In the evening, when the sun is about to go down and its time to go home and make dinner, there is a melody that can be heard coming from somewhere.
Taking the melody as a cue, children rush home, saying “see you tomorrow!”
The source is a broadcast from disaster prevention administrative radio, calling for local children to go home to stay safe. When they are focused on playing, children can lose track of time. Also, in Japan, elementary students often go to school or after school lessons without an adult, so the “sunset chime” is broadcast as part of a series of safety measures.
The most commonly heard is the children’s song “Yuyake Koyake”, or “Sunset glow”, but the chime, the tune, and the time of day all vary from region to region and from season to season.
When I hear this song, there is the sense of the loneliness of having to go home, but also the warm sense of smelling dinner coming from somewhere and wondering what is for dinner tonight.
If you keep playing even after the chime, a friendly neighborhood old lady might call out “If you don’t go home soon, your parents will be worried!”.
If you find yourself traveling around sunset, please listen carefully. You may hear such warm sounds of local community yourself.