Alighting at one of the JR Yamanote Line's quietest stops, Uguisudani Station, I chat with the stationmaster about its name, which means "Bush-Warbler Valley." Apparently, the area used to have limpid streams and a bucolic setting that attracted the feathered songsters, also known as Japanese nightingales. A recording of the passerine's liquid song is broadcast on the platform in the early morning hours, the stationmaster tells me, but a quick glance around the vicinity makes me doubt the actual birds still sing here.