Well, we finally solved the mystery, and it's not eerie at all. In fact I cannot believe they play such scary music for the service they are offering (but we love it, nonetheless!). It turns out they are not killing small animals, kidnapping children, or cursing the neighborhood... they are selling sweet potatoes! These trucks have hot stone ovens in the back and they roast sweet potatoes while the driver drives around town. He periodically stops in various neighborhoods so people can walk out and buy roasted potatoes from him. Amazing! I found out that the mobile selling of roasted sweet potatoes has been around in Japan for over 100 years, originally being sold in little 2 wheeled carts that were pushed around town. Nowadays they are in trucks. As you can hear in our video, the recording yells out "Ishi yaki imo!!" in an eerie, sing-song voice, which means "Roasted sweet potatoes!!" They are very delicious, and most grocery stores have a little cart with hot stones with paper bags full of roasted potatoes you can buy. Because of this in-store set up, the Yaki Imo drivers are not as numerous as they were back in the day.
After a year of listening to the freaky Yaki Imo man come and go, I finally just this week decided to go out and see first hand what was going on. As I approached the truck, the driver was in the back, turning potatoes on the hot rocks. I asked him for one, and he was such a nice, older fellow. He told me to be careful because the bag was hot. I was so excited! I'd had roasted Japanese sweet potatoes many times, but never from the Yaki Imo man!! I feel like we've come full circle. As I scurried back home with my potato in a paper bag, I heard the engine start and the beautiful, eerie music fill the night. That music still gives me chills, but I love it so much. Thank you Yaki Imo man!
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