Sugamo is the shopping district around the Yamanote-Line Sugamo station and very close to our home. Unlike most of the famous shopping district in Tokyo, it is not aiming at the young and fashionable. Instead, this shopping district caters mostly to the elderly. The most popular, 800m long, Jizo Dori Street is therefore know under the nickname 'Harajuku for Old Ladies'. Even though we're not exactly the typical visitors of the shopping district, we still find it very interesting the stroll around the area and discover all new things sold in the shops.
The shops sell mostly clothing (old-fashioned style) and many different kinds of traditional foods and drinks. This will mostly be foods you will not find in any normal supermarket, so the area is a good opportunity to try some traditional snacks and food. There are many nice sweets, cakes and cookies that are worth trying.
The area most famous product is the typical Sugamo red undergarment! They come in lots of different styles, and many shops are specialized in selling only these red underwear, socks, etc. It is said that wearing the red undies will bring luck to the wearer, however we have not (yet) tested this hypothesis...
In the middle of the shopping street lies the Koganji temple. Next to the temple is the Togenuki Jizo-statue. It's so famous that they have made a theme-park like queue to stand in line in order to visit. You wash the statue in order to let it help cure illnesses.
And, off course, you're not a real shopping district without an area-mascot : the Sugamo-duck!
The shops sell mostly clothing (old-fashioned style) and many different kinds of traditional foods and drinks. This will mostly be foods you will not find in any normal supermarket, so the area is a good opportunity to try some traditional snacks and food. There are many nice sweets, cakes and cookies that are worth trying.
The area most famous product is the typical Sugamo red undergarment! They come in lots of different styles, and many shops are specialized in selling only these red underwear, socks, etc. It is said that wearing the red undies will bring luck to the wearer, however we have not (yet) tested this hypothesis...
In the middle of the shopping street lies the Koganji temple. Next to the temple is the Togenuki Jizo-statue. It's so famous that they have made a theme-park like queue to stand in line in order to visit. You wash the statue in order to let it help cure illnesses.
And, off course, you're not a real shopping district without an area-mascot : the Sugamo-duck!
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