日本“道路族地图”标出各类吵闹地点惹争议
Mapping site showing areas of ‘annoying’ kids draws criticism

A mapping website that shows areas with noisy children, loud gossipers and other “annoying” people has drawn criticism as promoting intolerance and providing an outlet for disgruntled residents seeking to lash out at their neighbors.

The Dorozoku Map (Road tribe map) site is designed for people who want to live in quiet environments. “Dorozoku” has become an online term that refers to children and adults who are loud in public as well as trespassers.

Opened in 2016, the site as of Feb 1 featured 5,973 registered spots nationwide. Clicking the icons on the map will show descriptions of the specific areas, such as “children noisily playing with balls” and “their parents engage in back-fence gossip together for hours.”

back-fence gossip：邻居间的闲言碎语

A baby “can be heard crying shortly after 7 in the morning,” a post said. Another person complained that “children of lower kindergarten age are shouting on the street in the evening and on Saturdays and Sundays.”

Some online users have praised Dorozoku Map for “clearly displaying whether certain areas are tolerant of children’s playful voices and proving helpful for families with children to choose homes to buy.”

But others are upset that their areas have appeared on the map.

A care facility for children stands along a Tokyo street that the site describes as “noisy with kids’ voices.” An insider said the children are taken for strolls and other outdoor activities in the hours mentioned on the site.

“I did not know our establishment is on the site,” said the insider. “It has been open for more than five years and received no complaints so far.”

A woman in her 30s who picked up her child at the facility expressed concern. “The location is shown so I fear users may visit here after checking the map,” she said.

Norihisa Hashimoto, a professor emeritus of acoustic environment engineering at the Hachinohe Institute of Technology, noted that judgments on whether neighborhood sounds are “irritating noise” can be determined by the individual’s loneliness, stifling mood and other psychological factors.

How well the person is coping under the novel coronavirus crisis could also affect judgment.

Hashimoto, who heads the General Research Laboratory of Noise Problem, said people who read the posts on the website “may feel their own rage is reasonable, fueling intolerance.”

“Those who post comments should be tolerant and calmly rethink if others’ behavior can really be deemed as a nuisance,” Hashimoto said. “At the same time, guardians of children should be moderate, such as limiting play time.”