Easy Rider

When I first arrived in Tokyo I was woken up in the middle of the night by an extremely loud siren, with someone talking over the top of it through a loudspeaker. My initial reaction was....

a) that it was the end of the world.
b) a large earthquake was about to destroy Tokyo.
c) Godzilla was on the rampage.

Breathing a sigh of relief five minutes later, I realised that it was just an extremely loud ambulance.

And speaking of loud things that keep me awake, gangs on motorbikes frequently drive past my building late at night very slowly, revving their engines extremely loudly.

Now when I saw the Japanese anime film called Akira, I thought young Japanese people riding about on motorbikes was really cool.

I have since changed my mind.

Apparently in the Toyama prefecture, music therapists have developed a police siren which is soothing and reassuring. Click here for the article.