Yamanote.fun
Creative
ambient soundscape
SHOW HN2026
238points
62comments
#212of 4,366 in 2026
Top 5%of 2026 by points
How HN took it
LovedMost comments that take a side are positive
18 positive, 9 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 3 critical, out of 33 comments about the project. Thread score +0.46.
Design: 3 for, 2 againstIdea: 1 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Calm, nostalgic and evocative of Tokyo travel
From 4 comments
What an incredibly detailed and calming project! I am really impressed with how you connected so many different audio materials to create a final PWA product. The very fact that…
nourihab on HNThis is very cool. Brings back memories of when I travelled to Japan 10+ years ago. Thanks!
crowd51 on HNTakes me back immediately, really cool!
znagengast on HNWow! This is really cool. I feel like I were already in Japan when the melody first hit.
XUEYANZ on HN
Clean, elegant UI and design
From 3 comments
I love this :) Thanks very much for making it, it's elegantly designed. Since you asked for feedback: in terms of usability, I found the 'seek next' and 'seek previous' buttons…
npinsker on HNI love this! Great UI, and the spirit of it is very early web. Thanks for making this. Totally captures the feel of Tokyo!
popalchemist on HNI love the Gui!
amigo7 on HN
Works offline and feels like a native app
From 1 comment
What an incredibly detailed and calming project! I am really impressed with how you connected so many different audio materials to create a final PWA product. The very fact that…
nourihab on HN
Objections
Station-to-station ambient travel segments are too short
From 4 comments
This is lovely - I used to use YouTube recordings of Yamanote line trips as a way to fall asleep. As a small bit of feedback - from the sleep perspective, the melodies and door…
gmurphy on HN+1 on this - would love to have a more realistic timing mode where there are a few minutes of ambiance for travel sections in between station arrivals.
Zee2 on HNit’s great if we could increase the ambient sound time frame to simulate the real time between stations, it’s eerie to hear stations that fast
anorphirith on HNMan, this is great! Like you, when I travel to Japan I just love the Yamanote line too. Sometimes I use YouTube videos as white noise while working. I know it's strange, but it…
carloseduardopx on HN
Chimes and melodies are too loud for sleep or background use
From 1 comment
This is lovely - I used to use YouTube recordings of Yamanote line trips as a way to fall asleep. As a small bit of feedback - from the sleep perspective, the melodies and door…
gmurphy on HN
Install prompt uses a dark pattern
From 1 comment
That “install as app” pop up after the first station is clearly unnecessary and utilises a dark pattern - “not now” button is painted like it is disabled. Please don’t do like…
nokeya on HN
Seek buttons' direction was confusing
From 1 comment
I love this :) Thanks very much for making it, it's elegantly designed. Since you asked for feedback: in terms of usability, I found the 'seek next' and 'seek previous' buttons…
npinsker on HN
Requests
Longer ambient travel time between stations
From 4 comments
+1 on this - would love to have a more realistic timing mode where there are a few minutes of ambiance for travel sections in between station arrivals.
Zee2 on HNit’s great if we could increase the ambient sound time frame to simulate the real time between stations, it’s eerie to hear stations that fast
anorphirith on HNPlease, add an option to make the 'travel' between stations longer to give a vibe of an actual train trip!
coopykins on HNMan, this is great! Like you, when I travel to Japan I just love the Yamanote line too. Sometimes I use YouTube videos as white noise while working. I know it's strange, but it…
carloseduardopx on HN
Sleep or quieter background mode
From 2 comments
This is lovely - I used to use YouTube recordings of Yamanote line trips as a way to fall asleep. As a small bit of feedback - from the sleep perspective, the melodies and door…
gmurphy on HNSleep mode added to the roadmap :) Should be a fairly easy ask as the chimes and melodies are on separate tracks and the volume can be adjusted easily.
madebymagnolia on HN
Door open and close sounds and announcements
From 2 comments
I love this :) Thanks very much for making it, it's elegantly designed. Since you asked for feedback: in terms of usability, I found the 'seek next' and 'seek previous' buttons…
npinsker on HNAdding to this, it would be amazing if the background noise will be louder when the door is open together with the sound on that station.
cavoirom on HN
Binaural recordings
From 1 comment
Nice, I just visited Japan a couple of months ago. I wish this was binaural. I still vividly remember hearing this video[1] from the Verge published almost 11 years ago. [1]…
stereo-highway on HN
Questions
How well Claude Code handled service workers and caching
From 1 comment
What an incredibly detailed and calming project! I am really impressed with how you connected so many different audio materials to create a final PWA product. The very fact that…
nourihab on HN
Whether departure melodies will survive JR East's one-man operation changes
From 1 comment
JR East is already in the process of eliminating departure melodies as they transition to one-man station operations, so these will unfortunately be gone sooner than later. The…
AlexAplin on HN
Alternatives named
yamanot.es
From 2 comments
I initially brushed this off as being a clone of yamanot.es. I was wrong, this is delightful. As others said, please add longer train sounds between stations.
prodigycorp on HNThanks for introducing me to yamanot.es Quite like the simpler UI of that one to be honest.
elxr on HN
yamanote.style
From 1 comment
Group policy sadly doesn't like newly registered domains so I can't check this one out right now but it immediately reminded me of this one, that I favorited 4 years ago:…
johncoltrane on HN
BVE train simulator
From 1 comment
Hardcore fans may like the BVE train sim [1]. A lot of Japanese fan-made lines (add-ons) with custom sounds. Generally speaking, the game is far from AAA, but the "hand-made"…
astrobe_ on HN
JR East Train Simulator
From 1 comment
Or the official JR East Train Simulator https://store.steampowered.com/app/2111630/JR_EAST_Train_Simulator/ Though very pricey especially if you want the Yamanote line DLC too...…
haunter on HN
Tokyo Train Orchestra
From 1 comment
This is really cool! Really give a immersion vibe. I've built something different, Tokyo Train Orchestra (http://tokyo-train-orchestra.netlify.app/) It uses live and scheduled…
elpalek on HN