Japan masters the art of noise
The Japan Times: Dec. 3, 2002

" This totally preventable scourge is noise pollution and Japan is arguably one the world's most egregious offenders."

"The rightwingers, always in tune with the times, have been known to play the latest Morning Musume hits at distortion-level volume while cruising the (always grid-locked) streets. The crescendo there reaches the by now common-or-garden level of 90-100 decibels."http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20021203zg.htm

Is there Morning Musume playing on the rightwingers' buses? DAMN, I must have already gone totally deaf to miss that!

One time one of those pin-head driven trucks came through our neighbourhood blasting Disney's "It's A small World after all.." (in Japanese though).

Having to listen to that stupid noise was awful. The Japanese need to learn the value of silence. One of the worst memories I have is checking into a Yoshinoya for some quick breakfast and being drowned out by muzak -- including the dreaded song, "when a man loves a woman". Then there was the time I was at the train station buying a ticket. Two people on both sides of me started speeches on megaphones. Since they were offering competing products, each started to try to outshout the other. The urge to scream "DAMARREE" (shut the [expletive] up) filled me to the brim. I hope that in the future some action is taken to control noise pollution, which is as harmful to the quality of life in Japan as all of the myriad kinds of pollution.

Plaid_Knight wrote:Having to listen to that stupid noise was awful.

The solution in two words: WIRE CUTTERS.


I carry wire cutters when I go out (as well as wearing earplugs 24/7). I cut the speaker wires on the damn JR loudspeakers wherever I find them. After I cut a few, nobody in the JR ever notices they're missing (since they are deaf anyway).

My favorite target? The unchristian Christian loudspeakers of screaming slimeballs of "Shibuya Harvest" that harangue us poor heathens at the Shibuya bus rink. PATHETIC.

Nagano Dan wrote:- Countryside noise pollution -
How about the weekly 6:42 AM announcement in my neighbourhood ?... Life in "inaka" is great (and usually quiet) but even out here we are not free from noise pollution.

Oops, ya missed one inaka fun. Fvcking NAI-SEN---farmer's neighborhood private telephone system. Each farmers' phone has a built-in loudspeaker for 3-a-day announcements inside your house at 6:30am, 12 noon, and 6pm. The speaker has no off switch and killing the speaker kills the "bell".

Remember: fun* in Japanese means 'shit'.

*pronounced "foon"and means scat/dung.
Punipuni Puusuke (Sir Soft Poo)

POO RULES! For some seemingly inexplicable reason, No. 2 is No. 1 with Japanese kids....
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/12/13/poop/index.html