Are Japanese and Polynesians the only people who recognise insect sounds as "voices"?
//Summary - Level-B2//
Japanese and Polynesians may be the only ones who hear insect sounds as "voices" due to how their brains process language. Their vowel-focused languages make them use the left brain for natural sounds, unlike others who hear them as noise. However, this is not innate, and the theory remains debated.
It is said that Japanese people hear not only the sounds of insects but also the cries of other animals, the sounds of waves, wind, rain, and even the murmuring of streams with their language brains. This also matches the ancient Japanese view of nature that gods reside in all natural things, from mountains to rivers and seas, and that humans are merely a part of them.
1)
Before you know it, it's autumn. Sardine clouds float in the clear sky, and you can hear the sounds of insects at night. Japan has a long history of listening to the sounds of insects, and many waka poems have been written expressing feelings about the sounds of insects.
But did you know there is a theory that only the Japanese and Polynesians recognise the sounds of insects as "voices"?
2)
When Professor Tsunoda Tadanobu of Tokyo Medical and Dental University attended a conference in Cuba in January 1987, he noticed that the foreigners around him could not hear the lively sounds of insects. Thus, he began his research.
3)
First, the human brain has two parts, the right and the left, each with its own speciality. The right brain, or the music brain, is responsible for sensitivity and sensation.
On the other hand, the left brain, or the language brain, is responsible for logical and intellectual processing, such as understanding language.
4)
Professor Tsunoda discovered that only the Japanese and Polynesians use their left brains to receive natural sounds such as insects, rain, and babbling brooks.
At the same time, most other ethnic groups process sounds with their right brains, which is why the sound of insects sounds like "noise" to them.
So why do Japanese and Polynesians process things differently from other ethnic groups?
5)
Professor Tsunoda's research suggests that the reason lies in the characteristics of their languages. Japanese and Polynesian languages are vowel-centred, while many other languages are consonant-centred.
Japanese and Polynesians process both vowels and consonants in the left hemisphere of the brain, while people from other language areas process vowels in the right hemisphere and then consonants in the left hemisphere.
6)
This is why the sound of insects, a natural sound close to vowels, is received as language in the left brain. Again, this is not innate.
If Japanese people are brought up with a foreign language as their mother tongue, they will become Western-style, and if foreigners are brought up with Japanese as their mother tongue, they will become Japanese-style.
7)
Several papers have been published disproving this theory, so the truth is unknown. But be thankful that you were born a Japanese with this emotional sensitivity.
On a long autumn night, why not turn off the TV, put away your smartphone, and listen carefully to the sound of insects?
Are Japanese and Polynesians the only people who recognise insect sounds as "voices"?
https://www.madecom.co.jp/blog/2737/
Only Japanese and Polynesians recognise the chirps of insects as "voices."
https://note.com/miruikitekanjite/n/nff2d1241b59d
Why can Japanese people hear the "sounds" of insects, but foreigners can't?
https://www.mag2.com/p/news/233784
The sounds of insects that cannot be heard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFgxC_uivDc
12 sounds of autumn insects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpjtTl2KUcA
"Only Japanese people can hear it...?" A genius French pianist uncovers the "unknown hearing ability" only Japanese people have!? [Overseas reactions]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZByV1rb6nw&t=407s
Princess Mononoke "The Tale of Ashitaka" Gagaku Instrument Performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIfzgfbCPoM
"Princess Mononoke" (1997) Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuZUoLysYfQ
Princess Mononoke - Official Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OiMOHRDs14
Princess Mononoke - Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOuG8m2RqOs
[Latest] Complete commentary on Princess Mononoke [Toshio Okada]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRL2PHJPw7Q
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind "The Legend of Wind" Shakuhachi, violin, piano, and bamboo flute arrangement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EPknf7qVQI
Spirited Away - Reprise "Futatabi" from "Spirited Away" / Joe Hisaishi (Piano, Shakuhachi, Violin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1LcLuVX7eQ
Joe Hisaishi - Ashitaka and San
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faf98cNY8A8
Add info No1)
Nobuyuki Tsujii / "Ashitaka and San" Composer: Joe Hisaishi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRve7-5KmJY
Nobuyuki Tsujii / Debussy: Moonlight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otnAini4vmQ
Nobuyuki Tsujii - La Campanella - BBC Proms 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbAoeZZvntk
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no.2 op.18 Nobuyuki Tsujii blind pianist BBC proms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGX3temma5Q
Add info No2)
Ennio Morricone - The legend of 1900 - Playing Love & The crisis - The essence of music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0u8qciHScY
Ennio Morricone is one of the best composers ever... "You out in front of me a keyboard of millions of keys, millions and billions of keys that never end. And that's the truth, Max, that they never end. That keyboard is infinite, and if that keyboard is infinite, then there is no music you can play on that keyboard. You're sitting on the wrong bench... That is God's piano..." Tim Roth "La Leggenda del pianista sull'Oceano" The only purpose of this uploading is devotion to the pure Beauty of Music, with special respect and gratitude to the people who made it or in any other way were a part of it. Special gratitude goes to the owners of the photos used just for the experience. "And then it flows through me like rain. And I can't feel anything but gratitude for every moment of this stupid little life..."
[Main feature now available for free] Tim Roth stars in "The Legend of 1900" (subtitled version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfHeoaUHC50
Add info No3)
For the Japanese, the sound of insects was a refined pastime of the nobility.
https://weathernews.jp/s/topics/201810/290135/
For the Japanese, the sounds of insects were a refined pastime of the nobility.
1)
This summer has been a record-breaking heatwave, but it's starting to feel more like autumn.
If you hear the cool chirping of crickets and grasshoppers outside your window at night, many of you probably feel that autumn is here.
2)
Also recorded in many Waka poems:
The chirping of insects has been inextricably linked to the lives of Japanese people since ancient times.
The oldest collection of waka poems, the Manyoshu (8th century), contains "I never tire of listening to the crickets in the evening shadows of the outdoor shelter where the shadow grass grows".
3)
In the Heian period, it was popular for the nobility to enjoy the chirping of insects in cages.
In the chapter on insects in Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book, the author lists singing insects as the most popular: "Bugs are crickets, nightingales, butterflies, pine crickets, grasshoppers, and weed weavers."
4)
In the "Shin Kokin Wakashu" (13th century), Fujiwara no Yoshitsune wrote a poem titled "The grasshopper cried, and I sleep alone, my clothes stiff on the cold mat of a frosty night."
5)
During the Edo period, the culture of enjoying the sounds of insects, which was an elegant pastime for aristocrats and feudal lords, spread to the ordinary people.
With the advancement of breeding techniques, "insect sellers" sold bell crickets and crickets in bamboo baskets to ordinary people.
6)
The culture of enjoying the sounds of insects also developed in China during the Tang Dynasty (7th to 10th centuries), especially at the imperial court.
It is common to keep grasshoppers and crickets in small cages and enjoy their chirping.
Ao is a traditional game called "cricket fighting," in which crickets are made to fight. It is also popular entertainment for ordinary people.
7)
A culture of enjoying the sounds of insects seen in Europe:
Are the Japanese and Chinese the only people who enjoy the sounds of insects? The Oxford English Dictionary has the following description of "cricket", which means a cricket.
8)
A short-legged insect of the order Orthoptera. Males produce a distinctive musical chirp.
The English word "cricket" refers to not only Japanese crickets but also small insects such as ground crickets and bell crickets.
Interestingly, the chirps are considered to be "musical chirps" rather than sounds.
9)
In his poem "On the Grasshopper and Cricket," John Keats, an early 19th-century British poet, compares the chirping of grasshoppers and crickets to the "song of the earth."
In this poem, Keats sings of the change of seasons from Summer to Autumn and from autumn to Winter.
10)
Throughout history, people worldwide have felt the change of seasons and reflected on the sounds of insects. In today's busy world, why not take the time to listen to insects once in a while?
