Dan McFarling would probably have a great time in Japan. As I’ve written previously, foreign tourists have status equivalent to that of “guests.” Unexpected assistance, courtesy and conversation from strangers may rank among one’s more memorable experiences. It helps to have some knowledge of the language, but this is not a must. For example: imagine a staff member at a New York tourist information office leading a non-English speaking tourist across the street to buy a subway “day ticket.”
No?
Imagine my surprise, then, when I attempted to inquire at the Nagasaki tourist information office about tramway day tickets. I used a Hiroshima tramway day ticket as an “example / communication aid.” It worked: the woman behind the counter led me out of the office and across the bridge to the Nagasaki Electric Tramway ticket office, where she explained what I wanted. I soon had the ticket, without fuss.
Crozier, on the other hand, might not enjoy Japan; he might ... um ... rail at the thought of interacting with all those “strangers” aboard trains and buses. However, this is not difficult to avoid in Japan - even aboard those “trains and buses.” And so, Mr. Crozier, if you’re reading this, I can recommend Japan as a very interesting destination even for those averse to interaction with “strangers.” Who knows? You might even find yourself intrigued by some aspect of Japanese public transport operations. Those 車内チャイム (sha-nai <chime>), “car chimes,” for example.
As described previously, the “car chimes” are gentle “attention” signals preceding a train conductor’s announcement - and are often adapted from popular or classical compositions. For example, here.
A short “YouTube” video clip, showing the operation of the car chime, is here; unlike the link above, the melody is “not” produced by a MIDI file.
This particular “car chime” melody was once a “standard” aboard locomotive-pulled trains. These became scarce by the early 1990s. One train still worked with locomotive-pulled stock was the はまなす (hamanasu, “Sweet briar”) overnight service between Morioka and Sapporo. I remember well the car chime, a “wakeup” signal far more pleasant than an alarm clock, that preceded the conductor’s announcement: the train would soon arrive at the terminal.
A “YouTube” video recorded “live” aboard an overnight train, (here), shows the conductor announcing that the train will soon arrive at Moji Station (Kitakyūshū), and giving information about connections.
A shaky but interesting “YouTube” videoshows the case a PA system electronics case being opened for view, step by step, is here. (The “YouTube” user apologizes that this was his first “YouTube” video, and states that the PA system was once used aboard overnight “Blue Train” services).
Yes, that is a manufacturer’s plate. The manufacturer’s name is 近畿通信工業, kinki tsūshin kōgyō [“Kinki Telecommunications Industries,” Ōsaka].
The “model” identification reads PA-2形拡声装置, PA-2 kei kakusei sōchi “PA-2 Type Public-Addres System.” (The serial number is 12080, just in case any of our readers - those few of you who remain - care about such minutiae).
Yes, the manufacturer’s plates, visible outside and inside the unit, have dates. The year is 昭和５２, shōwa 52, i.e. 1977. The electronic hardware looks archaic from today’s perspective, but civilian applications of integrated-circuit technology began only a few years before.
Yes, that is a musical-box mechanism in the PA electronics case - and yes, these do have spring-operated motors, with wind-up keys. (The Japanese word for “musical box” is オルゴール, orugōru, borrowed from the Dutch orgel = “organ.)
The car chime tune was adapted from a composition by a Dutch composer Jonny Heykens (1884-1945). Heykens, a composer of light classical music, was once very popular but has faded into obscurity, together with his music - all but one composition, that is.
Heykens studied violin at the Brussels Conservatory, then played in several orchestras. He founded his own orchestra at Groningen in 1914, but World War 1 interrupted his career. Thereafter, he and his orchestra toured Europe and became very popular, particularly in Germany. His records sold widely throughout the 1920s and 1930s; his compositions included orchestral works, songs and musical comedies.
Heykens’ most popular work was Ständchen, “Serenade” (Op. 21-1), published ca. 1920. Various arrangements included orchestral, piano and violin duo, and solo piano. A recording of a fairground organ (band organ) arrangement is on “YouTube,” here. The song “Starlight Serenade,” published ca. 1931, combined Heykins’ melody with words penned by Irish lyricist Jimmy Kennedy (1902-1984). A 1940 recording by the great Austrian tenor Richard Tauber (1891-1948) is also on “YouTube,” here. (“Starlight Serenade” is also the title of a 1944 British musical film.)
Heykens’ Serenade became popular in Japan, and remained so even after the start of the Pacific War. From early 1943, the Broadcasting Corporation of Japan (NHK) used a Serenade excerpt as a radio program theme song - in spite of strenuous government efforts to dispense with Western cultural influences. The program was titled 前線へ送る夕, zensen e okuru yūbe, (“The Evening Show for the Front Line”), and was produced for the entertainment of soldiers and sailors. The program, with theme, disappeared from the airwaves by the end of the war.
Spanish blogger “Axque” writes that the fame in life enjoyed by Heykens is proportional to the obscurity he suffered thereafter. Heykens died on 1945 June 28 in Hilversum, Netherlands, less than two months after the country’s liberation from German occupation.
A Japanese-language source states that Heykens was accused of collaboration with the Germans and imprisoned, where he died. Another states that Heykens was able to continue working in Germany during the war, that he was arrested as a collaborator following his return to the Netherlands, and that he committed suicide in prison on the day following his arrest.
“Axque,” by contrast, writes that he obtained biographical information from Heykens’ daughter through the Groningen Library. After Heykens’ death, writes “Axque,” his work “disappeared” - perhaps because of its connection to National Socialism; perhaps because of changing tastes. “Axque” states that he has no information to support the former.
“No one in Europe, except the elderly, remembers [Heykens’] name,” writes “Axque.” He describes Heykens’ daughter as an “octogenarian woman who would probably wish better for the memory of her father.”
“Curiously, the Netherlands, lacking a great name in the field of classical music, have a unique opportunity to rediscover a composer and a work of truly international scope. If only they wished to, of course.”
“Axque” writes in conclusion, “Perhaps I have no ability for the role of hero-savior of lost causes. However, this text is a tribute to Heykens, forgotten and reviled by all. Now his oblivion is no longer total.”
To say the least.
PA systems for onboard train announcements were introduced by large private-sector railway companies during 1952. By the late 1950s, the Japanese National Railways (JNR) introduced “car chimes” with rolling stock designed for long-distance service. The idea was to provide a polite signal to passengers that the conductor would soon announce an upcoming stop, with connections. The first rolling stock equipped with car chimes was apparently the 20系, nijū-kei, “20 Series” cars, built for overnight trains. Car chimes were introduced on a trial basis in 1958, when the first of these cars entered service. The melody was a short adaptation of Brahms’s Lullaby (here, plays continuously).
Heykens’ Serenade, a choice perhaps inspired by the English-language version (“Starlight Serenade”) as well as the NHK program theme. In 1958, one would not need to be much older than about 30 to remember the song. Over the years, the Serenade excerpt became familiar to generations of JNR passengers - and became associated in particular with the overnight “Blue Trains.” The tune is still heard aboard some Japan Rail Group trains.
A “YouTube” video with Heykens Serenade on violin is here. The video shows a C59 and a C62-class steam locomotive working an overnight train, 安芸 “Aki,” on the Kure Line east of Hiroshima. The Kure Line electrification was placed in service from 1970 September 15; the images date probably to the late 1960s.
Another video, with an orchestral arrangement, is here. This shows three overnight ブルートレイン “Blue Train” services, worked by electric locomotives. 富士, Fuji, operated between Tōkyō and Ōita. はやぶさ, Hayabusa, operated between Tōkyō and Kumamoto. さくら, Sakura, operated between Tōkyō and western Kyūshū, where it divided to serve Nagasaki and Sasebo. Overnight train traffic peaked at the end of the 1970s, then fell rapidly from the late 1980s. This led to withdrawal of many services, including the three which appear in the video.
Finally, a video with a distinctive arrangement of Heyken’s Serenade, here. The image of the Japanese Blue Train” is repetitive, but the soundtrack is evocative of “another” island monarchy, located off the coast of the Eurasian landmass. (I don’t seriously expect that Patrick Crozier reads this blog, but I can’t help wondering whether he’d “get it.”)
The name of the song, and its composer, are likely to remain known for as long as there are passenger railways in Japan.
References:
ハイケンスのセレナーデ スイッチを押す瞬間 (<Heykens> no <Serenade> <switch> o osu shunkan; “ayokoi”.
ハイケンスのセレナーデを鳴らすｗ (<Heykens> no <Serenade> o narasu w; “hinef405”.
ハイケンスのセレナーデ(原曲) Heykens’ Serenade (Ständchen,op.21-1) (<Heykens serenade> (genkyoku) Heykens’ Serenade (Ständchen,op.21-1); “NireHiroki.”
Heykens' Serenade. (小橋康章, Kobashi Yasuaki).
Heykens' Serenade on violin 寝台急行｢安芸｣ほか (Heykens’ Serenade on violin - shindai-kyūkō “aki” hoka; “NireHiroki”).
Heykens' Serenade (Ständchen, op.21-1) ブルートレイン富士・さくら・はやぶさ (Heykens’ Serenade (Ständchen, op.21-1) - <Blue Train> “Fuji & Sakura & Hayabusa; “NireHiroki”). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCnkMhSUc6Y
Jonny Heykens (1884-1945). Hete axque, hete yo, 23 Marzo 2004. “Axque.”
客車チャイム (Kyakusha <chime>; “ tuukinnrasyu”.
活動報告（個人研究）JR車内チャイム論（総論・各論） (katsudō hōkoku (kojin kenkyū) JR sha-nai <chime> ron (sōron & kakuron)). 2009. Chūō University Railway Research Institute.
Musical Boxes in the Trains (Isao Harada). http://www.japan-railways.com/musice.htm
Richard Tauber Sings Starlight Serenade Heykins. (“TAUBERFANLEHAR2”).