Sound as control
Richard Dean Chenhall, Tamara Kohn, Carolyn S. Stevens · 2020
This chapter focuses on sounds encountered in train stations and in shopping areas, two landscapes that are enshrined in contemporary images of Japanese modernity. Sounds can function to convey information, and can also be viewed as a form of discipline – a mechanism of social control influencing people’s attitudes and movements. Sound regulation dating from the Tokugawa Period, when Edo was established as the national capital, was typically not targeted at controlling sound itself, but rather concerned with curbing immoral behaviour which was aligned with certain sonic activities. The many sounds found in Japanese urban environments are difficult to ignore and spill into people’s lives spontaneously and indiscriminately. The chapter provides information on the sounds of control, sounds that are both disciplining and disciplined, flowing in and out of public spaces. The shop’s interior was even louder, with background music competing with the sound of aspiring guitarists trying out the new gear.