The coming Summer Olympic Games in Athens will have a distinctive Japanese sound at many competitions because a whistle from Japan will be heard frequently. They are the creation of 73-year-old Kazuhiro Noda who runs a small factory known as "The Noda Voice of the Crane Company."

Mr. Noda says the cork balls in inferior whistles crack after exposure to saliva. But Mr. Noda uses a special waterproof coating on the balls, giving them a perfectly smooth surface.

And instead of copper or nickel, his best whistles are either pure chrome or gold plated. Mr. Noda criticizes his European competitors, saying despite 100 years of whistle making, they got complacent and their quality deteriorated.

Noda whistles were used at the Winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002, and at the summer games four years ago in Sydney. Noda whistles are quite expensive, retailing for between $30 and $80 compared with others selling for as little as $10. The cost does not matter to devotees in more than 50 countries where they are used not only in sports, but by police and the military.

The future of the Noda whistle is in doubt. Mr. Noda laments fierce competition from Taiwanese copycats, but the biggest threat is closer to home. None of Mr. Noda's three sons is interested in taking the family business into the third generation.