Let's listen! The unique Japanese sounds of autumn✨🎶🎵✨

When it comes to the sounds of autumn, I think many people imagine the chirping of insects.
For Japanese people, the sound of autumn insects is a quintessential natural sound that evokes the season, and it is said to have various positive effects on the mind and body.

The clear tones of crickets and bell crickets that ring out at night are not monotonous; they have a regular, pleasant rhythm that has the effect of calming the listener's mind.

This is related to a rhythm in the natural world called "1/f fluctuation," which is said to harmonize with human brain waves and breathing rhythms, making the parasympathetic nervous system dominant and promoting relaxation and restful sleep.

Furthermore, the sound of insects echoing in the quiet autumn night creates a meditative environment that allows one to step away from the hustle and bustle of the day to clear the mind, leading to stress relief and mental stability.

In addition, the unique Japanese cultural background of perceiving insect sounds as "music" also helps people feel the changing of the seasons and enriches their emotions. In Japan, it has long been cherished as "background music for the long autumn nights."

The sound of insects is not just a natural phenomenon; it is an important healing sound that supports harmony of mind and body and helps one spend autumn nights peacefully.


However, are Japanese people the only ones who feel it is a healing sound!?

In fact, the "culture of perceiving insect sounds as 'music' or 'melodies'" is almost unique to Japan.

🔶How Japanese people perceive it
In Japanese, there is an expression "kiku" (to listen to) the sound of insects. A culture has long been nurtured where the sounds of crickets and bell crickets are heard "musically," just like the chirping of birds or human singing voices. Many haiku and waka poems feature the sounds of insects, and they are cherished as sounds that symbolize the emotions of the season.

🔶How it is perceived in the West
In English and other languages, it is often expressed as "chirping" or "crickets are noisy," and it is basically treated as environmental sound or noise. There is little sense of enjoying the sound of insects as a melody, and it is difficult to recognize it as a musical subject.

🔶Scientific background
According to research in psychology and acoustics, it has been found that while Japanese people's brains process insect sounds as "musical frequencies," Westerners tend to process them as "noise." This is thought to be a difference in auditory development and sensibility due to differences in language and culture.

In other words, Japanese people are almost the only ones who feel that insect sounds are "music to be enjoyed," and it is a rare culture globally.

So, how do the brains of Japanese people and Westerners process the sounds of insects?

It is known that when Japanese people listen to the sounds of insects, the "left brain (temporal lobe), which processes language and music," becomes active.

In other words, they are likely to recognize the sounds of insects as "meaningful sounds" or "melodies."

On the other hand, even when Westerners listen to the same insect sounds, they are mainly recognized by the "right brain, which processes environmental sounds and noise."
Therefore, there is a strong tendency for them to be heard as "natural noise" rather than music.

The underlying factors are,

🔷Differences in language
Japanese is a "pitch-accent language" where the pitch (intonation) of sounds significantly changes the meaning.
Therefore, the Japanese brain is sensitive to small changes in sound pitch, making it easy to perceive the rhythm and pitch of insect chirps as a "melody."

🔷Cultural influence
The "sound of insects" frequently appears in waka, haiku, and stories, and has long been cherished as an emotionally rich sound.

On the other hand, in the West, there is almost no culture of actively incorporating the sounds of insects into poetry or music, and they tend to be treated as "noisy sounds" in daily life as well.

🔷Sensory formation through learning
Japanese people, who are repeatedly exposed to the idea that "the sound of autumn insects is beautiful" through language and culture from a young age, have brains that recognize those sounds as "pleasant."

Conversely, because Westerners have less of such cultural experience, they are easily processed as "background noise."


So, how should Japanese people listen to the sounds of insects that people in other countries perceive as noise?

Since we have the chance, I have thought about ways to listen to insect sounds that are unique to Japanese people.

◆ Listen as a melody
The sounds of crickets and bell crickets have regular rhythms and fluctuations in pitch. If you perceive them not as mere "sounds" but as "performances by small musical instruments," you can enjoy them like music.

◆ Feel the changing of the seasons
The sound of insects is a natural calendar that shifts from summer to autumn, and then to late autumn. You can savor the deepening of the season with your ears through the changes in the types and number of sounds.

◆ Listen as a sound that enhances silence
The sound of insects is also a "sound that emphasizes silence." When the sound of insects stands out in the silence of the night, it actually calms the mind and brings a peace different from total silence.

◆ Overlay with the emotions of life
Since ancient times, Japanese poetry has linked the sound of insects to "transience" and "mono no aware" (the pathos of things). If you savor their short yet clear voices by overlaying them with your own state of mind and the transitions of life, you can gain a deeper sensation.

◆ Listen as a dialogue with nature
Listening to the sound of insects as "sounds speaking to people" is also very Japanese. If you think of it as being "called out to" rather than just "chirping," your connection with nature will strengthen.

Japanese people can listen to the sounds of insects, which are often considered noise overseas, as melodies, seasonal feelings, emotions, and dialogues with nature.

It can be said that the sensibility to perceive natural sounds emotionally is particularly developed.

This can be said to be one of the great charms of Japanese culture.

This time, I shared information about the sounds of autumn, the sounds of autumn insects.

In our busy daily lives and the rapidly changing flow of time,

As Japanese people with a special sensibility, why not stop for a moment and listen to the voices of the insects we usually don't pay attention to?

Now is a very suitable and good season for that😊

If you can feel the autumn melodies and atmosphere unique to Japanese people, that alone will surely make you feel very enriched.