This nice man mixes custom-blended 7-pepper spice (shichimi) while you wait.
Walking along Koshinzuka Street is like taking a step back in time, and I always see something I’ve never seen before. Shop for big red underwear, squicky snacks & goods from a bygone era.
I hope you’ll be in Tokyo on a day that ends in “4,” because on the 4th, 14th and 24th of each month, vendors selling old-fashioned merchandise set up shop at the Koshinzuka Street Market, just like they have for centuries.
It’s good luck to wear red next to your skin when you turn sixty, hence the many styles of bright red underwear for, um, mature men and women. The most hilarious part is the instructions that go with them.
Insects aren’t the only squicky thing for sale at the street market – these traditional snacks made from squid guts are also sold by the hundred grams.
Fortunetellers abound near the temple, and one brings palm reading into the 21st century by using a copier to xerox your palm, then he reads the xerox (in Japanese only).
The little side street next to the temple is lined with sellers of seasonal bonsai and other Japanese plants.
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 