From the Washington Post:

In Tokyo, a High-Pitched Whine Repels Teens, Attracts TV Crews

(Is it really news that whining attracts TV news crews?)

In a Tokyo park where there has been a rash of what is assumed to be teen vandalism, police have installed a device that, the Post reports, “emits a high-pitched, highly irritating whine that has a frequency above 17 kilohertz,” which “most adults cannot hear… but teens can.”

And:

Seven days a week, the whining begins at 11 p.m. and continues until 4 a.m. Video surveillance cameras monitor park buildings. And Kitashikahama Park empties out.


Except for the television news crews.

“We see them on the surveillance videos, and there are too many of them to count,” said Haruyuki Masuda, head of park management in Adachi Ward. “They hide behind trees and bushes. They are waiting for kids to come. I think they have scared off the kids.”

Neighbors report that the park has quieted down at night, if you don’t count the television news trucks…

h/t, Foreign Policy’s Passport blog