Tokyo "All Aboard" Melodies

O-medeto, Andy! I really like this piece. The quintessence, to me of so much in Japan, not just the subways. Was it just one composer from Yamaha or a team who worked on JNR's behalf?. And that was about the same time they were laying off so very many people so that they perhaps also used these sounds to soothe the harrowed 'wa' of their ex employees, many of whom they -- strangely -- put to work in coffee shops?

Please, now, do a follow-up/companion piece on commuter reaction
at the same stations. Again a short piece but with comments from Mr. Salaryman, Mrs Obaasan and a few school kids. I'd REALLY like to know what commuters think or do they just block it all out.?

Japan has a unique quality among modern cultures when compared with its western counterparts. Any traveler or businessperson in Japan will recognize the routines of modern life, but the Japanese always seem to find a way to make a unique contribution to the process. They have a special knack at understanding the need for art or music, even in the most impersonal and utilitarian of settings.

Mr. Raskin does a good job of describing how these "All Aboard" Melodies came about, and how they are used. He includes just enough Japanese to get his point across without getting bogged down in a foreign language lesson. He also lets us here the melodies without talking over them, and does a good job of playing some in an isolated state, while presenting others with the atmospheric noise of their settings. It is clear that he gave a lot of though to how the melodies should be presented. I also enjoyed his descriptions of the various melodies, including the piece that reminded him of Mr. Rogers Trolly song. A good chuckle on that note.