I live about 2 kilometers from where Japan's Tokaido Shinkansen crosses the Yasu River. It's a noisy place, with traffic sounds from National Route 8 less than a kilometer away. On my side of the river there is a lot of open space for sports. The river banks have bushes and a few trees, and many birds live there. See the Google Maps Japan location.
The Japanese Bush Warbler's mating call in spring is one of the most beautiful sounds in the Japanese countryside. This one was recorded in Ritto, near Konze Yama, on 8 June 2008 at about 16:00 as airplanes flew over (from Kansai International Airport). I used a new Olympus LS-10 recorder, mic sense high, recording level 7. Recordings were encoded in MP3 by Lame as stereo at 160 kbits/sec. (variable). See the Google Maps Japan location.
Every Spring swallows nest in our car port. I enjoy watching the young one grow. Just before they fly they are really interesting!
In the summer I spend a lot of my free time along Yasu River, usually in Ritto or Moriyama. I like to fish for hasu, and I really enjoy the early morning solitude.