Last night when we heard this now familiar sound, we quickly turned off our light and opened our window to investigate. Looking down from our third story window, we saw four people wearing orange vests, walking slowly down the alley. One carried a traditional lantern, two carried flashlights which they shone here and there as if looking for something, and the fourth beat together two large sticks.
I was told today that these groups are traditional volunteer fire fighting groups. They go around the neighborhoods at night signaling with the wooden sticks and checking around for any obvious fire hazards. The sound reminds citizens to be careful about fire by turning off kerosene heaters before bed, etc. That makes a lot of sense! Mystery solved!
In Japan, fire prevention is considered a civic responsibility -- each person feels personally responsible for helping to keep the neighborhood safe from fires. Long ago, when houses were made of wood with thatched roofs, if a fire broke out in one house, it would quickly spread and could mean the destruction of a whole neighborhood, or worse. Even with today's modern building materials and methods, earthquakes still increase the risk of fires, and Japanese people take that very seriously. Some people in country homes still leave buckets of water standing ready outside their doorways, just in case there's a need to douse a fire or soak a roof to prevent fire from spreading.
Mr. Nanto remembers that his Japanese Grandma's very biggest fear was that a fire would break out in her home, even though her home was a farmhouse in the United States.
Can you think of any Civic Responsibilities that you have, as a citizen of Massachusetts, and as a member of your own particular neighborhood?
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