So, in Japan there are many things that seem odd or scary or hilarious. You just never know what you may see or run into, and even after living here 9 months, you keep an open mind and understand that it's Japan - anything goes!
Vehicles that have loud speakers are very common here. They often cruise around town, blaring special announcements (sort of a mobile community bulletin board if you will), or political propaganda. Even the garbage trucks play music on a loud speaker as they slowly make their way through your neighborhood and across town.
This one vehicle has us stumped as to what it is, and honestly a little freaked out. It's freaky because of the music it plays. It drives very slowly down our street, often stopping in certain places for a few minutes. It comes around every Sunday evening at 7pm like clock work. I heard it coming tonight, and quickly grabbed the camera and ran to the kitchen window. I was able to record the entire song. The video is purely for the audio - I just shoved the camera up to the window and it's night, so there isn't a lot to see, but I think that makes it even scarier. We did some research, and the music they are playing is from a song called Requiem from an anime movie called Naushica of the Valley of the Wind. However the only lyrics are within the first 25 seconds of the music, and I don't think they are "lyrics," I think it's some kind of announcement or message. After the message, we are then left with nearly 4 minutes of eerie, beautiful, soul-haunting music. Toward the end of the video, the vehicle starts driving away, so the music gets softer, and the message starts again. We currently have no idea what they are saying, but we have a Japanese friend we are going to ask. When we find out any additional information, I'll be sure to post it here! In the meantime, enjoy this video of what we get to listen to every Sunday night:
Eerie Music in Our Neighborhood
No comments:
Post a Comment