Red underwear and mochi in Grandma's Harajuku
Sugamo is nicknamed "Grandma's Harajuku": instead of teenagers, its shopping street draws older Tokyoites who come to pray at a temple believed to ease aches and pains. Along the way are shops selling red underwear, said to bring health and happiness, and shio daifuku, soft mochi with sweet bean paste. Go on a date ending in 4, when stalls line the street for the temple fair.
Home of Togenuki Jizo, the "thorn-pulling" Jizo, believed to relieve pain and illness. Visitors line up to pour water over the Arai Kannon, a small stone statue of the goddess of mercy, and wash the part of it that matches where their own body aches. On the 4th, 14th and 24th of each month, the temple holds a fair and stalls fill the street.
This sweet shop calls itself the original maker of shio daifuku: soft mochi filled with sweet red bean paste, with a touch of salt that makes the sweetness stand out. Seasonal daifuku line the counter too.
Its sign proclaims "Japan's No. 1 red underwear." The shop calls red a symbol of happiness and health, and older shoppers come for red underpants, socks and haramaki, knitted belly warmers. A pair makes a fun souvenir.
The shopping street runs from near Sugamo Station on the JR Yamanote Line past the temple, with old-fashioned sweet shops, clothing stores aimed at older shoppers, and casual diners.
Since 1937, this shop has made monaka, crisp rice wafers filled with sweet bean paste, and dorayaki, two small pancakes around a bean paste filling. You can eat them in the shop.