group of unstoppable talkers each hammering home their fixed position on the world.
Which leads on to another key Odakyū sound feature: the train vocalizations of the platform staff. Known as kanko ōtō – call and response. At every station, or from the driver's cabin, you hear an affirmatory call. Train stopping. Brake. Acknowledgment of the conductor's bell. The number of carriages in the train. All followed by yoshi (OK). This comes over as the monosyllable yosh.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Tokyo CommuteJapanese Customs and Way of Life Viewed from the Odakyū Line, pp. 45 - 46Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2011