The subtle art of selling your underpants

In case the title wasn’t clear, this article is about how I sold my underwear for cash moneyyyyy!!

A short time ago, in a distant land, was a young woman who loved to travel. She had been far and wide and high and low and had ended up in this fabled land full of mysteries and magic and really (REALLY!!!) intriguing and different costumes and customs.

She enjoyed soaking in the new culture and eating all the food. She even hiked up Mt. Fuji because when in Japan, hey?

*Mario theme intensifies*

But there was something the young woman wanted to do more than eat tempura shrimp sushi and innumerable bento boxes. She had a little secret. And she had done her research.

She wanted to sell her used underwear.

Now to the uneducated in this matter, this might sound wrong. It is, and it isn’t depending on which side of personal and sexual freedom you choose to stand on. For me, it was the idea of complete liberation. Putting something very intimate and personal out there and never worrying about it again. For me, it was a challenge. Could I do it? Would I chicken out? There was only one way to find out.

Armed with a pre-downloaded dictionary and a kanji keyboard, I went to the obscure back-alley store in the middle of one of the most happening spots in Tokyo. I was nervous, but confident. I wasn’t the first to walk up those stairs haltingly. And it was my choice to be there. Walking into that 1st floor store was a bit unnerving. A cramped corridor lined with schoolgirl uniforms. Rows and rows of them, vacuum packed to preserve the scent. With some relief I noticed there were no images of young girls on the packaging.

But that was just the first corridor. Turning the corner, I walked into plastic bins filled with used underpants. Flimsy, sturdy, lacey and grandma; there was every kind in there. One common factor was that they were all used. Here was my destination. My do or chicken out moment. I had mentally prepared for either because neither were wrong. Morals didn’t have a place here for I was on a mission to reclaim my body and be comfortable in it. So marching up to the store clerk who sat there completely nonchalant, I told him what I desired to do. He didn’t even bat an eyelid, but told me the price I would get if I chose to display my face or the price without my face. I chose without and that was that. The rest of the process was as I had known it would be -

1. I had to pull up my skirt to show the product - CLICK! Photo taken.

2. Pull down the underpants - ClICK! Photo taken.

3. Hand over underpants for a quick sniff test.

4. Get cash and walk away.

This particular store was full of used intimates. The bins I had seen were only the beginning of it. The category I was selling in had a lot of other Japanese women in it as well. A few with their faces shown, a few without, and a few with more than just their faces included. My worn out pair from a multi-pack from Primark would soon be one of them. Another woman who will be part of a fantasy she will never know about. A small, delicate possession that would soon join something much much bigger than itself.

Why did I do it? Because I had never been comfortable in my body. I saw its many flaws and some days I saw just the flaws. Standing half naked in front of an uncaring Japanese man, surrounded by used underwear, feeling the spirits of countless others who had stood there too, I finally felt free. There were no repercussions to this! He didn’t know who I was and me him! I had decided to do something a huge part of my culture would most likely collectively frown upon and felt great about it!

Now I am a tiny, tiny part of an industry that has been ostracised and vilified. People’s bodies are their possessions and what they choose to do with it is naturally their choice. But the society we live in sometimes decides otherwise. If you want to sniff it and pay me for it, why wouldn’t I sell it? If I’m guilty, then so are you, dear sniffer.

This industry exists for the more subtle amongst us. The ones that look from a distance and rely on imagination and fantasy rather than actual touch. It’s a safe space and legally allowing the sale and purchase of paraphernalia from willing suppliers ensures the space continues remaining safe.

I happily spent the rest of the evening commando and eating all the sushi my newly earned money could buy. I continue living happily and this story is something I’m quite proud of today. In fact, I’d do it again.

As a backpacker, washing clothes doesn’t happen as often as it should. That would probably get me more the next time ;)

No YOU ate all the sushi.

The used underwear industry is an entire machine that revolves around men buying, sniffing, sometimes wearing or sometimes just collecting intimate items used by young women or school girls. It began in Japan, in the 90s with the sexualising and fetishising of schoolgirl uniforms. Actual schoolgirls started selling their uniforms and socks to stores called Burusera. It was as safe as any unmonitored situation can be and over time there were allegations of child sexual abuse leading to Japan changing laws and requiring sellers to be 18 and above. In Japan, it still works analogue. You still have to sell/ buy from a Burusera but while Japan takes all the flak for being obsessed about weird things, apparently one of the biggest markets for this particular fetish is the US. I spoke to some Japanese friends about this later and they said that a lot of what gets sold to a Burusera then gets sold online internationally.

For all I know, my underwear is probably in a nation I have never been to :)