3倍ばい速そく再生さいせいも？ 激化げきかする“耳みみのすきま時間じかん”獲得かくとく競争きょうそう

About 3 per day

7 hours

This is the average amount of “ear free time” in a day the time when your ears are free and you can listen to something, as surveyed by a certain company.

Thanks to the evolution of wireless earphones and apps, we can now listen to music or audiobooks while commuting, doing housework, or exercising.

Some people even play the audiobook at triple speed...

With the diversification of audio media services, we covered the frontlines of the fierce competition for people’s “spare ear time.”

I dont have time to read books! says Ryota Tomiyama 29, who works at a medical supplies manufacturer in Tokyo.

When I was a student, I used to read about one book a week, but now with work, housework, and raising kids keeping me busy, I struggle to find time to read, which is something that bothers me.

The service I have been using for the past six years is one that allows me to listen to audiobooks.

Tens of thousands of titles, ranging from novels to business books, are available.

According to the company providing this service, the number of users increased significantly around 2019, before the spread of wireless earphones during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has grown more than 35 times over the past 10 years, exceeding 3 million people.

Mr. Tomiyama says that he uses this app on his smartphone while commuting, jogging, or doing household chores like washing dishes.

You can also play it at triple speed since you can freely adjust the reading speed.

I sometimes watch videos at double speed, so I tried listening to it, and honestly, I could barely catch what was being said, but apparently, once you get used to it, you can understand it just fine.

Mr. Tomiyama says that he was able to listen to more than 200 books in the past year.

Ryota Tomiyama: Since you can do it while doing something else, I think its really convenient in the sense that you can spend time with your family and also work on self-improvement. In addition to business books, Tomiyama also listens to novels.

He says that when he got absorbed in the story, he was sometimes so moved that he even shed tears on the train during his commute.

Ryota Tomiyama: You cant read printed words unless you consciously try, but when you listen with your ears, once you get used to it, images automatically come to mind.

I think its something familiar and natural to me. This service, which is also referred to as the third type of book following paper and electronic books.

The company in Tokyo is making various efforts to increase the amount of attractive content it offers.

When I visited the recording studio, they were working on producing Fuyumi Ono’s popular fantasy novel The Twelve Kingdoms.

The person delivering the powerful lines was voice actress Aya Hisakawa, known for roles such as Ami Mizuno in Sailor Moon and Bulma in Dragon Ball Super.

She also voiced the main character in the anime adaptation of The Twelve Kingdoms, and it is said that fans have high expectations as the streaming is about to begin.

Mr. Hisakawa is narrating for an audio reading service for the first time, and it is said that he put a lot of care into it, spending about 30 hours practicing accents and reading for just one book.

Voice actress Aya Hisakawa said, I wondered how I could reach people who dont look at the text, so I spoke slowly and carefully while picturing the scene in my mind.

People who enjoy print may find pleasure in the world of audio, and those who first discover a work through audio might try reading the novel—there are many different ways to enjoy it. In addition, various creative efforts to attract users interest are already underway.

For example, last years Bookseller Award winner, Mina Miyajimas novel Narse Goes Out to Conquer the World.

The story is set in Otsu City, and for the festival chants featured in the work, they actually borrowed recordings from local groups. They also obtained and used the background music from a real supermarket.

It is said that, with a dedication reminiscent of radio dramas, there are even works that take as long as half a year to produce.

Otobank Production Departments Kota Isozaki said, By adding audio to text, were able to provide users with a three-dimensional approach—just by playing the audio, we can transport them to that place or scene, and we strive to create content that stimulates the imagination. More and more authors are welcoming this reading by listening experience, which is expanding the audience base. Some are even releasing their works simultaneously with print books or making them available in audio format ahead of time.

From videos to text content, the battle for our screen time is intensifying every day.

In this context, the company says that it expects the competition to capture “spare moments for listening” will intensify even further, and that it wants to increase the number of works it distributes.

Otobank Chairman Wataru Ueda: Originally, my grandfather had glaucoma, and I founded the company with the desire to help people like him and to spread a culture of listening.

There is a lot of competition for people’s visual time with many video services, but the time for listening hasn’t been explored much yet.

I believe the audio content market itself will continue to expand rapidly, and I want to work on spreading these services. As everyone is able to share and “learn through audio,” new audio media services are also emerging that focus on the appeal and authenticity that come precisely from “the voices of ordinary people.”

Mr. Keisuke Futagawa, an elementary school teacher in Nerima Ward

When I visited for the interview, he was speaking to his smartphone.

Todays main topic.

Have you ever thought about the role of schools?

Ive been in school for 17 years now, and I think schools play a lot of different roles.

One of them, I believe, is the inheritance of tradition, says Mr. Futagawa, who is actually a popular personality with about 2,000 listeners.

I share my daily thoughts and experiences as a current teacher.

In this audio platform Voicy, which started its service in 2016, a wide variety of people—including doctors, monks, office workers, and housewives—are distributing audio content.

Only those who have passed the screening can stream, and each stream lasts about 10 minutes.

The number of service subscribers has increased year by year, surpassing 2.5 million, and the number of streamer channels exceeds 2,000.

Mr. Futagawa, who says he has already streamed about 600 times, says he wants to energize the education world together with his listeners.

Elementary school teacher Keisuke Futagawa: “No matter how good the lesson is, if the teacher is frowning, I don’t think I’d be very happy.”

I want to encourage the teachers and convey the message that we should all do our best together, and I feel like Im running alongside them, he said. At an event held in Tokyo this April, where a popular personality in the field of education took the stage, about 300 people gathered.

Many of them are teachers, and some are so enthusiastic that they even have penlights and fans in their hands.

Mr. Futagawa also took the stage and engaged in a discussion with the listeners about topics such as school absenteeism.

Participating teacher: I also learn a lot as a teacher.

I learn everything from Dr. Futagawa, from ways of living to tips on how to enjoy school.

Since they release the audio before the morning commute, I listen to it on my way to school. The person in charge of Voicy spoke about the needs for the service as follows.

I think there is a need for people to hear the thoughts and voices of those who feel more relatable, those who seem just a little out of reach but maybe, with some effort, they could catch up to or aim to be like.

I believe that from now on, not only celebrities but various people will increasingly use their voices to express themselves and communicate who they are, and this will become even more important. Voice content utilizing the latest digital technologies, such as AI-generated voices, is also emerging.

In March of this year, Audible, which provides an audiobook service, began distributing Zoku Madogiwa no Totto-chan, the autobiographical story of actress Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.

The entire work is narrated in that familiar voice of Kuroyanagi-san, but in fact, the only part Kuroyanagi-san actually read herself was just over an hour and a half of Chapter 1.

After that, from chapters 2 to 5, it is said that the narration is digital, reproduced using the latest speech synthesis technology under Ms. Kuroyanagis supervision.

Kuroyanagi said, The evolution of technology is truly astonishing.

I am honored to be able to share my wartime experiences with everyone as soon as possible, he commented.

Furthermore, in April this year, Google released a feature called audio summary in its service NotebookLM, which provides AI-generated summaries and other functions, supporting more than 50 languages.

A new feature has been added that allows you to listen to the text as a conversational audio while summarizing the content.

This service allows you to create audio content, like a radio show, based on text youve loaded in just a few minutes.

It seems like this will become a useful tool for people who find it a bit tough to read text articles but would like to casually listen if its audio.

The unique appeal of sound: Just like services that use our eyes, such as videos and articles, more and more services that use our ears are emerging, and competition for our time among them has begun.

Mr. Toyofumi Inada, who is well-versed in youth trends and backgrounds, says, Many young people today seek taipa—time performance—because they want to use their time effectively.

He said, When it comes to listening with your ears, I think it’s capturing the hearts of people who want to make more effective use of their time.

On the other hand, some experts point out that audio media is also perfect for people who want to take their time and engage deeply with content.

「スクリーンレス・メディア・ラボ」

Mr. Kenji Tsukagoshi, a research fellow at , says, Compared to video, audio causes less stress even when you listen for a long time, so you can listen longer, which increases the amount of information and understanding, and also makes it easier to sense the speakers personality and humanity.

What kinds of services will emerge in the future as competition to capture “spare ear time” intensifies?

I would like to keep paying attention to this.

Interview: Yutaro Horikawa, Science and Culture Department Reporter / Kento Isogai, Director, Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau