train talk

[ancientweird]

I'm on my first trip to Tokyo (will be here for 4 months) and I would like to understand as much as I can from the voice recordings on the train, and also things that the driver says. So far I have come up with:

まもなく：soon

危ないですから、黄色の線まで下がって、ご注意ください：because it is dangerous, please stand behind the yellow line and be cautious

Can anyone fill in a few blanks? Or perhaps correct what I've written above?

off topic: Anyone know if a foriegner can get a job handing out tissues? lol

[clay]

I didn't ride the train much when I lived in Japan, but you may want to record the audio and post it here. I think a lot of people (not in Japan) would be interested in what a train ride sounds like.

[AJBryant]

I used to have a link to a site that had recordings of a whole bunch of trains (the melodies and messages). It has since gone 404 on us. But at least there's still this natsukashiiiiiii site that won't help the OP find exactly what is needed, but will make a few old hands feel wistfully nostalgic.

http://www.japan-railways.com/musice.htm

God, I listen to that first one, and tears come to my eyes.

There's also http://melody.pos.to/


There's a train announcement (recorded at a real station!) near the bottom of the page here:
http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=401&pID=1257



Tony

[JaySee]

Oh man, thanks for that second link which has some Hankyu Dentetsu sounds and announcements on it...

皆様、まもなく、梅田方面行きの電車が到着いたします。危険ですから、白線の内側にお下がりください。

You're right... that really brings tears to my eyes.

[Tenorikuma]

I think the train I rode the other day gave an announcement like:

まもなく、名古屋方面○○ゆきの電車が参ります。危険ですから、黄色い線の内側にお下がりください。

[two_heads_talking]

SHOOT trying to understand what they train/bus announcer is saying sometimes is not so much what they are saying, but is the daggone recording/announcement loud enough to hear over the noise in the passenger areas. Half the time, I could hear what was being said due to background noise.

[AJBryant]

Man, these announcements do bring back memories...

http://melody.pos.to/sound/toei/shinjuku_1an.mp3
http://melody.pos.to/sound/hankyu/karasuma_u.mp3
http://melody.pos.to/sound/toei/oedo_dp1.mp3
http://melody.pos.to/sound/toei/oedo_an1.mp3

[becki_kanou]

I don't know about anyone else, but I always enjoy the weird voice that some of the train attendants apparently feel compelled to use when they make the announcements. It reminds me of a comedy sketch I once saw on On-Air Battle called "駅留学" where instead of teaching English conversation they teach you how to speak like a train announcer. Has anyone else seen this?

Anyway, if the OP is interested, my local train's final announcement goes like this: 「終点、終点三田でございます。本日は神戸電鉄をご利用いたたきまして、まことにありがとうございました。傘などのお忘れ物ございませんようにお気をつけて、お降り下さい。」
That's all from memory though, so there are probably a few mistakes.

[JaySee]

Actually someone once told me that they are told to use such a funny voice when announcing stuff, so that more people will notice it and pay attention. I'm not sure if it's true though, but it would explain the disproportionally high amount of funny voices among the announcers.

[becki_kanou]

Actually someone once told me that they are told to use such a funny voice when announcing stuff, so that more people will notice it and pay attention. I'm not sure if it's true though, but it would explain the disproportionally high amount of funny voices among the announcers.

なるほど。That does make a kind of weird sense. I wonder if it's true?

[AJBryant]

I'll believe it.

Some friends and I used to joke that they went to a special school to learn how to talk through their noses like that.


Tony

[Shirasagi]

It's funny how nostalgic train and stations sounds are. You think nothing of them while you're here, even try to tune them out as much as possible, but then later when you hear them, you're a puddle of nostalgia.

There's a funny thing about the trains in Nagoya that some acquaintances brought to my attention the other day. At JR stations, when a train is about to arrive, they'll say

まもなく、〇〇番ホームに、△△方面、××行きの電車が参ります。危険ですので、白線の内側までお下がりください。

And when an express is going to pass by without stopping, they'll say

まもなく、〇〇番ホームに、電車が通過します。危険ですので、白線の内側までお下がりください。

But at Meitetsu stations, they use the same verb for both: 来ます. Which to a Japanese person is semantically the same as 参ります. So someone used to the JR announcements will find himself on a Meitetsu platform, hear 電車が来ます, and think, "Ah, here's my train!" And when they step to the yellow line in order to board, the train blows right past them.