Anna Revesz 5/10/25 Anna Revesz 5/10/25

5PM: Yamanashi Moonscape

A reflection on life in Yamanashi, Japan—navigating language barriers, new worlds, and the small joys of everyday sound. Listen to a 5pm audio moonscape.

I’ve been watching sci-fi movies this past week. I’ve also been learning about emerging AI trends and innovations that will permeate our very-close-and-not-distant-at-all future in one of my uni classes.

New people, places and things - new worlds.

That is where I am right now - a foreign place that is still new to me. Although I have settled and found a home and sanctuary with my husband in our small studio apartment, the world outside is still alien.

Almost every interaction with a stranger is defined by a language barrier, and most often feels awkward and strained. But every interaction also leads me closer to a level of understanding, however small and vague. And there is often joy and laughter found hidden amongst the embarrassment and strangeness of constant miscommunication.

At 5pm on Friday evening, I stood at the open window of our apartment and listened to the alien world outside. It at once felt incredibly close and unusually distant, like the far side of some distant moon. A close-by conversation between neighbours felt warm and comforting at first, but the unfamiliarity of the language just as quickly took me far away. The sounds of cars and motorbikes passing by felt mechanically familiar, and then suddenly, the sound of a distant temple bell reminded me that I am far from home.

So here is an audio experiment of a 5pm Yamanashi Moonscape. An alien world that I am slowly learning to call home.