Trucks

I remember coming home from work once, and there was unfamiliar music playing in my neighbourhood, with a kind of wailing chant. It sounded rather like the Muslim call to prayer, and very solemn. My first thought was that there might have been a funeral or perhaps monks were chanting some ancient rite.

Then I realised what they were saying - 'yakiimo-o-o! yakiimo-o-o!'

It was a sweet potato truck.

These trucks cruise around the neighbourhood playing their jingle to attract customers, much like icecream trucks do in the West. The yakiimo man actually has a kind of fire burner on his truck to roast/grill the sweet potatoes.

The odd thing is that in Japan, the trucks that play bright, happy music are garbage trucks; the trucks that sound like a funeral dirge are selling delicious snacks.

I remembered this because right now as I sit in my room, the exact same tune is playing outside. The yakiimo man was in the neighbourhood last week and this; perhaps he has begun because it is winter, and sweet potatoes are popular winter foods.