Updated
If you've ever visited Japan, you may have noticed a jingle playing to signal the departure of trains at many of the stations — well there's more to them than just a fun tune.
The Japanese take their train system very seriously.
Conductors bow to passengers as they enter the train car and companies profusely apologise if trains are only seconds late, or early.
Of the 50 busiest train stations in the world, almost all of them are in Japan.
One thing that I've found strange here is the different melody that plays at every station as the train departs.
They're known as 'hassha merodi' — literally meaning a melody for train departure.
Jingles 'help people move quickly'
It's a bit of a psychological trick according to Minoru Mukaiya, a composer who's made jingles for more than 100 Japanese stations.
"There is a huge number of people who take the train in the metropolitan areas such as Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya and it's necessary to get people on and off in a short time," he said.
"So this helps make organised queues as trains come one after another in a short time.
"I think trains in other countries are not as crowded as trains in Japan.
"People know the doors won't close while the music is playing and it gives comfort to people."
So, what's the secret to making a good jingle?
Firstly, it should be comforting and easy to listen to — Mr Mukaiya uses bells to make sure the jingle jolts people into action without alarming them.
Secondly, it's deliberately done to leave people hanging so they feel the need to get on the train.
And finally, it's about what Mr Mukaiya calls "human groove" — music played by hand and not generated by a computer, so that it's not too perfect.
People love their trains so much, people like Mr Mukaiya have a cult following.
Thousands of people turn up to concerts to listen to him play his jingles.
"As a musician and train enthusiast, it's an honour to make train departure melody — I feel joy making it and it's also made by a train fan," he said.
Mr Mukaiya loves trains so much, not only does he make the jingles, he also runs Ongakukan, a company that creates realistic train simulators.
Train station jingles that tell a story
Some stations have music created from scratch, while others tell a story.
Take Takadanobaba station — it's considered to be the birthplace of Astro Boy, one of Japan's first televised and most popular anime cartoons.
The station's jingle is the cartoon's theme.
Then there's Ebisu in western Tokyo — an entire suburb named after the beer Yebisu, because it used to be brewed there.
The melody comes from the theme from its advertisements, a tune pinched from the 1949 film noir flick The Third Man.
Occasionally companies buy the rights to the jingles, like Disney did when its new Star Wars movie came out a few years ago.
It's a lighter note for a country that takes its trains very seriously.
Topics: human-interest, music, offbeat, japan, asia
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