Fire Safety

Every year around this time, neighborhood volunteers are out on the streets at night, clacking wooden sticks together and calling out to people about fire safety. It’s taken us six years to figure out what they are chanting.
The other night, as we were walking home late from work, the patrol was out. It was a group of three younger men and they were doing their job with gusto.
“Are they yelling Ii yo, ii yo ji? Maybe Iroiro ii?” I wondered after listening to them.
“Um….yoyogi?” Tod suggested doubtfully. He listened again. “I think maybe it ends in shin”
“Or jin? I can’t tell. Let’s ask them,” I suggested as we converged on their path. Of course that meant Tod was going to ask; his Japanese is much better than mine.
The patrol volunteers were happy to tell us, carefully and loudly, that they are saying hi no youjin which means “fire caution.”
Have a listen for yourself. I made this recording of a different, somewhat less enthusiastic patrol this evening: Hi no youjin (0:18 mp3 429K)