Voices
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We are making efforts such as being careful to close our windows and curtains. Installing a high soundproof wall around the school doesn't seem like the healthiest move to make.

13 Comments

Spokesman for a preschool in Kobe's Higashinada Ward, which is being sued by a neighbor in his 70s for damages caused by noise made by the children. (Mainichi Shimbun)

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13 Comments
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What a grinch! The sound of children playing is the sound of life and happiness. I bet the litigant lives alone and never had children of his own.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

And people wonder why the birthrate is dropping in Japan! I read another article about how many riders hate it when mother get on trains with baby strollers, and now this!

Moderator: This has nothing to do with the declining birthrate.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

To be fair, who built this "Pre-school"? It seems like there is very little over site and anyone can turn their home into a Pre-school.

If I was living in my home of many years and the people next door decided to open one of these I would be none to happy about it also.

What if your neighbor open a garage and you had to listen to the sound of air hammers and trucks with no mufflers being repaired all day.

I bet the litigant lives alone and never had children of his own

So what? Someday you might be living alone and maybe from next door, you can enjoy "the sounds of children all day".

What is his side of the story?

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Not being in love with screaming children is not a crime. Zoning laws exist for a reason. This old guy may have been working his arse off for the man his entire life. Now he's retired and wants some peace and quiet while he struggles with his meager pension.

Sure, other people's kids are cute in short spans of time. But not screaming day in and day out. All day long.

I hope he WINS his lawsuit.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Screaming yelling kids can grate, even your own, let alone others little screamers.

Kids in shops and restaurants who scream and yell grate me and I often wish the parents would control their brats better.

70 years old and wanting a peaceful twilight is normal, no one should be subject to some one else's screaming brats.

I lived across the road form a school once and couldn't get out of that place quick enough, I would never live with in ear shot of another school, kinder garden, day care or park.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Guess I spoke too quickly on this one (atare mae), my apologies. My own experiences with this situation were only when I walked past one on the way to/from one of my work assignments, it always seemed so cheerful and alive. But I guess all that noise may be a problem for somebody who was trying to rest, or may have health issues.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Let them go to court. the legla system here takes so long he will likely have moved on by the time any result is imminent.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

How about a compromise? They school pays to have sound-dampening foam installed in his home and everyone is happy? Instead of trying to surround the day care (a much larger area since the kids don't stay indoors all day), why not modify his home so he's comfortable, since it is going to end up being a much smaller area.

Doesn't that seem like a much more sensible solution, instead of trying to sue the daycare?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

With such few details, it's hard to decide who's right and who's wrong in this situation. But generally, people tolerate noise far too easily in Japan. Between the crazily loud speakers set up for politicians to yap in front of the train station to the noisy speaker trucks that drive through town early in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays, I'm glad to hear that someone is making a stand against this sort of thing.

I previously lived near an elementary school, and 85% of the time it was fine. But 15% of the time, such as when they were preparing for the next sports festival or music festival, there were shouts and whistles and drums and instructions yelled through megaphones. It was unbearable - the noise was echoing through the neighborhood at very high volumes. There are factory workers and doctors and nurses and retail workers and chefs and so many other people who work jobs that aren't 9am-6pm. These people have "irregular" sleeping hours, but are regularly harassed by this kind of noise pollution. I wish Japan would create (and/or enforce) volume limits for these things.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

The removal of mufflers by idiot men who want to be 'cool' with a noise strewn bike NEEDS to be made illegal.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It's been there since 2006, he lives 10 meters away. The guy is saying that the sound level regulations that apply to factories should be applied to schools...the drums, announcements etc reach 70 decibels, above the city-approved 60.

I don't see how you can keep that many pre-schoolers quiet. Can this old guy guarantee that he never aggravated anyone when he was that age?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Children making noise? Oh, the horror! They're children, that's what they do.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I know! How can you object to the voices of pre-school children?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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