Hello Japan fans!
Today I heard some shocking news so I’ll give you some little tidbits of information about Japan.
At Japanese intersections, chicks chirp when the light is green!
Have you ever heard the chirping of chicks at an intersection in Japan?
At intersections in Japan, the chirping of birds is used to guide visually impaired people so that they know which direction to cross (north, south, east, west).
If you have walked through the big intersections in Tokyo or Ueno, this may sound familiar. The chirps of the chicks let you know that you can cross the street only when the pedestrian light turns green.
At some intersections, cuckoos will let you know by singing.
Quoted from the Osaka Prefectural Police website
However, there is a rare intersection where nursery rhymes play without any birds singing!
There are many intersections where you can hear this bird’s chirps of “chippo chippo” and “cuckoo,” but my town, Fukuoka City, is a little different！
When you think of Fukuoka, you think of Hakata Tenjin, Taiho Street, Watanabe Street, and a city full of intersections.
The intersections in Hakata don’t chirp. They sing the songs Toryanse and Okazubatake!
Toryanse’s song is kind of scary
If you listen to Toryanse’s song you’ll understand that it’s scary…
I won’t go into the lyrics, but the Toryanse song is about praying to Tenjin-sama.
Do you know who Tenjin is? Tenjin is Sugawara no Michizane. He is the god of learning enshrined at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. He is a scary god who used to bring down lightning to curse people. The song has a slightly scary atmosphere because we are going to pray to such a god.
Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine is based in Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture! That’s why we in Fukuoka City adopted Toryanse as the intersection song. I’m sure!
I have written a separate article about Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, so please check it out!
On the other hand, Okazubatake is a fun song!
On the other hand, Okazubatake’s melody sounds really fun!
Although it is called “Okazubatake,” this is a reference to an old commercial for side dishes, not the name of a song!
I looked it up today and found out for the first time that it’s a foreign song. It’s called “Wheat Field Hometown Sky”? It sounds like a Scottish song, but I don’t know the details…
It just sounds like a fun song! If anyone knows the lyrics or the meaning of the song, please leave a comment!
Anyway, in Fukuoka, these two songs are played at intersections. The tunes are completely different, so it’s easy to tell which one is which! I’d love to cross the street to the Okazubatake one!
In shocking news, Melody Intersection has been replaced with Bird Intersection！
Having written all this, I came across the news that the number of melody-themed intersections where people can cross with a sense of excitement is on the decline across the country! What a shock!
Apparently, there were complaints from visually impaired people that without the familiar chirp chirp sound, they would lose track of which direction they were crossing in the middle of an intersection.
Naturally, priority should be given to visually impaired people.
It’s a bit sad, but the Toryanse intersections that I remember from my childhood used to number over 200, but now there are only about 60, and they are being replaced one by one.
The times are slowly changing…
Enjoy the Melody Intersections in Japan!
However, melody intersections still remain in Japan, so if you visit cities other than Tokyo, be sure to listen to the sounds of the traffic lights at intersections!
After some research, I found that different nursery rhymes are played in places like Nagoya.
The melody of Toryanse is too scary, so it’s not popular nationwide. Before all the intersections change to bird songs, I want to go and listen to the melody intersections in cities other than Fukuoka!
So everyone, enjoy your time all over Japan!
fanfan japan!!
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