Signboards & Announcements
Announcements
by Yui
Introduction
When you walk out of the east exit in Shinjuku, what do you hear? The crowd of people going by, the noisy city, but what else? If you have been to the east exit and towards kabukicho, I’m sure many have heard announcements going on. What are they exactly about? Why are they there?
As we look through the different kinds of announcements heard in Kabukicho, we can get a better insight on what and how the Kabukicho Renaissances and the other authorities, a part of this project, are trying to change Kabukicho for the good of the public.
Recordings
audio #1 : warning about catchs to passersby
0:00~0:18 & 0:50~0:56
male police
0:19~0:50
female police
audio #2 : warning about catchs to passersby
0:17~1:25
Yurian Retriever (female comedian)
audio #3 three different contents and speakers
0:00~0:35
Female police and shinjuku shopping street
​
0:37~1:13
No drugs announcement
​
1:14~ 1:39
Male police placing the fault on the people
Content
The content we have observed are mostly about the awareness and warning of catchs and their fishing for targets. There a few versions where the speaker would directly attack the passersby who “seem to be waiting to be called on” too.
A third type can be heard above in audio #3, which were anti-drug contents, reminding the passersby the harms and dangers it could do, and that they hope to create a safer, drug-free city.
Mode
As in the 3 different audios, it was understood that there were three different kinds of tones. The first tone is the comedic tone, then the emotional-less, robotic tone, then lastly the scolding, angry tone.
Narrator:
“Not only is the physical presence of characters primordial to advertising and announcing but also the use of voice over narrator is important. Indeed the function of the latter is to persuade viewers by attracting attention, conveying messages, and enhancing brands’ credibility”(Mliless et. al. 2019)
As we heard, there were a variation of narrators speaking in the prerecorded announcements. There were the female and male police, a female narrator speaking on behalf of the police and the Shinjuku shopping street, and then the comedians. In most of the audio above, the narrators either did not introduce themselves or they introduced who they were at the end of their message, specifically when the comedian spoke. So why did I and other passersby know who was talking? This goes into how the use of voice over narrator is important (Mliless et. al. 2019). Yurian Retriever is a famous Japanese comedian with not only an interesting appearance, but also in her unique voice and the way she speaks. Similarly with the police narrators, judging from their tone and attitude, it can be assumed that some one with authority would be narrating like so in Kabukicho too.
Male vs Female
when announcing as a narrator, does gender matter?
Female voices are often associated with nurturing, childhood, safety, security and so on whereas male voices might typically be associated with authority, dependability, and strength (e.g. Mcminn et al, 1993). Developers of speech warning systems sometimes believe that one voice is preferable over another (typically, that a female voice is better than a male voice), although the reasons vary and are generally unfounded in the scientific literature. (Edworthy et. al. 2003)
Listening to the announcements, it is unsure whether the feeling of nurturing, childhood, safety, and security were associated with the female voices played in Kabukicho. The voice of the female police was a bit robotic, giving the listeners the possible feeling of a bit of coldness and emotional-less in the tone. When compared with the male police narrator, the male police narrator sounded a bit scary and intimidating as he was scolding the passersby, ultimately going back to me, personally, feeling a bit safer with the female narrator voice.
As Edworthy et. al. mentions in their article, it seems that female voice produces a higher rating than male speaker.
Wording and Phrasing
Calling / pointing out
As heard in the audio, there were times where the narrator speaks out to the passersby saying the word “soko no anata” which means “you there”, which grabs the attention of the people walking by, catching them off guard wondering who the narrator was talking to.
Similar to this, there was another way of pointing someone out, which can be heard in audio #3 starting around 1:14. Here, the male police narrator says “kanyuu wo omachi no anata” which means “you that is waiting to be recruited or called on” which changes the audience from everyone to those who are waiting to be called on by the catchs. The male police scolds the targeted audience, scaring them with the strength in his voice and the authority (Edworthy et. al. 2003).
Law
In the audios, it can be heard that the narrators are stating with law that would or is being broken due to, for example, catchs baiting targets and the targets following them, it gives a sense of realness to the situation. Not only do the narrators talk about the law, but they also immediately scold the listeners or talk strictly right afterwards, which resonates what a parent would tell their child when they did something wrong.
Topography
These types of announcements are typically found in busy areas of Shinjuku. First when you leave the east exit, you can hear your first announcements either right outside the east exit or near the Alta strip, which is the pathway toward Kabukicho. Here, there are a lot of catchs or scouts swarming around the area. Then when you are inside Kabukicho, you can hear the announcements from Central Road down to the Toho Cinemas, where a lot of izakaya catchs can be seen. Then, though less in numbers, there are a few announcements going on in the next street, Ichiban-gai, which also consists izakaya catchs.
Conclusion
In order to change Kabukicho for the better and the good of the public, it can be seen how the Kabukicho Town Management understands and utilizes announcements. They use the power of authorities and famous comedians, the use of speech, and gender in order to inform and warn the dangers that still linger in Kabukicho.
Sections
Signboards & Announcements