Silence is Bliss

Some things need to be clarified. I had mentioned that the elections for the House of Councilors are happening this summer, and that the megaphone trucks are blaring up the wazoo.

Well, they weren't blaring for the elections in July. They were blaring for the local elections that were going on everywhere in Japan. And THANK GOD that they were not going crazy for the July elections - I would have no peace. Four more months of overly caffeinated white gloved candidates and their minions yelling into megaphones? I was practically ready to tear my hear out with the past week of "campaigning" that I and everyone else had to hear.

Over the course of the past few days, electioneering (if that is a word) was pushed into overdrive. No matter where you went in Kyoto you would hear some lady's overly-chirpy voice or a man's deep, gruff old-school voice (think old samurai movies) squawking into a megaphone contraption the size of a car's roof that was attached to the top of said car which was very tiny (as is everything else here in Japan) that made it look like Bozo the Clown's vehicle. Don't get me started if two cars from opposing parties or opposing politicians crossed paths; they would stop, and a contest of who could yell out the candidates name plus "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" louder ensued.

In the beginning it was quite funny - one of the quirks of the Japanese election process. I thought it was comical how people conducted themselves with so much gusto and zeal that anyone could see at almost any time of day, and that you didn't have to pay $2000 a plate at a fundraiser to see a candidate, or that you didn't need to fall upon a scheduled meet-and-greet to see said candidate.

But over the past few days, it was getting to the point of noise pollution. The cars would drive through the narrow and twisting streets of quiet neighborhoods, disturbing the peace and waking me up from my afternoon nap; I could hear them CLEARLY in spite of the fact that my apartment is in the back of the building and situated away from the street. If one complained or yells out "urusai" ("Noisy!" - in a bad way) he or she can actually get arrested for election obstruction.

So you can imagine my delight this evening when I realized something: I had not heard or seen any of those stupid cars and their overly-peppy white gloved occupants.

Oh, silence is bliss.