As for the bell chime, it seems it was started only near 1950s.Īccording to this site (In Japanese), after WW2 around the 1950s, the school chime at Tokyo, Ota Ward State Oomori 4th Junior High School (東京都大田区立大森第四中学)'s bell used for indicating start and end of class was always requiring repair, they started looking for a new chime. I believe even the sailor suit used by school children was copied from Britain. Japan during the Meiji Era started the modernization of Japan and started copying everything western. When did these places start adopting the chimes? What was the reason for the mass adoption of the Westminster Quarters in Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea? I find it interesting that the chimes has mass adoption in a select few East Asian countries, and I think it is unlikely to be mere coincidence. The adoption was inspired by the chimes played on BBC radio broadcasts. The article asserts that in Japan, the chimes were adopted in 1954 by a person named 石本邦雄.

The Japanese Wikipedia article on chimes has additional information. (Also, anime sometimes play the chimes during school scenes). My personal experience in Taiwan, in the Chinese communities of Southeast Asia, and seeing videos of Japanese schools suggest that the assertion is plausible.

Most schools in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea play the chimes to signal the end and beginning of periods.

Today, I read about the Westminister Quarters, the chime used by Big Ben in Westminster, London.

Download westminster chime big ben