Updated:  05/23/2015

Digging deep in the archive I stumbled across some of my old Japan train melodies, which at one point I used as ring tones. The discovery steered me to take a few minutes to do some brief research on the subject; to see if there are any other sites discussing or sharing Japan train melodies, and surprisingly found quite a few that I’ll share in this post.  I’ll try to keep this post updated, removing broken links and adding new ones I stumble across.

Quoting from Wikipedia: – “Train melodies have proved to be popular with many people in Japan.” “As part of train passenger operations, a train melody includes a parade of single notes organized to follow each other rhythmically to form a lilting, singular musical thought. In Japan, departing train melodies are arranged to invoke a relief feeling in a train passenger after sitting down and moving with the departing train. In contrast, arriving train melodies are configured to cause alertness, such as to help travelers shake off sleepiness experienced by morning commuters.”

I’ve uploaded my melodies to SoundCloud. Below is a link to the entire playlist of 11 tracks.

Here are links to some sites (some are in Japanese only) and direct downloads:

• m4r Format: JR Train Departure Melodies m4r.zip (for iTunes/iPhone)
• MP3 Format: JR Train Departure Melodies MP3.zip
• Links to some melodies for the Osaka Loop Line
• A website (Japanese Only) listing stations and their melodies
• The entire Yamanote Line
• Ebisu MP3
• Ebisu m4r
• Recording m4r
• Yamanote Line Sound Map
• MIDI files for Shinkansen (Bullet Train) and other older lines
• Yamanote Line MIDI files
• Train Station Tunes in Japan

 

• Yamanote Line video with departure melody
• Shinkansen (Bullet Train) Melodies
• JR East Melodies
• Tokyo Train Jingles