Who is making announcements in English? In Tokyo, whichever train you take--namely, JR East, Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Tobu Railway, Seibu Railway, Odakyu Electric Railway, and Keisei Electric Railway--you will hear English announcements in a similar voice. Actually, they are all announced by the same voice actor, Christelle Ciari. In a Japanese interview she said, "Most railway companies I worked for did not give me any instruction on how to pronounce the station names in English. So I decided to read them in the original Japanese accent because I personally thought it was more natural and easier to comprehend for non-native speakers of English. The only exception was JR East, which instructed me to announce the station names in an American accent." Therefore, you will hear "Shibuya" on Tokyo Metro while you will hear "Sheebooyah" on JR trains. |