Japan : Ueno Park - Bells of Time

Sounding through clouds of flowers - is it the bell in Ueno or Asakusa?
What was alluded to in the this well-known Haiku by Matsuo Basho is this bell. The "bells of time" played the part of informing Edo citizens of the time of day. This bell on Ueno hill was one such bell.
The first bell was cast in 1666. The present bell was recast at the Kanno-ji temple in Yanaka in 1787.
Thanks to the effots of the volunteers protecting the belfry, the bell issues it's time-honoured sound three times a day - at 6am, 6pm and at noon.
"The bells of time" has been selected as one of the "one hundred selections of Japanese sounds and scenes which will remain forever", settled by Agency of environment since June 1996.

Near the end of our visit to Ueno Park we noticed a sign upon which the above text was engraved. I couldn't resist hanging around for 20 minutes just to snatch a recording of the 6pm ringing.




Ueno Bells of Time




Recorded on 16 March 2009
Format: VBR mp3
Size: 4.49mb
Duration: 3:05



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Japan : Ueno Park 1

On the Monday of our first week in Japan we visited Ueno, and in particular, Ueno Park. We'd been told that in comparison with many other parks in Tokyo it was a little shabby. We didn't really have anything to compare it to, and we had a fantastic day.




Ueno Park




Recorded on 16 March 2009
Format: VBR mp3
Size: 13mb
Duration: 8:19



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BBC 'Save Our Sounds' project

Prompted by the recognition that while there exists a vast wealth of visual and written documentary material on life's experiences, there exists relatively little whose audio characteristics have been captured, the BBC's 'Save Our Sounds' project is attempting to assist in the preservation of what it calls 'endangered sounds'.

While 'sound maps' are nothing new (a simple Google search demonstrates this), and the extent to which the sounds featured so far could be described as 'endangered' is questionable, I'm impressed that the BBC are doing something that will expose more people to the concept of field recording and that they are doing so with such aplomb.

The project seems to span a number of sites, however the the following page serves as the primary location for curious listeners. - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/saveoursounds/index.shtml

Unfortunately however I tried to contribute two recordings to the map this evening, and was met by a webpage error message. I hope this is only temporary, and in the meantime I've popped an e-mail to their support hoping that they'll be able to assist.

Japan : Buddhist Chanting at Chion-in temple.

Chion-in temple in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto is the headquarters of the Jodo Shu (Pure Land Sect). It wasn't actually on the list of temples that we wanted to visit, be we were lucky to stumble across it when we did because a chant was in progress. We knelt down and listened for some time. People came and went throughout, taking some time out to listen. After removing their shoes, a lot of people put them in plastic bags. In this recording, in addition to the chanting, you can hear a lot of these plastic bags rustle as they were set down on the ground.




Buddhist Chanting at Chion-in temple.





Recorded on 25 March 2009
Format: VBR mp3
Size: 18mb
Duration: 13:11



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In My Ears

Thanks to a heads-up from it's author Peter, a new audio blog came to my attention this week. It is named In My Ears, and so far contains recordings from a good variety of sources.

It also seems the author shares my interest in circuit-bending. This one is worth keeping an eye (and ear) on.

Japan : Asakusa Pt. 3

Sensō-ji was a very impressive temple. Some Buddhist monks were just ending their chant as I started recording, and I wished I'd got there a few minutes earlier. People were milling around, briefly bowing their heads in prayer and throwing coins into a receptacle - something we encountered a lot at temples throughout or journey, presumably for good luck/fortune.




Sensō-ji 1



Sensō-ji 2 (Binaural)




Recorded on 19 March 2009
Format: VBR mp3
Size: 3.98mb & 3.16mb
Duration: 2:51 & 2:01



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Japan : Asakusa Pt. 2

Some more recordings taken in Asakusa. If only I could adequately capture the sights and smells to go with the sounds! It was quite a touristy/popular sightseeing area, and we certainly encountered more westerners here than a lot of the other areas in Tokyo that we visited.




Approach to Senso-Ji



Wandering in Asakusa




Recorded on 19th March Year
Format: VBR mp3
Size: 11mb & 2.36mb
Duration: 6:51 & 1:36





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