TOMU’S SOUND LIBRARY is a free sound library of original sounds recorded and created in Japan. You can use them as sound effects and ambience for videos, anime and games, as material for DTM and music production, or simply listen to nature and city sounds for enjoyment. They are free for commercial and non-commercial use within the License terms.
Presented as “JAPAN LOCAL SOUNDS,” the library is growing little by little with everyday sounds, nature, city and vehicle sounds, guitar performances and Japanese voice recordings. More than 1,500 sounds are published now.
What you can do with TOMU’S SOUND LIBRARY
- Videos and anime: use ambience and everyday sounds such as doors, footsteps and water sounds as sound effects to fit a scene. (Everyday Sounds)
- Games: build sound effects and ambience into your game. Commercial games are fine, and free, within the License terms.
- DTM and music production: use guitar sounds and sounds from everyday life as material for your songs. (Musical Instruments, Guitar)
- Listening for enjoyment: insect sounds, babbling brooks, rain and thunder are also here to be listened to. (Nature Sounds)
- Finding sound effects: city and vehicle sounds and Japanese voice recordings are published too. (Transportation, Voice)
Why I made this library
I compose music with Cubase. While making music with DTM, I often found myself thinking, “I wish there were a sound material like this.” That experience is what led me to create TOMU’S SOUND LIBRARY.
I want to offer a wide range of sounds so that people who compose music or make videos do not have to record or create a sound themselves every time they need one. I began recording the sounds around me as material to give my own songs some character, and I decided to publish what I had recorded so that anyone could use it for their work, not only me. I use the sounds on this site in my own productions too.
I would also be glad if people enjoy the sounds not only as material for their work but also by listening to nature sounds and the like. Rather than creating sounds just for the sake of recording, I also keep sounds I happened to hear in a town or a park as a record of that place.
I am TOMU, a Japanese creator who records sounds in Japan. I make DTM and Vocaloid songs, play a little bass and guitar, and record vocals myself when a song needs them. As a musician, I release songs under the name TOKYO DEMI CREW (Tokyo Demi Crew).
Music — Tokyo Demi Crew
Original sounds recorded and created in Japan
This site publishes original sounds recorded and created in Japan. They are mostly sounds heard in familiar places: everyday sounds (doors, water, appliances, footsteps and more), nature (insects, babbling brooks, rain, thunder and more), city and vehicle sounds, guitar performances and Japanese voice recordings.
Wherever it is known, the recording date and place are given on each sound’s page. Sounds recorded in towns and parks may include voices or other sounds from around, so please also check the License if that concerns you. The available formats differ by sound: MP3 and WAV, or one of the two. Some sounds also come with an MP4 video.
Where and how the sounds are recorded
The published sounds include sounds recorded outdoors and sounds recorded indoors. Outdoors, the owner records around Meguro, Tokyo, with a ZOOM iQ7 stereo microphone attached to an iPhone 11 Pro: in Rinshi-no-mori Park, around JR Gotanda Station and along the Yamanote Line, along the Meguro River and around Fudoson. Indoors, the owner records guitar, voice and everyday-object sound effects in a recording space at home with sound-absorbing material installed.
Photos of the actual gear and recording space are on Recording Gear and Setup, and the flow of recording is introduced in Recording and Creating Sounds.
How to find and use the sounds
- Search from the search box on the top page, or browse the categories (Nature Sounds, Everyday Sounds, Transportation, Musical Instruments, Voice).
- Play the sound on its page to listen to it.
- Choose a format (MP3 or WAV) and download the ones you like. You can also add a sound to your favorites (♡) for later.
If you cannot find the sound you need, please let us know through “Request a Sound” on the top page. It helps guide future recordings.
If you are new here, please also see How to Use. Ways of using downloaded sounds in your own work are collected in Using Sound Effects.
The sounds are free for commercial and non-commercial use, and no credit or usage report is required. Redistributing the sound files themselves and selling the sounds as they are, however, are prohibited. The terms may change, so please check the latest License page before use. Common questions are answered in the FAQ.
Featured sounds
A selection of sounds from each category, chosen from among the most downloaded. You can play them to listen.
More sounds are coming
I record, organize and publish everything on my own, so updates take time, but I will keep adding sounds little by little. If you like the library, please stop by from time to time.
For inquiries, please use the Contact page.