Sounding Out Japan (Sensory Studies)

So many ethnographies describe local worlds with a deep attention to what is seen and what people say, but with a limited understanding of the broader sonic environments that enrich and inform everyday life. This book takes the reader on 'a sensory ethnographic tour' in Japan. Through a focus on sounds, real and imagined, the volume employs a critical ear to engage with a range of sonically enriched encounters that include crosswalk melodies in streetscapes, announcements and jingles at train stations, water features in gardens, dosimeters in nuclear affected zones, sounds of training in music and martial arts halls, celebrations under the cherry trees.

The authors use different analytic frames to understand the communicative and symbolic aspects of sounds, and to sense the layers of historical meaning, embodied action and affect associated with sonic environments. Supported by a companion website that contains sound files and images from the authors' sensory experiences in the field, Chenhall, Kohn and Stevens describe the many ways sounds seep into everyday experiences. 'Sounding Out Japan' is, they argue, about attending to the everyday with an alert and imaginative 'ethnographic ear'.