Does this ところ bear the meaning of "thing" here?

Question

For full context, see here: https://www.docdroid.net/XIK9pCk/img-20171020-0001-new.pdf#page=2

The sentence in question is taken from line 31-32: チャイム?あっ, 発車ベルのことですね。少しうるさいところもあるかもしれませんが、日本の乗り物には、安全性があると思います。

=> "chime? Ah, the departure bell. It probably is a bit of an annoying thing, but don't you think that it is for the japanese transport to have safety?"

I never before saw ところ in the meaning of "thing" in my textbook so far, but it is there in the entry on jisho. However, it is in the category "noun,suffix" so I'm a bit hesitant about my interpretation.^^ Maybe you could confirm my translation or tell me how to do it right :D

Besides, why didn't the speaker just say "すくしうるさいかもしれませんが..."? Is it "a matter of style", like, is the alternative with ところ more formal for example?

Answer 1

The meaning of this ところ is somewhat different from that of "thing".

We use 「Adjective + ところ」 or 「Verb Phrase + ところ」 to talk about one of the characteristics of people or things.

The sentence can be translated like this (The part in bold corresponds to 「少しうるさいところ」.):

Though there may be the characteristic of being a bit noisy/annoying , don't you think there is safeness in Japanese transportation?

Here the speaker says that 「少しうるさいところ」 is one of the characteristics of Japanese transportation, the one of slight noisiness/annoyingness exemplified or single-handedly embodied by the departure bell, not that the departure bell is an noisy/annoying thing.

I don't think the choice between 「少しうるさいところもあるかもしれませんが」 and 「少しうるさいかもしれませんが」 is a matter of style or formality. A relevant difference might be that the implication of other characteristics someone/something has is stronger with「(Xは)Yところがある」than with「(Xは)Y」. The use of 「ところがある」 may be partially motivated by this factor, as a kind of foreshadowing, since the speaker then goes on to mention another characteristic of Japanese transportation, namely that of safeness.