I’m currently a graduate student living in an apartment. I was checking my mailbox (not my actual mailbox down in the lobby, but like the small box thing behind my door where people can insert mail from the front) and I found a note written on something that looks like recycled paper. It says:
“もう日付が変わってあります。静かにして就寝いただけませんか？” or something like that (“The date has already changed. Could you please be quiet and go to sleep?”)
I don’t know which neighbour sent that nor when they sent that (I don’t really check that mailbox behind the door), but I feel like I’m not really loud…? I mean I’m mostly just on my laptop, browsing the internet, maybe a little YouTube (but I don’t think I have the volume above 20% on my laptop). Maybe some reading.
I’m not sure what to do about this, if anything at all. When I was handling my contract, I was told that if I had any problems with my neighbours I should contact the property manager and not engage directly, but this is exactly what’s happening right? Anyone had a similar experience? What did you do, if anything?
I’m not trying to pick a fight with my neighbours or anything, I’m just not sure if there’s anything I should do, politely speaking.
Edit: Well, there were a lot more responses than I thought to this question. Thanks, everyone, for the input! I guess for now I’ll really turn down my volume while I wait for new headphones to arrive and reduce walking around in general.
29 comments
They were likely thinking the exact same things and decided a good first step was a leaving a note.
There’s different perception of noise. Maybe your YouTube is louder than you think and travels well through the walls (Do you live in an Apato?). Could also be walking noises if the claimant lives below you. Since it was referring to noise past midnight and decently polite, I suppose the claim is not without reason.
But maybe your neighbor is just a stickler who can never be pleased or the noise comes from somebody else and it got pinned to you because you are a foreign student.
Seems like they’re complaining about your noise past midnight. Also, any movement, clunking, could possible be heard after 12mn, especially in apartments, and they’re probably annoyed at those kinds of movements lol
You should definitely inform your property manager and take this as an informal complaint.
Pay it forward to another neighbor.
Are you walking around after midnight? If so then that is the noise. You may think you’re being quiet but to the floor below you it’s like godzilla stepping on the building.
Use headphones. Wear soft slippers and put down some carpeting squares or cushion mats or a rug at least. Most people have no idea how noisy they really are, especially at night, so try and wind down the activity levels after 10:00.
This is a perennial problem in Japan, and everyone I know has dealt with noisy neighbors, or had complaints lodged against themselves by irate neighbors. It can greatly strain relations even between people who regard their neighbors as friends.
Perhaps to be on the safe side you should inform the property manager, who will probably do nothing anyway but put up a passive-aggressive sign on the community noticeboard to appease your neighbors.
I wish I could complain about my noisy neighbor, who does her vacuuming at 1:00am, but I can’t because she’s the mistress of the landlord, who lives downstairs with his family.
Just be a bit more careful after 11pm, and discard the note.
If it was one note, I would take notice and be more aware of what I do after midnight, but not give it much thought beyond that. If there were 25 notes crammed in there, then I would go to the property manager and be concerned.
Concrete walls all day everyday
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Wear headphones at night. Jesus this isn’t difficult. If it’s loud enough for your neighbors to hear at night then you are in the wrong.
Tips:
* if on PC, dont use noisy keyboards, use headphones/earphones
* dont walk around much
* get yourself one of those sound suppression mats
* goto sleep early
Use headphones in the evening? Better sound quality and you don’t have to worry about noise.
There’s a possibility that the noise from another room. One day I could not sleep because the person right above me decided to sing loud drunk karaoke until 5 am. I called the police, who went up to check but they didn’t hear anything and left. I was going crazy and decided to go check it myself. Turns out the noise was not from that room but from the room BELOW.
Rip it up & throw it out. Not your problem.
> I don’t know which neighbour
Keep in mind that whoever left the note may have mistaken someone else making noise for you.
And they may have left such notes for other apartments, too.
If you think you’re not being noisy, maybe just continue as normal, but keep your awareness up a little.
The problem is most likely not your laptop noise but consider investing in a decent pair of wireless headphones. You will have a better sound quality and you can enjoy music etc. while cleaning or doing stuff during the daytime without having to raise the volume. Be aware that two layers of thin plywood are probably the only thing that separates you from your neighbor. If you can still hear your laptop noise from your kitchen, your neighbor can hear it as well.
I think the problem might be you walking around, rocking your chair when readjusting your seating position etc. Make sure you have carpet or a sound-dampening mat below your office chair, wear soft slippers and make a habit out of moving without making a sound when at home.
I received a complaint from the property mgmt company about sliding my chair noisily every night at about 11pm. It’s actually my neighbour who does it (I have felt pads on my chairs anyway). If there’s noise, people just assume it’s the gaijin.
I can hear my upstairs neighbor’s phone vibrate. You’d be surprised how sound can travel.
Time to start practicing clarinet with a broken reed at 11:59 PM =)
Ignore it.
In fairness that’s a pretty polite message, so yeah definitely don’t go full Gaijin on them.
I’m guessing by the fact that it’s the immediate thing you’ve noted that it’ll be your laptop, so perhaps after 8-9ish plug in some earphones when using it.
Another big one is to be aware of noise when you move about, some people stomp about their house so loudly and have absolutely no idea they’re doing it for example.
Please be nice and try to be quieter. Imagine: You come home after work at Lawson. It’s 11pm and you have work at 4am the next day. You lay in bed hoping to go straight to bed.
Then you hear it. It sounds like small explosions overhead. It happens rhythmically. *Boom, boom, boom… boom, boom, boom…* It doesn’t take long to realize — footsteps. Your neighbor is going to the bathroom perhaps, so it shouldn’t last long.
But it does last long. It lasts for an hour, then two. What’s almost worse is that there are pauses just long enough to fool you into thinking it’s all over and they’ve went to bed. Then — *boom, boom, boom.*
Be loud and wait for them to drop that note again, catch em, and then kill them!
I always read the comments here and wonder. I live in an apartment and never hear my neighbors – even the dogs barking are barely noticeable. I must have been really lucky what kind of building I live in – others seem to be made of paper. 😕 sorry for you guys, that would drive me nuts!!
What was your logic for choosing to capitalize letters in the post title? Seems very random to me.
Now is the time to get some headphones. If your lease has a quiet time, such as after 10:00 p.m. and before 6:00 a.m., that would be the time to use them.
Japanese flats have thin floors as well as thin walls, so I often wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of the person above me thumping around the room. I’m sure he/ she doesn’t realise it.
Hopefully you can talk to the person who wrote to you.
Yes, contact the property manager and don’t engage directly. Take pictures of the paper, and give the property manager a copy. That’s all.