In the beginning of this new year of the dragon, a trip to Japan found me visiting the town of Sugamo, on the northern loop of the JR Yamanote line. WWII history buffs will know Sugamo infamously as the town that housed the prison that housed war criminals: Prime Minister Tojo was incarcerated and hanged here in 1948. Today, with past history behind it, what was once the prison grounds is now a skyscraper.
Sugamon, the cute and friendly duck mascot of the town of Sugamo.
This is the Sugamo post office.
Today Sugamo is a destination for the geriatric set. The Japanese call it the Harajuku for Grandmas....
(Harajuku being the mecca
for Japanese teenyboppers).
Here's a shop dedicated to geriatric health products, vitamins, etc.
Sugamo also is home of the aka pantsu, (literally red pants). Shops filled with red underwear line the shopping district. Red, being the auspicious color that it is, is deemed lucky.
One of the famous shops, Maruji sells everything related to undergarments and all in red.
Victoria's Secret for Granny Panties?
How about these red hot sexy numbers...no thongs for the wrinkled set.
...below the belly button there is a point known as the Tan-Den. Even a touch to here may makes your feel warm! (Dantian is the source of the life force Qi, a major concept in TaiChi) It is hard to explain though, without Qi our lives can't go on! It is hard for us, ordinary people to get "Tan Den" to be strong and also Qi. But don't worry. "Red Panty" does it! All you have to do is put on it! ...it is said that the red cloth can warm your body, and fill your energy in Oriental medicine. Please choose brilliant red one and natural mateial one like silk or cotton. Notice: When sleeping, "Red Panty" may cause you excite and make you sleepless. So put on ordinary color underwear when you sleep.
Who couldn't use some luck, energy and excitement!? With Valentine's Day around the corner, it's not difficult to find lots of red (and underwear). Upon my return from Sugamo I passed out a few lucky red fabric samples that the shopkeeper in Maruji happily gave me (she was thrilled that products from her store were going to America) Just the other day one of my yoga/taichi classmates ecstatically shared with us that she had just bought herself some red underwear and the day she wore them she sold a million dollar house.
Lucky Aka Pantsu!
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