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Apr 05 2012 14 Comments

A little old lady with a ludicrously large bag

What on earth this little old lady was carrying in her bag will forever remain a mystery, but considering its obvious weight and substantial size, my guess is it was another little old lady.

Japanese old lady

Categorized: Odd, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. [Gm] says

    4/5/2012 at 9:05 am

    Be a gentleman that you are and give her a hand, Lee 😀

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/5/2012 at 10:03 am

      Haha, that’s very true! To be honest though, I think I’d have struggled to carry it myself…

      Reply
  2. Larry says

    4/5/2012 at 1:31 pm

    My wife’s grandmother used to refuse to let me carry anything when I went shopping with her while my wife was home with a new baby. She also refused to accept an empty seat on the bus unless I sat first. Japanese old ladies are tough!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/5/2012 at 8:41 pm

      Yes, I couldn’t agree more. It still amazes me when I see them working in the fields. I can only guess how old they are, but despite their considerable years, they are still out there working every day.

      Reply
  3. Hans ter Horst says

    4/5/2012 at 3:25 pm

    Imagine her getting onto a train in rush hour!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/5/2012 at 8:45 pm

      Oh god no, that’d be a bad idea for her and everyone else involved. Thankfully it was mid-morning when I took the picture, with the trains mercifully quiet.

      Reply
  4. Lizzy says

    4/6/2012 at 2:15 am

    Woah…

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/6/2012 at 7:58 am

      That’s exactly what I thought!

      Reply
  5. winnie says

    4/6/2012 at 7:19 am

    She is so strong!
    Luckily, she is not boarding the train at peak hours.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/6/2012 at 7:59 am

      She is. It was clear how heavy the bag was, but she somehow just put up with it.

      Reply
  6. 佐藤一郎 says

    4/9/2012 at 8:24 pm

    When I was a college student and I lived just north of Ikebukuro almost 20 years ago, I’d see these strong old women every morning. Those packs are filled with vegetables from the countryside. She’s going to market to sell them.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/9/2012 at 10:42 pm

      Ah, thanks for the info, that’s really interesting. I initially thought she’d get off at Sugamo, as there are often street stalls there, but it thew me when she didn’t. Nice to finally know what she was carrying.

      Reply
      • Julien says

        4/10/2012 at 9:20 am

        I just showed that to my wife, who told me the same story but with fishes made dry instead of vegetables. And that, when she used the Sobu-sen, made a strong smell in the train 🙂
        So fish or vegetables? I guess that depends where she comes from, but the story is the same anyway; thanks for the picture, I learned something new today !

        Reply
        • Lee says

          4/10/2012 at 4:07 pm

          Not at all, I learned something too. There was thankfully no smell at all, so my guess is vegetables.

          Reply

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