It is 5pm

Do you know anything special about 5pm sharp? I haven’t had any idea until I came to Japan.

Every single day at 5pm sharp. Some music played at the streets…

The first time I have heard the music, I didn’t know what it is about.

No it’s not advertisement…

Then I started to hear regularly….

Ooh it is a neighborhood thing, just casual….

No it is not casual…

Then I have started to learn kanji. Kanji sign of hour 時 is related to temple 寺and everybody used to look at the temples to learn what the time was…

So I thought the sound is a modern version of showing time like church bells…

No it is not about time either.

If it were about time it is supposed to be every hour or at least more than one time, right?

It is 5 pm sharp, so I thought it is about end of work, school or so, like a bell to go back home…

No it is not that. Or to be clear, it is not the main aim of the bell, maybe another beneficial use.

Speculations, speculations….

I should have just searched the reason of the sound…

I have recorded the sound of my street. I knew it was something interesting.

It is a sound check of the local government disaster administration wireless broadcast. They check   daily whether the system is working correctly or not, in case of an emergency, disaster, or anything, and they check the sound system with playing a pleasant soft music.

The 5.00 pm bell.

This is my example of the sound of the bell, the birds are real not in the broadcast.

Even if it is for emergency, isn’t it a calming sound?

Cheers,

Ece