obnoxious election vehicles
It appears it's election time again, which means the campaigners are in full swing. Colorful posters with catchy slogans, rallies and debates at the community center, cars with loudspeakers... wait, cars with loudspeakers??
In Japan it seems to be perfectly legal to strap a pair of bullhorns to your car, drive around, and scream your own name at the top of your lungs, between the hours of 8am and 8pm. I don't mean a quaint little truck playing patriotic music like in Back to the Future, but literally shouting the same thing repeatedly, rapid-fire, into the microphone, at ear-splitting volume. You can even hire other people to do it for you. Most people I've talked to seem to agree that the cars are obnoxious, and I've personally had to stop several lessons until the disruption passed.
I tried to explain how the United States and most of Europe have general public noise regulations. Everyone seemed to be astounded for some reason. Is that such an amazing thing, to expect other people not to make ridiculous amounts of noise when you're trying to study, or work, or SLEEP? (Yes, I patiently explained, those people who work at the 7-11 have to sleep at some point, and I can't imagine they're thrilled about having their rest disrupted.) I went on to say that being that obnoxious in the U.S. would be a great way to have your tires slashed, windows destroyed, and the bullhorns removed from the car with a baseball bat. At the very least, why don't they have a law against it here?
So I'm trying to think of ways to exercise civil disobedience. I think a good tactic would be boxing them in on the road with a few cars, getting out, and handing them a flyer demanding they stop the noise and find another way to advertise. I don't care who you are, you're not going to drive through my neighborhood and be an asshole. I don't know if the police would be sympathetic, but I think the only reason it still goes on is that nobody wants to make a stink about it.
June 14th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Think of what you've told us of other annoyances, especially in education. It's not just that no one has tried to stop them, it's just that (from what you've said) the Japanese seem to accept things the way they've always been and not really look at WHY they are doing things that way, or how they could do them differently--it's just a conformity with "this is the way we've always done it, so don't ask questions." That's the way it's always been, and that's the way it will always be. Relax. Conform. (I know this goes against the grain of who you are, which is, again, why I can't believe you are living there without going crazy.) I recommend you look up Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," read it, and give the theme some thought. I'm sure the text is available online, since it is a classic and not that long. Mindless conformity without question is not the American way!
July 1st, 2007 at 2:30 am
I am posting this from my couch via my Wii. High tech, right? Try a bullhorn of your own, maybe...
July 6th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Try strapping loud speakers to your car and drive beside the damn thing all day with loud (but not louder than the van because it'll probably cross the legal public noise borderline) rap music. That'll give'em an image the public won't forget.