daniel.ahmed wrote:

> Yeah, that might explain it - the vans were all displaying Japanese
> flags and Crysenthemum symbols. 

Of course.

> I would have ignored them too, except
> that this was SUPER loud, and a lot of Japanese folks seemed rather
> surprised and intrigued as well. 

Really? It was akihabara. Sure you weren't observing other tourists?

>Oh, well. Thanks for the info!

No worries.
On an unrelated note, If you want to be taken seriously on the 
usenets, you know, be one of the cool kids, then don't use 
googlegroups, or, if you must-

"don't use the "Reply" link at the bottom of the article. Click on 
"show options" at the top of the article, then click on the "Reply" at 
the bottom of the article headers"