That's so nice :) the sincere comments put me in a good mood to make more! I thought this story was very inspirational not just for the lovely scenery and tunes but Shinoda-san's story of having a crazy idea, going ahead and try it. I hope to do a part 2 to this story one day. There's a lot I didn't cover.
Totally agree with you nkw160. :) John and his bff Peter are both pros in what they do. They do these videos right that 's why they're interesting to watch. Both of them speak English and Japanese fluently that's why they "understand" what's really going on around them.... and them sharing their experiences and videos with us is really excellent!!! Thank you guys! Thank you John !!! Keep up the good work! You always come up with great new ideas !!!
It would be wonderful if, countries could have their own national anthem on country roads. Here in Canada, having its national anthem play on distant roads, could be a really interesting experience. Thanks
When I was a child on family road trips I loved the changing sounds made by the road, especially going over bridges. If we had encountered something like this, it would have made me laugh with joy!
In my home province (Friesland, Netherlands) they made a road which plays our local anthem when our capital was EU culture capital of the year, but they had to destroy it shortly after because it was too loud and annoying the people living nearby...
That reminds me of "audio-tactile line markings"/"rumble strips" that are in line markings on roads in many countries. The sound is supposed to alert the driver of the car being too close to the edge of the road. In some countries the bumps are really pronounced, so that you'd feel them as well as hear them. Here in Sweden they are made only with thick road paint, so you can only hear them.
Japan feels like it has an overall well thought out sound design, an odd thing to say about a country... But it's true, and this is another perfect example!
Thanks for always bringing us such original content John, I know it's what you strive to do. I've spent a lot of time in Japan and watching videos to do with Japan but have never heard of this! 😊❤️
thank you Shizuo San. We all need more inspirational people like Shizuo Shinoda. Yes, it would certainly put a smile on my face. 'Country Road'... John Denver. we learn something new everyday, thank you John
**** Totally agree with you nkw160. :) John and his bff Peter are both pros in what they do. They do these videos right that 's why they're interesting to watch. Both of them speak English and Japanese fluently that's why they "understand" what's really going on around them.... and them sharing their experiences and videos with us is really excellent!!! Thank you guys! Thank you John !!! Keep up the good work! You always come up with great new ideas !!!
Yes there are musical roads in the U.S. The well known one is off of 14 freeway on Avenue G between 30tha and 40th streets in Lancaster, California. This was the second road. The original was done on Avenue K for a Honda TV commercial that aired in 2008 but residents complained about the constant noise. So it was paved over and another current location was constructed. Unfortunately the grooves carved were space too far apart so the song, Han's Zimmer's Finale #10 (aka the theme for The Lone Ranger) is out of tune. Another musical road was installed on Route 66 outside of Alburqurqe, New Mexico but it has worn out and the state has no plans to fix it. Auburn University in Alabama has one on South Donahue Dr. has a musical road.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR CONTENTS! I always love knowing more about Japan, especially these kind of things! So wonderful! I discovered you today thru Facebook, thank you! Your videos are very well directed and produced. It's like an actual show or documentaries showed in television. Maybe it really is hehe 👏🏻✨
That's pretty cool! I dunno how they do it but it's awesome that it plays music! It'd be cool if our country has something like that. Something to look forward to when driving somewhere.
There is a melody road in Hungary too, it was built in 2019, theirs is actually easier and cheaper to make as they just added paint with groves on top of a normal asphalt, and only on one side of the wheels, so locals can choose not to drive over it. Wikipedia says musical roads were invented in Denmark by the way.
Toyota used this engineering to make the world’s largest record player with a RAV4 as the needle! It’s on RU-vid. Shinoda-san was part of that I believe.
There was a 1 day musical road here in the Nederlands, The project team should of been watching this video and so know its not a good idea to place it near a couple of houses from a village because people got nuts from the noise, Sure a very busy road and the music lines were putt onto the road with same paint as road markings so easy to remove again! XD
We had one in the Netherlands near the city Leeuwarden. But it got removed after a few weeks. Because of the residence complaining for the sound. Such a shame. Was very unique.
navy songs could work well on coastal roads, army and airforce might work well in country or mountain roads..... he should try make a melody tunnel version. I'm sure Peter would like to drive on one that works with bikes or motorcycles.
The concept was created by Shinoda-san in the 1980s. It’s well documented here but the Wikipedia has gotten it wrong. It was well before 2007. They had Melody roads here before I arrived in 1998! Doesn’t really matter much. Japan calls them Melody Roads not musical roads like it’s known in the west. They’re in many places, more here than anywhere else in the world.
Invented in Japan although Denmark claim building it first, Shinoda-san came up with the idea in the 1980s. It’s an interesting concept anywhere you drive it!
Repairing them seems like a pain, and due to the fact they must chip a lot with cars going over them. The one just had asphalt dumped on the side, no effort to make the grooves match.
Shizuo-San is very clever and imaginative! Amazing! It's impressive that you were able to record the melodies so clearly. Great reporting and Excellent work! 💪🏻💞
That was a challenge. I was there for 4 hours trying to record it in different ways. So - we taped a paper cup to the back, filled it with tissues and put the wireless mic in! That recorded the clearest. The last one, I only had time to record once. It was a struggle to get copyright free versions of the song too. I simply love the creativity, to take a crazy idea and make it a reality. Shinoda-san is a hero!
There is one in Takayama Mura, Gunma. It plays "When You wish Upon a Star...". It took me a while to realize that it wasn't just a coincidence, lol. I think they chose that song because it was on a road that takes you to the observatory.
This is the most unique video I saw on Japan...another reason to explore places outside of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto..well done John. Hokkaido is in my list now..😍😍😍
First of all, it's refreshing to see well maintained roads. That's pretty rare where I'm from. Even though the roads are always under construction, there are so many potholes that give their own soundtrack, usually to the tune of hundreds of dollars.
This was both a great and interesting video, John. Never knew that there were roads like this in Japan. Just goes to show you what amazing things that are in the amazing country.
We also have those nearby where i live on the highway in East Java, Indonesia, the Solo-Kertosono Highway... it plays the Happy Birthday tune 🎶 One of the things i look forward to the most whenever i drive through there, my family in the backseat are not very fond of it though, it shocks them off their deep slumber! Lol
I can never get enough of your channel John. I love going back and re-watching your old videos. They are all so informational and extremely well shot and produced. Keep up the great work!
