May 20, 2009
Japan is Loud!
This is a vid of a man selling warabimochi from an truck and loudspeakers (kinda like an ice cream man in America) [via Yamato Logic]. It's gone douga-viral. Back when I made English lessons for our local cable in Saga, I remember that I used the word ぷるぷる (purupuru) to talk about our local delicacy, roasted oysters, but the guy in the van has mad purupuru skillz yo. As for the meaning of purupuru, well, it's hard to describe, but it's like soft-yummy-wobbly. And maybe juicy.
Along with politicians and the firetruck that drives by every night yelling at us to be safe, things like this combine to make the streets of Japan quite 煩い (urusai, meaning loud, annoying, "shut up!" and a load of other things). Due to a lack of insulation, I hear everything loud and clear. I made a video about the sounds of Japan a while back that you may have seen that is titled "Japan is Loud!"
Also, below is one of my favorite Japanese CMs, 日本人はうるさい！ (Japanese sure are fussy):
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That's amazing. I kind of admire his enthusiasm, but I'd be annoyed, too. It's better than what we have here in Harlem, which is ice cream trucks prowling the streets with their 20-second jingles looping over and over again for hours until 10pm.
ReplyDeleteI would buy 蕨餅 just to make that crazy man keep moving.
my aunt lived in okinawa for awhile [would have been 80s], and she said that she remembered people driving through the streets with megaphones, broadcasting their political views.
ReplyDeletei would like to think this anecdote is a direct reflection of the fact that the broadcasting of newly available ice cream flavors/treats has become more pressing.
...and when i say 'ice cream', i mean oysters.
ReplyDeletei can read.
woot!!!! Thanks for the link! XD
ReplyDeletelol, that 日本語はうるさい CM is awesome. I love the gaijin accent at the beginning.
BTW, your post on that the whole To Be or Not To Be thing was AWESOME. I would post that comment there, but since all I have to say is "OMG GREAT" I feel silly making a separate comment.