Skiing on a skateboard? I've got to admire his balance. I'd be flat on my face so fast...
Wikipedia: ステテコ
Everything says "Suteteko is Japanese men's long drawers. Middle-aged and old men usually wear
a suteteko above underpants to prevent sweat from wetting their trousers. It is
particularly effective in hot and humid summer. In informal
households, men may be seen in an undershirt and a suteteko watching TV or working in the yard."
ステテコ(suteteko) = "Japanese summer longjohns"
As near as I can figure, the key point is the wicking action that disperses the sweat—not that it's ever going to evaporate in the hot, sticky Japanese summer—prevents you from leaving blotches wherever you sit, etc.
Blogged at Tokyo Times: "could 70 actually be the new 40 in Japan?"
The author got it from (emphasis mine) FG forums: 2007年は誰もが外人犯罪の標的になる! 徹底的に外人犯罪を追い詰めよう!
外人犯罪(gaijin hanzai) = "all those filthy foreigners fouling Nippon"
↑ I hope that the poster is being sarcastic. I am so tired of
Japanese media toeing the National Police Agency line on nasty
foreigners—especially when the NPA's own statistics prove the 99% of
all crimes other than overstaying a visa are committed by JAPANESE.
Update: 2009/07/20
渡邉實夫(WATANABE Jitsuo) is his name. He studied electrical engineering, but worked in
television. He promised to take me skiing next season.
kitanotenshi, -ant!, GlassMadeRocker, SENILL77, and 15 other people added this photo to their favorites.
VanKeefer 72 months ago | reply
That is too cool!! He da man!
!!wat_dat!! 72 months ago | reply
awesome capture, ngu-san! btw: thanks for the 'suteteko' lesson! now i know what the heck my grandpa was wearing all those years!
Manako 72 months ago | reply
This is so my father, i.e., "in informal households, men may be seen in an undershirt and a suteteko watching TV...." He also called it パッチ. I don't think "young" men in their 40s do this any more. Wonder where the cutoff point is....
Nemo's great uncle 72 months ago | reply
@manako: And so me except that I dispense with the suteteko, so don't turn up unannounced.
The Japanese Wikipedia article mentions that they're no longer "cool." (pun intended)
The good news is that the yukata boom continues. My FM station (J-Wave) even offers "pair look" sets as prizes. Maybe it's an extension of "cool biz"—dressing for the weather (27°C at 11 am) instead of air conditioners turned up too high.
kitanotenshi 72 months ago | reply
That is a a real balancing act.
Nemo's great uncle 72 months ago | reply
@kitanotenshi: He's obviously in far better shape than I. "Round's a shape, isn't it?"
P.S. You asked for right-to-left writing on trucks? bnz has at least two classic examples.
flickr.com/photos/bnz/621280187/in/set-72157594254603762/
flickr.com/photos/bnz/575418305/in/set-72157594254603762/
Alas, he's above tags.
kitanotenshi 72 months ago | reply
Hey, thanks for the links.
✁☄ KAIRUUINZURO ✁☄ 72 months ago | reply
so rad. skate or die!
!!wat_dat!! 72 months ago | reply
mr ngu: i was trying to do some research for my wifey's japan trip and i ran across your pic on a funky blog site (tokyotimes) not an adult site but kinda funky...gee whiz, and i was just trying to find info on nikko festivals...
Nemo's great uncle 72 months ago | reply
@wat_dat: Thanks. I wish people who post forward links in addition to the backward links that Flickr's so insistent on.
SENILL77 70 months ago | reply
Skate or go home!
britishdanceparty 63 months ago | reply
Hahahhaha!
Tereza Lima [deleted] 61 months ago | reply
Wow!!!!!!