Japanese Twitter users surprised by overseas story of neighbors not complaining about loud noises

Because it’s hardly ever acceptable to play a musical instrument in an apartment complex in Japan. 

When one of your hobbies is making or performing music, you might find it challenging to partake in that hobby while living in a Japanese apartment, since the walls are so thin. More likely than not, you’re going to have somebody knocking on your door or sticking notes in your box to tell you to keep it down. In fact, Japan is so strict about noise in residential areas that authorities have even considered regulating noise pollution at schools, and some places have adopted silent matsuri festivals to keep the noise down.

That’s why Japanese netizens were so impressed by a Tumbler story about a pianist who did not, in fact, get yelled at for practicing the piano in their apartment. Twitter user Ken_GO (@yazaki_ken) Tweeted the story with a screenshot of the Tumbler post, and it was quickly retweeted and liked over 100,000 times.

『ピアノの練習中、ご近所さんがドアの下にこのメモを滑らせてきました。 「うるさい」という苦情だろうと思っていたところ、そこには"リクエスト"が書かれていたんです。 窓を開けその曲を演奏してみたところ、バルコニーから大きな拍手が… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

—
Ken_GO (@yazaki_ken) January 28, 2020

The story is that the pianist was practicing the piano in what we presume was an apartment, when a neighbor slipped a note under their door. Fearing that they were receiving a complaint that it was too loud, the person opened the note to find something pleasantly surprising: a request!

Somebody in the building heard the pianist playing and, rather than being annoyed at the noise, wrote this note saying, “A humble request to the pianist: Franz Lizst’s ‘Liebesträume No. 3’ in A Major”. The pianist obliged and opened a window to play the song for the expectant audience, and afterwards they heard enthusiastic applause from an upstairs balcony. “I’m in such a lovely mood now,” they wrote in their Tumbler post. “It’s so nice to be appreciated!”

▼ The requested song:

It was a heartwarming tale that quickly became popular among Japanese Twitter users, who were mostly surprised and appreciative of the neighbor’s openness and free-spirited lifestyle:

“I want to meet the person who wrote the note.”
“Seems like they’re really enjoying their life.”
“Using ‘humble request’ sounds so elegant.”
“It’s so nice to see people living life with so much room in their hearts.”
“Their cursive writing is so freaking cool!”
“So understanding. Japan used to be like this too.”

Other netizens shared stories of how they got in trouble for making noise, like when someone yelled at them as they were cleaning their futon on the veranda. One netizen even said they gave up playing the keyboard, even though they were using headphones, because their neighbor complained about the clattering of the keys.

Nevertheless, if it’s at an appropriate time and place, don’t be shy of sharing your musical prowess in Japan. Everyone loves a skillful, impromptu piano performance!

Source: Twitter/@yazaki_ken via My Game News Flash
Top image: Pakutaso
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