The combination of one of the lowest birthrates in the world coupled with the lack of an inflow of new blood in the form of immigration threatens to start taking its toll in Japanese society, and already you can see signs of the country’s graying. Like the time I went to go to a toy store that I’d been to many times, only to find that it had gone out of business and been replaced by a store selling…Buddhist altars and grave stones. (That was a shocker.) These days an area of Tokyo called Sugamo is popular with older Japanese as a place to buy products to help you live a long and healthy life, like bright red underwear, said to bring good luck and good health in Japan. They sell many healthy foods, like garlic miso, too– sounds delicious. There’s also a Shinto shrine where people can pray for good health and long life, and it’s said if you wash a particular statue of Buddha with your own towel that part of your body will be healed. I love the tag line for Sugamo: they bill themselves as the toshiyori no Harajuku, or Harajuku for older people.
Red underwear is considered lucky by older Japanese.
