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Mobile Salesman Still Common in Japan

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On a cold, dark night in Tokyo, you can hear it: a mournful, nasal chant piercing through the frigid air. "Ishiyaaaaaaaaki imooooooooooo!" meaning "Stone-roasted sweet potatoes..."

The song is coming from a small white pickup truck with a speaker on top. In the back of the pickup is, indeed, a wood-fueled oven full of stones which have, in amongst them, large, purple-skinned sweet potatoes. The aroma of the wood and the potatoes fills the air as I pass the truck in front of the train station on my way home.

As I head down the street, I see a woman coming out of an apartment building, and then waiting by the street. She's heard the "yakiimo" song and has come out to buy some sweet potatoes--a longtime favorite winter snack in Japan.

While it may seem surprising, this kind of street vendor is still fairly common in Japan. In days past, of course, the yakiimo truck was a human-powered wagon, and the same human sang the song, whereas now the song is on a tape loop.

During the day, and year-round, another commonly seen (and heard) mobile salesman is the "saodake" man. Saodake is a long pole (traditionally made of bamboo, but nowadays it's metal) for hanging laundry on. This truck also has a speaker broadcasting a tape loop of a brief song announcing the salesman's arrival.

I've always thought that it's kind of a bizarre business that couldn't be that profitable. My wife once bought poles from a mobile saodake salesman, and then later learned that his prices were vastly inflated compared to the cost of the same poles in a store. Guess that's how they stay profitable!

A more modern mobile salesman is the kerosene man. At certain times every week during the colder months of the year, we can hear the rather music-boxy tune coming from his speakers and know it's time to get our kerosene bottles out to the curb.

Even the garbage trucks have music coming from them. Once you've learned to recognize the garbage truck music, you don't have many excuses for not getting your garbage out on time! (Japanese generally don't put garbage out the night before for fear of animals ripping open the bags; outdoor garbage cans are rarely seen here.)

On occasion, other vendors, such as tofu and ramen sellers, add their voices to the neighborhood mobile-sales din.

All of these are fairly welcome, but there's another kind of announcement truck that is almost universally reviled, because it's the noisiest and people generally don't want what it's selling:

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