Yesterday, the “big, black noise trucks” were out in full force.

The extremist political groups own huge black, windowless boxes on wheels. On top is a railed platform for speeches and the entire thing is rigged with powerful speakers. Painted with Japanese flags and slogans condemning foreigners, non-patriotic Japanese, Russian island-snatchers or other brands of political skullduggery, they are intimidating.

They travel around town slowly, blaring the Japanese national anthem (only recently officially recognised) and shouting slogans from the belly of the beast. They disrupt office workers in Otemachi regularly and sometimes cruise through residential neighborhoods.

Yesterday, I think they parked somewhere nearby and held a rally. For over an hour, waves of angry call-and-response washed through the canyon of buildings in my neighborhood. The words were indistinct, but the emotion came through loud and clear. It was scary. I stayed inside.

No doubt they are terrorising some other neighborhood today. Posted by kuri at August 23, 2001 08:09 AM