ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the social negotiation between train companies and passengers that led to the approval of bells as behavior management tools. Trains are a major means of public transportation in Japan. The objective was to shape correct behaviors and boarding routines suited to trains and train stations as public spaces. The chapter focuses on the railway system's sound environment and discusses the formation of certain sound practices taking place on station platforms throughout the twentieth century that would lay the groundwork for much sound information use today, looking especially at departure melodies. The departure bells served as tools in platform agents' hands. The active window bell rings approximately from the opening of the doors to their closing. Contrary to the approach bell, the arrival bell is co-present with the sonic signals of the approaching train. An implementation of a sound-effect signal is the doors opening/closing signal.
