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Japanese and their MP3 players

BetweenEars

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Hi everyone,

I'm working for a filmcompany in The Netherlands and we are doing research on the forthcoming international documentary 'Between Ears'. This will be a film by which the viewer is taken away in the discovery of the different and surprising aspects of how and why people use their portable mp3 players from all over the world.

Many people are using their MP3 player like a 'emotional tool'. The mp3 player gives people the opportunity to cut off from reality around them, and to set their moods, which makes them feel more comfortable in their surrounding.

We are trying to get in contact with Japanese people who are often using their MP3 player to control their mood. Japanese are hard working people. Work schedules are characterized by long hours and few days off. For them the MP3 player can be a tool to dream away for a moment, to relax and to forget the stress of work, study and living in a big city.

I'm wondering how people from Japan are feeling about this. Are you also attached to your mp3 player like this? Or do you know other people who are? We would really appreciate it if you can drop your stories and let us know about it. Thanks.
 
I am not Japanese, I am a foreigner living in Japan right now, and honestly, have not thought as to why we people like to use mp3 players and listen to music. Nice observation there.

Well, not being Japanese but living here, I must say that it is pretty much the same as in any other country. You see some people listening to music on cellphones and iPods, but just like any other country. But, hey, please let's hear from a Japanese person's viewpoint...

Mauricio
 
In Japan you'll find that on the ride home many people engage in escapism via different forms. MP3 players are just a supplement in some cases, the real interest can be texting on the phone, a nintendo DS or PSP game system, a good manga (comic book), a laptop.. often the MP3 player is not the only thing there. If it is, I can bet you the person is probably sleeping.

When I was living in Japan I was given an iRiver as a b-day present. At first I wasn't really into it because I preferred to study, but as I got used to it I did use it more to enhance my train riding experience. I found certain songs were uplifting for me in the morning, in general my mood dictated what I listened to. Usually upbeat stuff in the mornings, trance or jungle, or some classic rock, and then some more relaxed stuff on the way home. Like reggae, dub; anything down tempo. I also had music on when I was on my way to the gym. That was much more ritualistic, I had a certain song I listened to before I trained. My train ride was about 20mins each way to work. I'm half Japanese if that counts
 
Many older Japanese men don't listen to MP3 players but ultra-portable AM radio players - that might be worth pointing out.
 
Ah! Are those the things that is a stick (like a memorystick/pendrive) that has no features except FM/AM radio?!

Wow, I hate those things. BBC Radio 1 drives me crazy.
 
I am Japanese.
I think that mp3 is unpopular in Japan.
A lot of people who are doing the game of PSP, DS, and the cellular
phone in the train are seen.
 
i see alot of Ipods mixed with texting, or reading, or playing DS

what i see more of is MP3 Phones mixed with texting, and DS
 
Excuse my ignorance but what's an iRiver? Is it a company like Apple with their Ipod? I'm not Japanese but I use my Ipod just for entertainment and to listen to my music and podcast radio shows.

 
Ewok85 said:
Many older Japanese men don't listen to MP3 players but ultra-portable AM radio players - that might be worth pointing out.
Click to expand...

Those are so funny! Sometimes I see this old men sitting in the train, moving around with their radio; close to the window, up and down, they even shake it so now and then. lol
 
I live in Tokyo and this is just my casual observation but it seems like at least 70-80% of the people on the streets and riding trains own an Ipod. So I would say mp3 is popular in Japan.

BTW, my own feeling is that MP3 is far inferior to CD/SACD quality music so I don't own an Ipod. (But I don't consider myself technologically backwards since I have Bowers and Wilkins tower speakers, Sennheiser HD 555 headphones and Denon stereo components (and wants to move up to McIntosh components)
 
I am wondering if you have a time when a stranger is given you a polite warning in a public tranportation noticing that your player is a bit noisy.
I did. So I am now careful not to bother other passengers.
 
My opinion on MP3 players is that they are used in order to effectively block out the outside world. By having the headphones in your ears one is not only oblivious to the sounds around you, but is sending the message "I can't hear you, so don't even bother". Although part of me wants an MP3 player, another part of me doesn't want to disengage from the world around me.

On a related note, the loudness war is REALLY starting to piss me off - basically sound quality is being sacrificed on almost all new CD's in order to increase track volume. There are a couple of good examples on YouTube as to how this works and why it's bad.
 
Thanks for all the response everyone!
So people can indeed use all sorts of portable entertainment to "escape" from the perceived unpleasant aspects of daily stress, to relieve feelings of depression or general sadness and to block themselve from the outside world.

In this case, we want to look at the use and influence of portable music. We have different kinds of people and cultures in mind to look at during our movie and one of them is someone from Japan. We think this culture could be interesting because of the legendary Japanese work ethics and the strong fascination and attraction to electronics and digital gadgets.

It's also a bit like what can be seen in the movie "All about Lily Chou Chou" (Riri Shushu no subete). This movie pins down the sacrosanct relationship between alienated Japanese teenagers and their music. They are cut off from the world and cocooned inside their headphones.

Maybe someone can somehow recognise this feeling or perhaps someone can lead us to a person who is really attached to his/her iPod?

You can look at betweenears.com for more info about the project. There you can also do a survey about this subject or you can take contact with us if you want. All stories about this subject are welcome and greatly appreciated!
 
Try to write an advertisement here on Jref Classifieds, www.kfm.to or www.kto.com

You might have more luck, regarding finding Japanese people on these links.
 
Last edited:
Oh how interesting. Here I hear people all the time with their players pretty loud to where you can hear what's going on. Most of the time it's people who like rap music (at least those I notice anyways). When I'm out in public listening to my player I keep it down to where others won't hear it myself. Here in the States I don't see people tell others to turn it down but instead kind of give a disapproval look. Of course could be just in my area of the country.

pipokun said:
I am wondering if you have a time when a stranger is given you a polite warning in a public tranportation noticing that your player is a bit noisy.
I did. So I am now careful not to bother other passengers.
Click to expand...
 
Ocean Dude said:
I live in Tokyo and this is just my casual observation but it seems like at least 70-80% of the people on the streets and riding trains own an Ipod.
Click to expand...

And you base this on?... Most people in Japan use their mobile phones for music, something that is still rare in America, Australia, UK, etc. There is the fact that Sony long held the portable music crown in Japan, and many people still own MD players and the sort here (I know people with cassette walkman! Crazy but true).

I still use my MD because it has superior battery power (24hrs, 48 with a single AA battery), and batteries that can be CHANGED, HiMD disks hold many, many hours of music, and its not hard to carry a spare disk or two with different music and just switch when I want to - usually I just listen to one disk for a week, then change. And nothing, and I really mean nothing, can beat the quality of the MD. There is one reason why the MD continues to be bought and sold is because many people seriously into music, like performers, use it to record their own music at full CD quality. You can't do that on an iPod or iRiver
 
Ewok85 said:
Most people in Japan use their mobile phones for music, something that is still rare in America, Australia, UK, etc.
Click to expand...

Nope ... more and more US cellphones have MP3 capability
 
I see tons of mp3 players here. They come in all sorts of really cool colors and they are worn around the neck like a necklace. Yeah, there are lots of ipods too, looks like nano's most of the time. I haven't see a shuffle. Lot's are using phones too, but I have to say from what I see mp3's are cool here...
 
I just went shopping for a new mp3 player. They all range from 5,000yen -30,000 yen for the newer ipods.
 
Well the answer is simple: why do people have Mp3's Ipod's, Tom-tec's etc....??

Simple: to listen their favourite song at any moment as loud as they like and they have it always with them.

But what they don't know that there is a limited amount of decibel that you may hear if it's more then you are becoming deaf because of too hard waves and music and bass effects.

Most Japanese people (well where i have been on vacation then) don't listen much to mp3 players, what actually quite ironic is because the people i saw were always in a rush, it was like a game to them, work->house->going out->work->house->going out. It was a sort of pattern they follow , a daily routine, so not many people listen to mp3 there. but what i have seen in the parks is quite different they just bring their whole surround system with them
 
Having spent many hours at Kinshicho park, I can honestly say I never heard anyone play they music without using an MP3 player or their cell phone. MP3's were the most popular mode. Never did anyone have a surround sound system with them. Oh there was one exception, when the cherry trees were in blossom, there were huge picnics and then I saw a couple of radios.
 
Owh but i mean generally! Ofcourse there are people who listen to mp3 players etc...
But the people with who i hang out and the people who i met on the streets of Yokohama,Kobe they never had headset's or earplugs in their ears:?

But ofcourse these days a cellphone has also MP3 function, it can do alot even warm up a meal!
 
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