100 Soundscapes of Japan

The 100 Soundscapes of Japan are a number of noises selected by the Ministry of the Environment as particularly representative of the country. They were chosen in 1996, as part of government efforts to combat noise pollution and to protect and promote protection of the environment.
There were 738 submissions received from all over the country and the 100 "best" were selected after examination by the Japan Soundscape Study Group. These soundscapes are intended to function as symbols for local people and to promote the rediscovery of the sounds of everyday life. The follow-up Sixth National Assembly on Soundscape Conservation was held in Matsuyama in 2002.

Soundscape	Category	Location	Prefecture	Image	Sound
Drift ice in the Sea of Okhotsk	Sea	Sea of Okhotsk shore	Hokkaidō	100px
Bell of Sapporo Clock Tower	Bells	Sapporo	Hokkaidō	100px
Bell of Hakodate Russian Orthodox Church	Bells	Hakodate	Hokkaidō	100px
Mountain creatures in Asahidake, Mount Daisetsu	Wildlife	Higashikawa	Hokkaidō	100px
Japanese crane sanctuary, Tsurui, Hokkaidō	Birds	Tsurui	Hokkaidō	100px
black-tailed gull	Birds	Hachinohe	Aomori Prefecture	100px
Wild birds of Lake Ogawara shore	Birds	Misawa	Aomori Prefecture	100px
Oirase River stream	Water	Towadako	Aomori Prefecture	100px
Neputa festival	Matsuri	Aomori/Hirosaki	Aomori Prefecture	100px
Kaminari-iwa, Goishi coastline	Sea	Ōfunato	Iwate Prefecture	100px
Nambu Fūrin at Mizusawa Station	Local life	Ōshū	Iwate Prefecture	100px
Bells of Chagu Chagu Umakko	Matsuri	Takizawa	Iwate Prefecture	100px	-
Suzumushi in Miyagino	Insects	Sendai	Miyagi Prefecture	100px
Kajika frog	Wildlife/Birds	Sendai	Miyagi Prefecture	100px
Phragmites	Vegetation	Ishinomaki	Miyagi Prefecture	100px
greater white-fronted goose	Birds	Kurikoma/Wakayanagi/Hasama	Miyagi Prefecture	100px
Pinewoods of wind	Vegetation	Noshiro	Akita Prefecture
Cicadas at Yama-dera	Insects	Yamagata	Yamagata Prefecture	100px
"Matsu-no-Kanjin" conches	Matsuri	Tsuruoka	Yamagata Prefecture	100px
Swans at the mouth of Mogami River	Birds	Sakata	Yamagata Prefecture	100px
Little Birds Forest in Fukushima, Fukushima	Birds	Fukushima	Fukushima Prefecture
Natural irrigation channel of Ōuchi-juku	Water	Shimogō	Fukushima Prefecture	100px
Loom	Transport/Industry	Shōwa	Fukushima Prefecture
Wind wave	Sea	Kita-ibaraki	Ibaraki Prefecture
Japanese tree frog	Frogs	Tochigi	Tochigi Prefecture	100px
Suikinkutsu in Suikintei Garden	Daily life	Yoshii	Gunma Prefecture	100px
Time bell of Kawagoe, Saitama	Bell	Kawagoe	Saitama Prefecture	100px
Insects singing in Oshikiri, Arakawa River	Insects	Kumagaya	Saitama Prefecture	100px
Waterfall on conduit bridge	Water	Katori	Chiba Prefecture	100px
Himeharuzemi cicadas in Mamenbara	Insects	Ōtaki	Chiba Prefecture	100px
Vicinity of Shibamata Taishakuten and "Yagiri-no-Watashi" ferry	Complex	Matsudo/Katsushika	Chiba Prefecture/Tokyo	100px
Time bell at the hill of Ueno, Tokyo	Bells	Taitō	Tokyo
Sounds of birds, water, and trees at Sanpōji-ike Pond	Birds/Water/Vegetation	Nerima	Tokyo
Zelkova serrata	Vegetation	Musashino	Tokyo	100px
Whistle	Local life	Yokohama	Kanagawa Prefecture	100px
Approach to Kawasaki Daishi Temple	Local life	Kawasaki	Kanagawa Prefecture	100px
Stream and wild birds singing sounds in Dohogawa Park	Water/Birds	Sagamihara	Kanagawa Prefecture
Bean goose	Birds	Niigata	Niigata Prefecture	100px
Himeharuzemi cicadas in Oyama	Insects	Itoigawa	Niigata Prefecture	100px
Shōmyō Falls	Waterfalls	Tateyama	Toyama Prefecture	100px
"Ennaka" channel and Owara Kaze no bon	Matsuri	Toyama	Toyama Prefecture	100px
Wood carving in Inami	Crafts	Nanto	Toyama Prefecture
Cicada chorus droning in Honda-no-Mori Forest	Insects	Kanazawa	Ishikawa Prefecture	100px
Bells of temples in Kanazawa, Ishikawa#Temple areas	Bells	Kanazawa	Ishikawa Prefecture
Tokimizu fountain in Minowaki	Water	Echizen	Fukui Prefecture
Wild birds forest at Saiko Lake	Birds	Fujikawaguchiko	Yamanashi Prefecture	100px
Bell of Zenkō-ji	Bells	Nagano	Nagano Prefecture	100px
Little birds singing in Enrei	Birds	Okaya/Shiojiri	Nagano Prefecture
Frogs singing in Yashima-shitsugen Wetland	Wildlife	Shimosuwa/Suwa	Nagano Prefecture	100px
Suikinkutsu in Udatsu-no-machi	Local life	Mino	Gifu Prefecture
Playing in Yoshida River	Local life	Gujō	Gifu Prefecture
Cormorant Fishing on the Nagara River	Local life	Gifu/Seki	Gifu Prefecture	100px
"Nami-Kozo", rumbling of the Enshunada Sea	Water	Enshunada Sea	Shizuoka Prefecture
Steam locomotives of Ōigawa Railway	Transport/Industry	Kawanehon	Shizuoka Prefecture	100px
Wild birds of Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens	Birds	Nagoya	Aichi Prefecture	100px
Wind wave	Sea	Tahara	Aichi Prefecture	100px
Isobue whistling of Ama	Local life	Toba/Shima	Mie Prefecture	100px
Evening bell of Mii-dera	Bells	Ōtsu	Shiga Prefecture	100px
Hikone Castle time bell and insects singing	Bells/Insects	Hikone	Shiga Prefecture	100px
Bamboo forest in Kyoto	Vegetation	Kyoto	Kyoto Prefecture	100px
Rurikei stream	Water	Nantan	Kyoto Prefecture	100px
Squeaking sand of Kotobikihama Beach	Singing sand	Kyōtango	Kyoto Prefecture
Matsumushi Cricket	Insects	Osaka	Osaka Prefecture
Kawachi Ondo song in the precincts of Jōkō-ji	Matsuri	Yao	Osaka Prefecture	100px
Sand lance	Local life	Kobe	Hyōgo Prefecture	100px
Danjiri Drums at Kenka Matsuri of Nada	Matsuri	Himeji	Hyōgo Prefecture	100px
Sika deer	Wildlife/Bells	Nara	Nara Prefecture	100px
Kino River heard inside the giant rock of Mount Fudō	Water	Hashimoto	Wakayama Prefecture
Nachi Falls	Waterfalls	Nachikatsuura	Wakayama Prefecture	100px
Migratory birds at Mizutori Park	Birds	Yonago	Tottori Prefecture	100px
Mitoku River and Kajika Frog	Wildlife	Misasa	Tottori Prefecture	100px
Inshu Washi	Crafts	Tottori	Tottori Prefecture
Squeaking sand of Kotogahama Beach	Singing sand	Ōda	Shimane Prefecture	100px
Stream and Water wheel	Water	Maniwa	Okayama Prefecture
Brooks of Shinjōshuku	Water	Shinjō	Okayama Prefecture
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park#Peace Bells	Bells	Hiroshima	Hiroshima Prefecture	100px
Kyo-onro tower bell at Senkō-ji	Bells	Onomichi	Hiroshima Prefecture	100px
Yamaguchi Line steam locomotives	Transport/Industry	Ogōri/Tsuwano	Yamaguchi/Shimane Prefecture	100px
Naruto whirlpools	Sea	Naruto	Tokushima Prefecture	100px
Awa Odori dance	Matsuri	Tokushima	Tokushima Prefecture	100px
Ōkubo-ji bell and Shikoku pilgrimage	Bells	Sanuki	Kagawa Prefecture	100px
Mannō-ike Pond "Yuru-nuki" streams	Water	Mannō	Kagawa Prefecture	100px
Time drums of Shin-u Kaku Hotel, Dōgo Onsen	Drums	Matsuyama	Ehime Prefecture	100px
Wind wave	Sea	Muroto	Kōchi Prefecture	100px
Kaki Yamakasa of Hakata Gion Yamakasa	Matsuri	Fukuoka	Fukuoka Prefecture	100px
List of National Treasures of Japan #Temple bells	Bells	Dazaifu	Fukuoka Prefecture	100px
Wind wave	Sea	Kitakyūshū/Shimonoseki	Fukuoka/Yamaguchi Prefecture	100px
Karatsu Kunchi#List of hikiyama	Matsuri	Karatsu	Saga Prefecture	100px
Imari porcelain	Crafts	Imari	Saga Prefecture	100px
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki#Nagasaki	Vegetation	Nagasaki	Nagasaki Prefecture	100px
Water discharge at Tsūjun Bridge	Water	Yamato	Kumamoto Prefecture	100px
Dolphins in the sea of Itsuwa, Kumamoto	Wildlife	Amakusa	Kumamoto Prefecture	100px
Water scoop (hydropower) of Onta ware	Water/Crafts	Onta	Ōita Prefecture	100px
Soughing of the wind through Pine	Vegetation	Taketa	Ōita Prefecture	100px
"Yagura	Waterfalls	Kobayashi	Miyazaki Prefecture
Sika deer	Wildlife	Ebino	Miyazaki Prefecture	100px
Crane	Birds	Izumi	Kagoshima Prefecture	100px
Chigami River stream and trams	Water/Local life	Yakushima	Kagoshima Prefecture
Subtropical creatures along Shiira River	Wildlife	Taketomi	Okinawa Prefecture
Eisa	Matsuri	Yonashiro/Katsuren	Okinawa Prefecture	100px