Japan Train Station Jingles Download [BETTER]

Everything is a bit different in Tokyo than in the other cities. If you have already been there, you noticed surely that on train stations complete songs / jingles are played when a train arrives. The person behind these compositions was recently announced in a short reportage on YouTube.

Behind these jingles is the Japanese music producer Minoru Mukaiya who composed the music for more than 111 train stations. In order to give each station its own flair and not to appear monotonous, he developed a specific theme for each station on which he wrote the melody. For this he looked closely at how the train enters the station or whether it is located in a historical or modern area of Tokyo.

Japan Train Station Jingles Download

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I recently took an interest in the departure melodies that play at train stations in and around Tokyo after playing various games in the Densha de Go! series. Unfortunately, most audio in circulation is recordings made on platforms. Finding clean copies of these jingles is difficult, but doable. They've been published in Japan on CD. I managed to get a hold of some copies and after a good deal of grunt work, I have 83 different ringtones. With a little help, I've managed to translate the melody names into English with some semblance of accuracy.

In Japan, each station has its own little jingle, which is played when a train enters the station. Imagine if this happened in your country - what kind of tunes do you think would be played? In Japan, train fanatics, densha otaku in Japanese, travel across the country to record these famous eki-melo. On the internet, entire blogs are devoted to cataloguing them. It speaks volumes about their popularity!

But why is there such a need to play a cute little jingle each time a train enters the station? Remember, we're talking about Japan, THE country of excellent service. These melodies simply allow busy travellers to recognise where they are, without needing to take their eyes off their book or smartphone... or continue their nap!

If your trip in Japan is coming to an end and you feel like you'll miss the eki-melo, you can buy small keychains that play the music from your favorite station. Or even better, buy an alarm clock that lets you wake up to the melodies of an entire train line!

A train melody is a succession of musically expressive tones played when a train is arriving at or about to depart from a train station.[1] In Japan, departing train melodies are arranged to invoke a feeling of relief in a train passenger after sitting down and moving with the departing train.[1] In contrast, arriving train melodies are configured to cause alertness, such as to help travelers shake off sleepiness experienced by morning commuters.[1]

In 1844, French classical pianist Charles-Valentin Alkan composed Le chemin de fer ("The Railroad"), a programmatic tude for piano designed to depict the happy journey of train passengers from departing a train station to portraying the train pulling into a second station.[3][4][5] It is frequently cited as the first musical representation of railway travel.[6][7] The joyful melody of Le chemin de fer subsequently has been celebrated as a forerunner to Arthur Honegger's orchestral work Pacific 231, which also represents a locomotive.[8]

In August 1971, the Japanese private railway company Keihan Electric Railway became the first railway in Japan to introduce train melodies. Most of Japan's railway network was owned by the state until 1987. The former Japanese National Railways (JNR) company was privatized at that time, and the network was split between six major companies in the Japan Railways Group and a range of smaller operators.[9] Under JNR ownership, bells were used at stations to mark the arrival and departure of trains; but privatization gave local managers greater autonomy to customize their station environments. The idea of introducing more melodic alarms was developed, and this quickly spread after passengers reacted positively.[10]

There has also been criticism over the use of melodies on trains and at stations. These focus mainly on noise pollution and the tunes' contribution to it; but one author has also claimed that their use is symptomatic of a paternalistic, bureaucratic attitude towards passengers from the railway authorities, similar to the excessive use of announcements and warnings.[10]

In Indonesia, most railways stations used full-hour segment of Westminster Quarters as its train melody.[12] Upon arrival of a train, the chimes will be looped continuously until it departs from the station. Few stations are exceptions, with local folk songs acting as the train melody, mostly a kroncong song. For example, Semarang Tawang plays "Gambang Semarang" by Oey Yok Siang and Sidik Pramono, Solo Balapan plays "Bengawan Solo" by Gesang, and Yogyakarta plays "Sepasang Mata Bola" by Ismail Marzuki.[13]

Our kids have been studying various Asian countries in home school this month, and the most recent country is our beloved Japan. Great Big Story (RIP) has a bunch of excellent and entertaining videos on Japanese culture, but this video about composer behind the unique train jingles that ring throughout every train station in Japan is particularly delightful.

Tokyo train station jingles2004/6/13 03:34 When i visited my brother in tokyo i loved the little jingles played at each train/subway station when a train pulled up. I want to get one as a ring on my phone, can anyone help??? !!

Tar.by jezlong

JR East Station Jingles CD!2006/5/24 22:38 Honestly - you can buy a CD of all the station jingles from hmv.co.jp/ The catalogue number is TECD-25522. Ordered mine from UK and it was delivered within 5 days. They make great and unusal ringtones.by Greg Grantrate this post as useful

music2006/8/4 09:57 Those are funny websites. It's quite weird to hear the station jingles that I know well outside the stations!

I checked Koenji hoping they would have the seasonal jingle they put on just for a couple of weeks in August around the time of the Awa Odori festival, but they only had the usual one. About this time of year it changes to Awa Odori music- very distinctive.by Sirarate this post as useful

According to a 1999 article in The Wall Street Journal, until the late 1980s, bells announced train arrivals and departures. The switch to train station melodies proved popular among commuters but early tunes were rudimentary, still sounding closer to jarring alarms than soothing music. And thus, the quest to create more pleasant, calming tunes began, bolstering the careers of at least two jazz musicians in the process.

The Wall Street Journal article attributes the initial rise in train departure music quality to jazz musician and composer Takahito Sakurai who, along with his boss, started a dedicated train station music business unit at Teichiku Records.

Honestly, I never gave train station melodies much thought until I started working on this article. As a foreign resident in Japan, my life is filled with mysteries and curiosities. Over the years, I had dismissed these melodies as yet another quirk and focused my attention on what I thought were greater mysteries.

However, working on this article made me consider the millions of people who are exposed to train departure music every day, whether they like it or not. After all, Japan is home to 44 of the top 50 busiest train stations in the world. Considering the sheer numbers of people shuttled about the country on rails, day in and day out, it makes sense that small jingles have become a big deal. So, the next time you board a train, listen carefully to the melody that you hear and see if you can detect something more substantial among its chords.

When the train pulls into the next station he walks back over to the carriage door, grinning. A makeshift platform projected from overhead, the number 10 appearing at his feet. He has lined up the train doors with the platform exit perfectly.

Minoru Mukaiya, the wonderful keyboardist for the jazz fusion band Casiopea, created unique and catchy chimes for over 110 train stations in Japan. In the short video below, Mukaiya discusses the project and his process. Check out his studio, his dual MONTAGE set up and his train simulator:

Like the ubiquitous neon signs and abundant convenience stores scattered throughout Tokyo, departure melodies at train stations are probably something many residents don't give much thought to as they travel around the city each day.

The station jingles will run for approximately five seconds before trains depart, with Studio Ghibli working in conjunction with private railway operator Seibu to create five different melodies, to be played across platforms 1 to 5 on the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro lines.

The city says it first approached the animation studio with the train jingle proposal several years ago, and Studio Ghibli gave the green light for their music to be used after creating new arrangements for it in July last year. A city official says they believe permission to use the music at the station was granted after Miyazaki and his team confirmed it would be a good way to further promote green conservation efforts in the area.

Firstly: let me tell shortly what is departure melodies. Departure melodies or jingles are type of train annoucements system. Its used mostly in Japan (im not sure, but it using in South Korea too). Departure melodies shows, when train is about to departure. After departure melody ends, voice says that doors about to close and people, who is late should wait next train.

They have concluded that the ideal length of a jingle for optimum calmness and relaxation is about 7 seconds, and now hundreds of melodies are played throughout the country as trains depart from their stations.

The jingles are well known amongst both residents and travellers to Japan, having often become a main subject of discussion for train enthusiasts, and has also opened a gateway for artists and creators to develop some interesting replications of the tunes. 2351a5e196