Yaki-imo
Comments: 5
I’ve started recording some of the sounds I regularly hear while sitting at my desk. Today, the yaki-imo man. Yaki-imo (baked sweet potato) are sold from street stalls and, more recently, small vans that drive around the neighbourhood playing this recorded song (or a variation – there are many). The stalls and vans have log-fired ovens on the back of them and little chimneys sticking up. I love them.
The yaki-imo song is one of my earliest memories of Tokyo. I got here in 1990 and stayed with a friend in an apartment in the middle of town. It was freezing cold, and drifting up through the canyons of apartment buildings came the yaki-imo song, now indelibly part of my life.
Yaki-imo Song (344K mp3, 00:00:44)
I love the little hiccup in the tape as it loops. The ticking you hear towards the end is the engine of the van as it passes my house and then turns the corner.
While we’re on the subject of sweet potatoes, here’s a great dessert. Bake a large sweet potato until it’s well cooked. You can cut it down the middle or section it first, spread a little butter on it, put it back together, wrap it in foil and chuck it in the oven. When it’s done, take the pieces and put them on plates. Cover with vanilla ice-cream and pour maple syrup on top. There’s no going back.
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Posted to Audio • 2002.10.20 (Sun) • 14:49
Comments
Posted by DH 2002.10.20, 19:21
Did you know that most yaki imo men have a taped version of the song, but that a few paladins of the art, at least here in “inaka” Japan, still sing live?
We’ve a couple here in Kanazawa that have lovely, gravelly singing voices, and carry a mic on a neck brace, singing as they drive. We are even occasionally treated to a bout of “two-pack-of-Seven-Stars-a-day” hacking in the mddle of a chorus.
These kool old cats are even wont to ocasionally break into some old-skool freestyle lines the like of “hokka hokka yo, yakitate-ooo, oooo-ishiiii-yoo, etone, (“hack”) nanimoshiranai-yoo!!!” you can even hear them chuckling at their forgetting the words now and then
Cheers for standing up for the yaki imo man, we love them too. Incidentally, your guy has a particularly nice taped version of the song, cos some of them are so warbly you can’t make out a word.
Posted by jh 2002.10.20, 20:29
DH —
I’ve heard in guys singing live once or twice, but it must be extremely rare in Tokyo these days. As for the “two-pack-of-Seven-Stars-a-day” hacking (and it would be Seven Stars, too), I know exactly what you mean.
Been meaning to get to Kanazawa for a long time. Haven’t made it yet. It’s supposed to be beautiful over there.
Posted by Sam 2004.12.16, 04:04
Thanks for sharing the recording, Jeremy — I’ve been looking for a good one since I saw the post on Tokyo Metblogs a while back: http://tokyo.metblogs.com/archives/2004/11/post.phtml
Posted by John R 2006.02.11, 05:30
Wow - I was just pouring through some old field recordings from Tokyo and found my own recording of this lovely and melancholy song. So, I googled “yaki imo song” and found this - so great!
DH - thanks for the info, I can’t believe it’s still actually sung somewhere. Great description!
I uploaded my recording for you - click on my name to hear/download it. It was recorded in Ebisu in 2002. While I was recording, some Yakuza came and told him to move to another corner!
Cheers!
Posted by John R 2006.02.11, 05:35
Sorry - The correct URL is actually http://djgnosis.com/mp3/yakiimo.mp3
Enjoy.
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