
We will soon make a brief stop at…my mother’s heartstrings.
If you’ve ever travelled on the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, you will have heard English announcements onboard voiced by Australian singer and voice actress Donna Burke.
Her dulcet tones have been alerting passengers to upcoming stations since 2005, but one person who was yet to have the pleasure of hearing the voice announcements on the bullet train after all these years was Burke’s own mother.
That all changed a couple of days ago, however, when Burke shared a sweet reaction video showing her on the bullet train in Japan with her mother. Travelling from Tokyo Station to the next stop, Shinagawa Station, the short trip was just enough time for Burke’s mother to hear her daughter’s voice come over the on-board speakers, and Burke shared the moment on Twitter with the comment: “My Mum heard me on the #Shinkansen today for the first time ever!!”
Take a look at the sweet video below:
https://twitter.com/db_singer_actor/status/1189459108052602880The clip quickly went viral, receiving close to 3 million views in just one day and over 140,000 likes and 44,000 retweets. It’s not the first time Burke has had fun with her voice on the bullet train, however, as this video from her Twitter account shows her imitating herself on the Shinkansen back in June.
And here is me imitating myself on the #Shinkansen back in June!! そしてこれは今年6月#新幹線 に乗った時自分のモノマネをした自分です!😜😜😜 pic.twitter.com/ZVIv3fnVED
— Donna Burke ドナ・バーク (@TheDonnaBurke) October 31, 2019
After the overwhelmingly positive response to her reaction video with her mother, Burke shared another video of her and her mum, this time showing the moment before the two hopped on the train together.
When booking #Shinkansen tickets I explained who I was and then made a video for her! She was super surprised to hear my voice!!! 私が新幹線のチケットを予約したとき、私はチケット売り手に誰であるかを説明し、彼女のためにビデオを作りました!彼女は私の声を聞いてとても驚きました!!! pic.twitter.com/E8or1Msfaz
— Donna Burke ドナ・バーク (@TheDonnaBurke) October 31, 2019
The viral video of the mother-daughter moment on the train touched the Twitterverse, with people leaving comments in English and Japanese.
“Every time I ride the Shinkansen I fall in love with the English announcements, and now I’ve finally found the person behind the voice!”
“I love your voice! It’s so beautiful!”
“What a happy moment to share with your mother!”
“Your mother has a beautiful voice too!”
“Thank you for your announcements! The next time I hear your voice on the Shinkansen I’ll remember this moment with your mother.”
The next time we ride the Tokaido bullet train between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations, we’ll be recalling this precious moment too! Now we’re keen to see Burke’s mum reacting to all of her daughter’s vast and varied voice acting roles, including her work as Metal Gear’s iDroid.
Source, featured image: Twitter/@db_singer_actor
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