Yakiimo

A Japanese Sweet Potato Truck drives by

To the older Japanese, the lament-like song of the baked sweet potato seller is the soundtrack of autumn and winter. - Grigoris Miliaresis - TOKYO CHEAPO

I was standing outside waiting for a restaurant to open when a sweet potato truck drove by. The sweet potato truck was playing its recorded message. It is a plaintive, pleading sound in the cold, darkness of the night. The driver is hoping that people hearing the announcement will come out of their homes and pay the equivalent of around five dollars for a roasted sweet potato, rather than just standing by the side of the road recording the message on their iPhone as he drives by.

I want to share this with you for two reasons. First there is something very special about the sound of this cool-weather Japanese tradition. Second, there is something very Japanese about someone working at a job that in another country would be scorned as being difficult and unworthy of doing. You need to sell a lot of sweet potatoes to make a comfortable living. In Japan, people take pride at doing things that provide pleasure to their fellow citizens. With all the things going wrong in the world, doesn’t this warm your heart a little?

Here is a link to a TOKYO CHEAPO article about this custom.