Baby babble from US bases creating new headache for Japanese

The US military is in trouble in Japan - but this time it's not because of low-flying fighter jets or misbehaving Marines, it is from infant babble transmitted over illicit baby monitors.

Japan's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has warned the 47,000 US forces based in the country that the devices used by service personnel with young children interfere with local radio frequencies.

Some US-bought baby monitors transmit signals on wavelengths that are reserved for cell phone traffic and radio services in Japan, and are strong enough to cause interference, a ministry official told AFP Tuesday.

"Our ministry is asking the US military for permission to visit the families who are illegally emitting these frequencies and personally ask them to avoid using the baby monitors," the official said.

The radio transmitters, which allow parents to listen in on an infant in a different room, have also interfered with the radio services of taxi and truck companies and threaten firefighters' communications, media reports said.

The US military said the baby monitors must not get in the way of relations with its Asian security ally.

A spokeswoman told AFP that the US forces in Japan had banned the sale of the devices on base and "taken proactive measures to educate the US military community ... in Japan that baby monitors can affect Japanese frequencies and should not be used here in Japan."

AFP