Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’

Contemporary Japan is loud. Many scholars have argued that the Japanese have a cultural propensity to embrace urban noise. Yet little research has been done on the history of urban noise in Japan. Far from passively accepting or culturally embracing noisy cities, the Japanese have long struggled wit...

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Autor Principal: Smith, Martyn David
Formato: Online
Idioma:inglés
Publicado: Taylor & Francis 2022
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Acceso en liña:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/57870
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author Smith, Martyn David
author_browse Smith, Martyn David
author_facet Smith, Martyn David
author_sort Smith, Martyn David
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description Contemporary Japan is loud. Many scholars have argued that the Japanese have a cultural propensity to embrace urban noise. Yet little research has been done on the history of urban noise in Japan. Far from passively accepting or culturally embracing noisy cities, the Japanese have long struggled with the definition, measurement, and control of unwanted sound. Urban noise and the idea of the ‘modern’ soundscape has often worked within a feedback loop that amplifies politically driven debates about the nature of ‘modernity’, the meaning of ‘civilisation’ and the nature of the Japanese people. Since the late nineteenth century, authorities' concern for urban noise stemmed from a fear of embarrassment because of the low-level of ‘civilisation’ amongst the people. Yet rapid industrial development and urban population growth soon posed the problem of urban noise as one of technological expertise-the people were too backward to understand and the issue was best solved by the experts. As groups of scientists, engineers and acousticians began to come together to debate solutions, they foregrounded urban noise as a problem of traffic, transport, and civic construction, not individual everyday life. Noisy neighbours, street noise, or people going about their daily business came to be heard as ‘urban music’ in contrast to ‘urban noise’. After 1945, better technological possibilities for sound proofing and an increasing focus on individual responsibility refocused urban noise as a problem of everyday life. With the end of the period of rapid economic growth in the 1970s, and the growing awareness of wider environmental problems, the noise of everyday life in the cities was gradually recast as one element of ‘urban noise’.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-912442025-08-13T13:41:37Z Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’ Smith, Martyn David Asian; Christin; Cultures; Haukamp; Hoene; Iris; Matyn; Noise; Smith; Sound; Technology; Voice; Ethnomusicology; Performance thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTM Regional / International studies thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTM Regional / International studies Contemporary Japan is loud. Many scholars have argued that the Japanese have a cultural propensity to embrace urban noise. Yet little research has been done on the history of urban noise in Japan. Far from passively accepting or culturally embracing noisy cities, the Japanese have long struggled with the definition, measurement, and control of unwanted sound. Urban noise and the idea of the ‘modern’ soundscape has often worked within a feedback loop that amplifies politically driven debates about the nature of ‘modernity’, the meaning of ‘civilisation’ and the nature of the Japanese people. Since the late nineteenth century, authorities' concern for urban noise stemmed from a fear of embarrassment because of the low-level of ‘civilisation’ amongst the people. Yet rapid industrial development and urban population growth soon posed the problem of urban noise as one of technological expertise-the people were too backward to understand and the issue was best solved by the experts. As groups of scientists, engineers and acousticians began to come together to debate solutions, they foregrounded urban noise as a problem of traffic, transport, and civic construction, not individual everyday life. Noisy neighbours, street noise, or people going about their daily business came to be heard as ‘urban music’ in contrast to ‘urban noise’. After 1945, better technological possibilities for sound proofing and an increasing focus on individual responsibility refocused urban noise as a problem of everyday life. With the end of the period of rapid economic growth in the 1970s, and the growing awareness of wider environmental problems, the noise of everyday life in the cities was gradually recast as one element of ‘urban noise’. 2022-08-13T04:02:13Z 2022-08-13T04:02:13Z 2022-08-12T10:12:28Z 2023 chapter https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/57870 9780367698911 9780367698973 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/91244 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/57870/1/9781003143772_10.4324_9781003143772-8.pdf.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/57870/1/9781003143772_10.4324_9781003143772-8.pdf.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781003143772-8 10.4324/9781003143772-8 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 Asian Sound Cultures 9780367698911 9780367698973 Routledge 24 open access
spellingShingle Asian; Christin; Cultures; Haukamp; Hoene; Iris; Matyn; Noise; Smith; Sound; Technology; Voice; Ethnomusicology; Performance
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTM Regional / International studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTM Regional / International studies
Smith, Martyn David
Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’
title Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’
title_full Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’
title_fullStr Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’
title_full_unstemmed Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’
title_short Chapter 5 The ‘hell of modern sound’
title_sort chapter 5 the hell of modern sound
topic Asian; Christin; Cultures; Haukamp; Hoene; Iris; Matyn; Noise; Smith; Sound; Technology; Voice; Ethnomusicology; Performance
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTM Regional / International studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTM Regional / International studies
topic_facet Asian; Christin; Cultures; Haukamp; Hoene; Iris; Matyn; Noise; Smith; Sound; Technology; Voice; Ethnomusicology; Performance
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTM Regional / International studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTM Regional / International studies
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/57870
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