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> they would destroy the buildings surrounding the fire in an effort to contain it Anecdota told by a Japanese friend: father used to be a volunteer fireman in
by tasogare 7y ago
> they would destroy the buildings surrounding the fire in an effort to contain it
Anecdota told by a Japanese friend: father used to be a volunteer fireman in his town. He really liked it, but not from the reasons you might expect. First, it was because there were frequent drinking gatherings. But also, during a fire in a house, the firemen would go inside and throw everything out (often destroying them in the process) to avoid the fire being fed. This includes the family ancestors shrine, which the father took a great pleasure to destroy (I think because of how sacred it is). He enjoyed that for years before his wife made him stop because she was fed up of him going home drunk.
Also, a some point in the year in Winter, volunteers firemen go in the street and shot aloud things I didn’t understand for as a tradition to warn the neighbors.
- hkmurakami 7y agoThe shouting is probably 火の用心 and is accompanied by hitting some wooden blocks together as a percussion instrument. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59qOsX-i2q8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59qOsX-i2q8 Your an anecdote is pretty hilarious -- I remember seeing a shrine (Shinto) in my grandfather's house. But then there was also a Bhuddist thing ever you keep your ancestors' ashes. I wonder which one he enjoyed breaking. Perhaps both. Edit: Here’s a video of some children in Hokkaido taking part in the tradition https://youtu.be/qv3BNlqf66A https://youtu.be/qv3BNlqf66A
- tasogare 7y agoAh yes, that’s 火の用心 I think. Thanks for the remainder! A friend explained it to me after I asked about (frankly I was a bit scared at first, I was thinking it was a cult before reading something about fire protection on their vests) but I didn’t take note.
- bingerman 7y agoI don't get it. Why did he enjoy destroying those family ancestors shrines? And surely that kind of behavior would be noticed by others and result in serious social damage, no?
- buckminster 7y agoIt's like a carnival, an opportunity to do something taboo without the social blowback. Many, maybe most, enjoy this.
- jolmg 7y agoFrom my non-Japanese background, it sounds equivalent to destroying cremation urns. I would expect outrage.
- dmix 7y agoI'm assuming the owner of the units wasn't around for it at the time so there wasn't the backlash while saving the whole rest of a community from the fire spreading. Don't ever discredit a certain percentage of humans urge to destroy and break things, especially in a drunken rage. We spend a great deal of effort keeping people well socialized, despite plenty of pent up anger. That's why we have professionally trained police and firemen now. Things are always improving for the better.
- bobthepanda 7y ago> And surely that kind of behavior would be noticed by others and result in serious social damage, no? Considering the official explanation of it is "avoid providing fuel to a raging fire", and those weren't the only things they were breaking, I'm not sure how an outsider would be expected to notice.
- tasogare 7y agoBecause the process (from what I recall) involves destroying the house and throwing out it’s burnable content. So, no outrage because this is what should be done. Granted, I didn’t interrogated someone who had their house burned about their opinion. Also, countryside context, not in a city.
- JshWright 7y agoWhile we certainly take a different perspective on sentimental items (preserving property is a big part of modern firefighting), getting to break shit is a big part of the "fun" of being a firefighter. Getting to beat down a door, or take a chainsaw to someone's roof is definitely a good time. Even better is cutting apart a car with hydraulic tools.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]