Annoying or background noise? Japan’s sound trucks on full blast at election time

It starts as a distant series of distorted notes, carried on the wind through Tokyo’s suburbs. Gradually, it comes closer and the noise builds. Eventually, the van rounds a corner and I am subjected to the full power of a sound system that would not be out of place at a rock concert.Flags flutter from the rear of the white van, which has its party affiliation emblazoned across the bonnet and down both sides. A man in a baseball cap declaring his political preference is behind the wheel and women in the rear seats are leaning from the windows and waving white-gloved hands at passers-by who hardly glance in their direction.And all the while, the soundtrack is a monotonous – and deafening – repetition of a man’s name and the party that he is standing for in Sunday’s election to Japan’s Diet.Welcome to political campaigning, Japanese style.A House of Councillors candidate’s election campaign vehicle campaigning in Tokyo’s Akihabara area. Photo: ShutterstockJapan’s last election took place only in July last year and a number of cities have had local votes in the intervening months, meaning that the sound trucks invariably deployed to promote a candidate have been working hard recently.